Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Like everyone else, I'm comparing what I consider to be the two top dogs when it comes to Spanish language learning software: Fluenz and Rosetta Stone. Which software you should choose depends on what you want to be able to do first. Do you think it's more important to learn to order food in a restaurant, or explain where a cat is in relation to a table? It's a serious question, because therein lies the difference between these two programs. Rosetta Stone assumes that you are an infant who should learn colors and animals first. If you are an infant, stop reading, and navigate to the Rosetta Stone section. If you are an adult who would rather learn the word for "cellphone" before "horse," then you should undoubtedly choose Fluenz. Fluenz features a slick user-interface and a real person who acts as your personal tutor. (Incidentally, she is quite attractive.) Unlike Rosetta Stone, which uses a strict immersion model, Fluenz relates Spanish to English in order to build on the knowledge you already have about grammar and the way words work together. With Rosetta Stone, I found myself having to look up words because the pictures are sometimes unclear. For instance, there was a picture of a child and a man with the word "abuelo." I didn't know that it meant "grandfather" until I consulted a dictionary. You can't rely strictly on visual cues for everything. With Fluenz, every detail is spelled out and explained for you. You are told the precise meaning of every word and given tips for pronunciation and usage. I have found that this explicit approach is much more effective for my learning style. Your experience, of course, may vary. After the principal lesson, Fluenz tasks you with a series of "workouts." These are very enjoyable exercises that increase in difficulty and require different skills than Rosetta Stone exercises. For instance, in Rosetta Stone, you can almost always use process of elimination to choose the correct picture. In Fluenz, you are almost immediately asked to construct your own sentences using the words you've learned. In other exercises, you must transcribe spoken dialogue. I immediately realized that comprehending an entire spoken sentence was much more difficult than comprehending a single word. To me, it's a far more aggressive approach than Rosetta Stone, and I can feel my brain working harder. I will also say that I have used Rosetta Stone quite a bit, but I stopped using it because I simply became bored with the tedium of the program. I find Fluenz far more stimulating. I can hardly wait to come home every day and use it again. It's as addictive as a video game, and the best part is that I'm getting practical knowledge of Spanish that I can immediately apply to real life situations. I'm so fond of the program that I plan to try the Italian next. If you are on the fence, but are one of those people who tend to go with the most popular choice, let me say this: Rosetta Stone will probably always outsell Fluenz. The reason is simple. Rosetta Stone only needs one Spanish program that it can sell world wide, because it does not teach using other languages. From a business standpoint, it's genius. From a learning standpoint, it's lacking. Fluenz is specifically designed for those who speak English to learn Spanish. If this statement applies to you, pick Fluenz over Rosetta Stone.