Rosetta Stone for kids?

[MusicMama]

Hello!

I am looking to have my kids learn spanish, and have started by taking lessons myself. I can only take lessons from a teacher over the summer due to work circumstances. I have access to speaking to native and non-native speakers, which will continue year round, but they won't be trained teachers, only speaking opportunities. My kids will be having regular playdates with native speaking kids etc. We're using the Salsa spanish series to supplement too. I'm trying to do my best with what I've got.

Since I won''t have access to a trained teacher, would Rosetta Stone be my best bet for regimented learning on my own at home? Would my kids benefit from it? My oldest is almost four. I am trying to decide if I need to buy level one, or just get 2 and up for me. It would save a lot of money, so I was looking for advice first. One of my biggest regrets is not speaking another language. I'm not looking for perfect fluency for my kids, but for them to be comfortable at a conversational level. More would be great, but I'm realistic since there is not a fluent speaker in the home. Thanks!

[purduemeche]

We teach Latin and our oldest is 7. We tried a workbook approach first, but then switched to Rosetta and he loves it. It's hands-off for us (which is great with 6 other kids), and he enjoys the "game" atmosphere of working on the computer. Plus, their approach for teaching a language is genius.

We are thinking 3ish years of Latin, then on to Rosetta spanish.

[nutella08]

Hardly an expert but I can share what we did ... My kids "learned" Spanish from the babysitter, playdates with native speakers, and watching kids TV programs set to SAP in Spanish. Nothing formal. Dora la Exploradora (Dora the Explorer in Spanish not English) was our favorite, great repetition. I learned a lot myself. Plaza Sesamo (Sesame Street) was ok but was actually harder to follow. I learned the language myself using the Pimsleur's Spanish CD series about 5 years ago to teach/support the kids. Renting them can cut the cost.

We started using Rosetta Stone a little over a year ago. DD was age 7 and could already carry & understand most basic conversations in Spanish. She started at level 1 and I think it was the right choice for our case. The vocabulary (nouns & verbs) were easy but fun. They did cover agreement, singular/plural, feminine/masculine in level 1; she had some intuition but far from mastery of grammar. She's halfway through level 2 and progressing well, but there's quite a lot of work with present/past/future tense. I think she would have been frustrated if we started her at level 2. Incidentally, DS age 6 now is interested and also dabbling with level 1.

So IMHO … if it's just for you, level 2 may be fine. But for kids, I would recommend starting at level 1. For younger kids, you might also consider Muzzy Spanish. Those were cute but also pricey yet perhaps still cheaper than hiring a formal teacher.

[Cindyg]

Rosetta Stone did not work for my son at that age.

The program is purposely nebulous in places. Like, suppose they say "verde" and they show a picture of a green parrot, a red bike, a blue whistle, and a white jacket. Does verde mean green, parrot, red, bike, blue, whistle, white, or jacket? Even when you get the right picture, by process of elimination, the child doesn't know for sure whether verde means green or parrot. For a long time, my son thought mansana (sp? I mean apple) meant red; and I couldn't convince him otherwise.

It was very possible for my son to get the right answer, by process of elimination, without understanding why he got it right.

Then there were the simply confusing pictures. Confusing to a child I mean. Suppose you're looking at four pictures. Each picture shows a group of males and females. You're supposed to choose the picture where the woman is the third person from the right. First of all, can your child quickly identify right from left? Secondly, whose right -- yours or the folks in the picture? Third, is the 16 year old a "woman" if you're 7?

There were many examples like this.

I didn't consider it a good program for a child. Or at least, not for my child.

[Cuckoomamma]

We have Rosetta Stone and it's great for my dd who is turning 10, but not for my 6 yo. The child really needs to be able to read fluently, imo.

[WendyK]

It works for my 9 year old, but not my 6 year old yet.