Learnables – how does this translate into actual usage?

AS much as I like Rosetta Stone, I have been looking over The Learnable since two of my girls have requested to learn two other languages, one of the girls would like to add two new languages to her load this year.  There is no way our budget can handle 2 or 3 new languages using RS.  Also, I would like to learn the language at the same time as each of my girls, and my youngest would be able to sit in on the lessons more easily, IMO with this program.  However, after clicking around on the Spanish to get a feel for it since I have some exposure to this language already, I discovered that TL uses the “proper” name for car rather than the everyday usage. This makes me wonder what other “proper” usages which really aren’t used in everyday conversation may be used throughout the program.  For instance, in Latin American Spanish, there is a conjugation which in not really used, but may be, in certain situations in the country of Spain.

Having said this, does anyone have any experience using what you learned from TL in the target country for the language you learned or with a native speaker? While I know my girls may not actually visit all of the countries for which they study a language, BUT I would like them to be able to converse with native speakers as easily as possible – does that make sense?  Can anyone comment on the ease of conversing with this program?

Pax,

~jacqleene