German Level 1 & 2 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version]

Develop your skills in four key areas...

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Rosetta Stone is self-contained and intuitive to use. There are no complicated lists to memorize or handbooks to read. With Dynamic Immersion, you can start learning immediately. Join NASA, Fortune 500 executives, U.S. diplomats and millions of learners worldwide in discovering the fastest way to learn German.

And what exactly is Dynamic Immersion? Studies show that learning exclusively in the new language -- without translation as a crutch -- is crucial if you want to communicate. Grammar drills and rote memorization never develop this skill. Dynamic Immersion helps you think in the new language and quickly develops the language skills and structures you need to for everyday communication. Rosetta Stone teaches German through a step-by-step sequence of carefully structured Dynamic Immersion lessons. New words become associated with familiar objects, actions, and ideas. Words build to phrases and sentences in a systematic progression.

The Dynamic Immersion method reconnects people to the language skills they used successfully to master their first language. With Rosetta Stone, you start from a position of strength -- your own strength. First, Rosetta Stone allows you to learn through context. The software presents a carefully chosen selection of four images and asks you to select the image that matches the written text and the voices of native speakers. Building on the knowledge you've already gained and your intuitive grasp of the meaning of each picture, you make a choice. There's absolutely no translation or memorization to hold you back, so you start making progress immediately.

Next, Rosetta Stone offers immediate reinforcement. The very second you complete a task, the software provides feedback. Speak a word and our unique voiceprint technology automatically rates your pronunciation. Connect an image with a phrase and you'll immediately learn if your choice was correct. Complete a set of exercises and you'll instantly know how well you did. With Rosetta Stone, you always know where you stand. Recognizing that dynamic immersion is a continuous process, Rosetta Stone also employs a systematic sequence that gradually incorporates new words, phrases, and more complex grammar as it reinforces existing learning. As a result, your understanding of your new language grows naturally.

Levels 1 and 2 includes more than 8,000 real-life images and phrases in 210 lessons, as well and an average of 450 hours of instruction depending on your learning style. Rosetta Stone also incorporates a balanced curriculum including listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as speech recognition for accent perfection. The program's systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills, and there are previews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials.

Rosetta Stone's lessons will quickly get you up to speed on a wide range of language topics, including directions; affirmative and negative verb forms; food, eating, and drinking; family relationships; direct objects; telling time; shapes, colors and locations; greetings and conversations; travel, transportation, and transactions; shopping and dining; and much, much more.

Product Description
Rosetta Stone German Level I & II opens up a new world to you by teaching you how to communicate with a new culture! Reviews and testing features help identify weak points and work harder on them Comes with illustrated User's Guides and Curriculum Text books Ages 6 & up

The programs work on a total immersion basis, with no English used at all. There are several types of drills, ones where you hear a word or sentence and pick it out of a group of pictures, another where you read the text of the word and pick out the pictures, etc. There are also typing drills in your language to help you spell (without having to download special fonts), pronounciation drills that allow you to hear a word, speak it to your computer and hear your voice in comparison to the native speaker played back to you.

This is the first program of it's type I've found where this feature actually works!

I own both German and Russian 1 and 2. There is a LOT to learn here, especially if you do all the types of drills for each lesson. You learn grammar from inference, such as word endings when the subject is "in" something rather than "on" or "under" it. You see the same endings used, compare them with the pictures and you start to recognize patterns.

But one of the best things about this software is the user interface. Since it's an immersion program, there's no English used and by it's very nature needs to be intuitive. This is how it should be done. I've used other types of language software that had a klunky, confusing interface with features that didn't work, etc. None of that is the case with the Rosetta Stone software.

On another note, I switched to Mac about nine months ago and Fairfield Language Technologies sent me out a new Mac OS X systems disc for free, no questions asked. At this price level you'd think this would be commonplace, but it's not. Adobe allowed me to change from PC to OS X when I upgraded from Photoshop 6 to 7, but Macromedia wouldn't and expected me to buy all new software (I didn't). So kudos to FLT for their stellar customer service!

Is it too expensive? I'd say yes, but this is a serious language learning tool for serious self students, and it's a lot cheaper than classes at the U. The axiom is true with both this and the Pimsleur method tapes; you get what you pay for.


