Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

This topic has 17 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 9 months ago by Sonya Shafer.

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August 31, 2010 at 12:14 pm
wearejenandkev
Participant
Hi! I just started Rosetta Stone Spanish with my boys. I have a couple questions for someone that is using it (or another Rosetta Stone language.)
-My boys just completed the work for lesson one. They completed it, but they both got REALLY low scores. It that normal? Should I make them continue doing the same lesson until they get a decent score? What is a decent score? I think that the manual said that the following lessons will be short lessons reviewing the long (30 minute) lesson. Should I just let them move on and see if they start picking it up?
-Do you help your children with it while they are doing it? Part of me thinks I should help them. Part of me thinks that if I help them then it will completely mess up the scoring system. I don’t want the computer to think they know it because I helped them. What do you do?
Thanks!
Jennifer

August 31, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Debij
Member
Hi Jennifer I am currently using Rossetta Stone for my ds10, I am finding that he isn’t picking up on it either, he is done with core 1 but neglected to do some of the things he needed to go to core 2. Silly mom didn’t register the home school part so I was having even more issues trying to figure out where to find the parent information:) Anyway I am going to make him do core one again because 1) he isn’t picking it up as easy and 2) he can guess until he gets the right answer which is why I think the scores are so low. I myself have a couple of years of spanish under my belt, but that was in high school over 30 years ago! I’m not helping him tho unless he asks, I want him to try and get this on his own. I hope I helped at least a little
Debij
August 31, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Bookworm
Participant
We once used Rosetta Stone Spanish. We never did figure a way around the retention problem. We ended up using something else instead.

August 31, 2010 at 1:36 pm
houseofchaos
Participant
We also have found retention to be low using Rosetta Stone. Bookworm, what is the “something else” you found that did work?
Gaeleen
August 31, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Debij
Member
My oldest boy is using http://www.tellmemore.com he seems to really like it, it has three levels in one program vs rosetta stone where you have to buy them individually so was cheaper in the long run.
August 31, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Bookworm
Participant
LOL, I didn’t say the something else worked. 🙂 This has been an ongoing problem for us. My youngest is using Spanish for Children now. My older son has moved to French instead, and is using Breaking the French Barrier. My middle one has been traumatized, is skipping the Romance languages entirely, and is doing German on Livemocha and Babbel.
August 31, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Linabean
Participant
Hi Jennifer,
I’m not going to claim that this is wonderful yet as I am using it for this upcoming school year and didn’t use it last year at all. It is called “El Espanol Facil!” or “the Easy Spanish!”. It will cover several years of spanish teaching and I can use it for my whole family. It looks as though it will work well for us….I hope. Check it out if you want to. Maybe you will like it.
Also, Bookworm, you really made me laugh when I pictured your son being traumatized by romance languages! LOL! I hope I am not making light of something more serious! But when I read that I had a childhood memory of my brother being traumatized when he saw my parents kissing in the kitchen while we were living in Guatemala! I think they had more fun learning Spanish than I am having!
Anyway, needless to say, they leared to speak Spanish while we were living in a Spanish speaking country and my Dad, who is fluent now, was out and about with the people almost constantly. I wish I could teach our family Spanish by this method. It just seems so much more natural. Charlotte was right on the button about hearing natives speak the language in order to learn. So, whatever you get as curriculum, it should have this component. IMHO.
-Miranda
August 31, 2010 at 4:14 pm
proudmommy24
Member
Hello Jennifer,
Last year we purchased Rosetta Stone for our then 14 yr old. He wanted to learn German and we thought it was a good investment. Our son has done wonderfully with it but he loves the German culture and wants to travel there someday so I think this was a “push” for him to really apply himself.
With that said, there were a few lessons that he decided to repeat (with moms recommendation) because he didn’t really get the lesson, or he felt he could do better (and I don’t mean in an overkill way, he just wanted to really get what he was learning). I haven’t had to help him on any of the lessons but I do periododically check in on him while he is using the program to make sure he doesn’t have questions or issues.
Again, my son is a teenager so he was a little older and anxious to learn the language himself without my urging. I do know of other folks that have tried Rosetta Stone and did not like it at all. So it may be a matter of learning style or just personal preference.
Good luck!
Andrea
September 1, 2010 at 12:32 am
wearejenandkev
Participant
Thanks, ladies! I have already spent $200 to purchase Rosetta Stone….so, like it or not…..that’s what we are doing this year!! But, I will keep the other ones in mind if we decide to ditch it next year.
I had the kids redo the same lesson today and they didn’t master it, but they did better. We will just keep taking them over and over until they get it! I have heard many moms say that they liked it, so I am going to try to stick with it and figure out some strategies to make it work. I think I can..I think I can… I think I can..
Jennifer

