Rosetta Stone V3: Russian, Level 1 & 2

My past history with foreign languages is not a pretty one. I have previously struggled to learn three languages with little success. Faced with the need to learn Russian, I thought it could never happen. Rosetta Stone truly is different. For example, they don't actually "teach" you anything. You develop your own vocabulary, grammar rules, etc. by observing what is going on in the pictures & looking for patterns. Ocassionally this was frustrating but that didn't usually last long & I felt a sense of accomplishment when I figured it out. A Russian-English dictionary is very helpful. By spending about an hour a day on Rosetta Stone, I feel as if I have learned quite a bit in about a month. You must have the time to dedicate to this regularly. My husband & I are both thrilled with our progress & strongly recommend Rosetta Stone - Russian.

This is the only Russian language program I have ever actually looked forward to using. Is is a total experience of words, pictures, and learning by association, not just rules and memorization of vocabulary. The software is quite intelligent in its design and includes many reviews of material at predetermined times to reinforce learning.

I bought - or so I thought - Rosetta Stone Russian levels 1 and 2 for $330. After two months of trying to get the product shipped to me I finally received level 2 only. When I called to ask where the level 1 module was I was told that I'd have to pay an additional $100 and first return the Level 2 course. Not the best in customer service...

Worse was to come. When I tried to register the product, using the product registration key that accompanied the disks, it didn't work. Finally I had to spend - during business hours - an hour on the phone with Technical Support. Eventually it appeared that we managed to register the software and I began the course. I really like the approach and approve of the method. But then I switched off my computer. When I restarted, I discovered that the Rosetta Stone software had "forgotten" all my registration information and - of course - the registration key didn't work... So basically I can't ever use this software unless I have an hour to spare to walk through the manual registration process with Technical Support every time I want to use it. Oh, and of course this means I can only use it during business hours, because their Technical Support is not 7/24.

This kind of amateurish software glitch is totally unacceptable and is truly astonishing in this day and age. I can only recommend that no one buys anything from Rosetta Stone until they improve (i) their shipping and packaging, and (ii) the basic software functions necessary to run the program. Until then, it's just a waste of over $300. I am deeply disappointed in Rosetta Stone and looking at the other reviews it is obvious that this company has a major quality control problem.

to everyone wanting to learn another language:

This product has been very helpfull to me. It makes language learning fun and easy. i bought this product a couple of months ago and i'm confident that i could at least survive an introduction if i were to travel to the country. i recomend this product to everyone devoted to learning ANY language

I have thoroughly enjoyed my Russian software so far...

I have completed only two lessons and I am amazed how much I have picked up and retained in such a short period of time.

The lessons progress and build on themselves in an intuitive yet logical manner doing away with any need for translation.

Looking forward to finishing both levels.