Essential...if you know how to use it   October 9, 2006
Mark (Raleigh, NC)
131 out of 131 found this review helpful

This is actually a review for more than one product (Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone)

If you are willing to spend 1-2 years learning a foreign language but have limited time (weekly), lack the ability to immerse yourself in that culture for 1 year (the best way to learn the language), can't attend classes, can expend some budget, and want the process to be challenging yet fun, here's how to do it:

1. Buy a good English-Foreign Language Dictionary.
2. Get the Pimsleur Course for that language. (Check Ebay for used copies)
3. Buy the Rosetta Stone Program for that language. (Costly. Try the online monthly subscription option if your budget is tight.)
4. Get a Basic Grammar Language Book (Barron's highly recommended)

Putting it all together.

1. Listen to the Pimsleur Program during your daily commute-1 lesson per day. (Take the weekend off) DO NOT go to the next lesson until you have a 80% recall of the material. THERE IS NO NEED TO BE AT 100% RECALL before going to the next lesson. (Trust me on this on-avoid my pain)
Using this method, you can get through ALL Pimsleur lessons (Levels I-III)in 12-18 months. THE FOCUS OF PIMSLEUR IS SPEAKING SKILLS.

2. At the same time, use the Rosetta Stone lessons on the weekend, with one 60-90 minute session. Go through the guided exercise followed by the test. THERE IS NO NEED TO GO THROUGH EVERY LESSON (TYPE) for each program. After you buy the product, you'll know what I'm talking about. THE FOCUS OF ROSETTA STONE IS LISTENING SKILLS.

3. Review the basic grammar of the language as you go through the 2 above.

4. Contrary to what Pimsleur says, look up any words for spelling, and likewise, for Rosetta Stone, look up any words for definition you don't understand.

Bottomline: Despite what they advertise, these are not stand-alone programs. Also the secret to recall is anticipation, meaning an 80% success rate for Pimsleur is ok and 70% success rate for Rosetta Stone is okay before moving to the next lesson.

You don't get any extra points for making 100% and this effort can be counter-productive (burn out, boredom, and frustration before finishing the lessons.)

Your goal should be to get through all of the programs and lessons and the experience should be challenging and fun. Afterwards, you can take your trip to that country for the total immersion experience, and after the first 2 weeks, you'll see how well spent your time was with the programs.

After you complete the above, and you are learning one of the romantic languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using the Michel Thomas programs-which are essentially Verb Conjugation 101 lessons-it is the glue that ties everything together you learned with Pimsleur/Rosetta Stone.

Note: I've used the Japanese, German, and Korean Pimsleur Courses, and Rosetta Stone German and Japanese Programs. I've also spent extensive time in all 3 of those countries. Learn from my mistakes.

Good luck and have fun.


Propaganda marketing - Rip Off product   December 5, 2005
Anonymous (Sydney, NSW Australia)
77 out of 90 found this review helpful

I found this product to represent extremely poor value for money. I purchased the product based on all the marketing hype and testimonials. However, I have since come to the conclusion that these guys must pay people to write positive testimonials.

This product only covers the basics (levels 1 & 2). Then they try to rope you into paying even more money for their intermediate levels.

I have since purchased a cheaper 'Tell Me More' package (for Spanish) and have been highly impressed with the scope of it. They have packed so much more value into their package. And it is a complete package - all the way to advanced level.

I think it's really disgusting that Rosetta Stone get away with selling such a seriously inferior product at such a highly inflated price and people still buy it. I think it borders on being a scam.


Fantastic learning tool for the beginner to intermediate stu   February 5, 2003
Norm De Plume (Lake Forest, Illinois USA)
76 out of 81 found this review helpful

I would have given the product a 5 star review if it could have found the contents of the Lesson CD I copied to my laptop hard drive. You are forced to use the Lesson CD in the CD drive to work the program.

The program is a very good learing tool. You learn to hear, read, speak and write in the language. The early lessons at first seem too easy, until you get to the unit that has you type in the words or phrases for the image you are viewing. That's when the learning starts. The advanced lessons will have you typing whole paragraphs.

Better by far than any Berlitz programs etc. that you commonly find at a computer store.

You won't truly learn a language until you can write in it. This one gives you a really good start!