September 1, 2010 at 2:27 am
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
Jennifer, did you get the version that allows you to tweak whether they are doing just the hearing and speaking of the language, not the reading or writing? If you can limit the interaction to begin with, that might help some too.
September 1, 2010 at 3:09 am
missceegee
Participant
We have the version Sonya mentions set on the speaking/hearing setting, but we gave up when my Mexican brother-in-law couldn’t satisfy the pronunciation requirements. It was just too frustrating. We going to try latin instead.
I have levels 1, 2, and 3 in the to be sold pile.
Christie
September 1, 2010 at 12:20 pm
mamamission
Member
We purchased RS Spanish for my husband, myself, and my first grader. Ds likes it but did notice it gets harder at the 2nd lesson. I did choose just the speaking and listening program for him, while my husband and I are doing the full program. When one completes an activity successfully, (in the eyes of the software) usually around 85%, it prompts to continue to the next lesson. If below the “success” line it prompts to retry. I usually have my ds, and myself, do as the computer prompts. Sometimes I will have him go back later and retry an activity that he barely passed before. Sometimes it seems easier when you go back to it at later time and he likes to see his score improve. Ds works on it by himself and only calls me in if he is really stuck on something. On our RS, once you select the user, if you go up to the upper right corner one of the buttons gives you a drop down menu. After chosing “set preferences” I can go to the “Audio Settings” tab and adjust the precision of the voice recognition or turn it off completely. So far we have not had any problems with the factory settings.
September 1, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Rene
Participant
In case anyone is interested, this is what we are using for Spanish this year. It’s called First Step Espanol – it’s free, and it is videos online, and a teachers manual you can download and print.
http://www.knowitall.org/instantreplay/content/LanguageIndex.cfm?offset=0
We have only watched the first video so far. It is almost entirely in Spanish. The creators think it is important for the children to hear Spanish being spoken in context, with gestures and pictures, etc, to help them learn key vocabulary words. They also have French and German video lessons. It’s not a complete Spanish course, but it’s a good introduction, I think.
We watched the first video once and my girls have learned the Spanish for: the girl, the boy, Grandma, Grandpa, man, woman, young woman, nice to meet you, my name is…, and please. There were some other vocab words, but these are the ones I remember them actually knowing.
I am doing it and learning with them, and we practice together. Plus our neighbor is from Mexico and we ask her if we are saying things right. I haven’t figured out as of yet just how to go about using the videos – I just started reading the Teacher’s Manual last night. I was thinking of having them watch the same video each day for a week. Not sure yet.
We also use Instant Immersion Spanish on our PC, that I got from Half Price Books for about $7, and it helps so much with learning words and phrases. And one more resource we use is a book called Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day, we have the book and cd’s but you can buy just the book.

September 1, 2010 at 2:00 pm
suzukimom
Participant
I use the First Steps auf Deutch (German) too, and it is excellent.
September 1, 2010 at 4:19 pm
csmamma
Participant
I just wanted to second Andreas post. My almost 15yo ds is using RS German with great success. He occasionally goes back to review a lesson if hes lacking mastery. Blessings, Heather