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PeachClover

Pimping the Rosetta Stone

So guys, my body's brother works for a company that offered him TRS, which he never used so, he gave it to me.  Today is day four of using it, but I'm convinced it is, as it suggests, the best language learning software as it shows and reads out a sentence then you pick the corresponding answer from four pictures.  It works because instead of telling you anything, you keep picking until you get the correct one. The nature of the pictures changes in such a way that you are confident about the meaning of a word as you progress to the next set.  I've been setting aside an hour each day, but it really only takes 30 minutes to complete a lesson.

I can't yet really call this a success story as I've really only just begun learning, but I have noticed many of my friends were already considering TRS, but weren't sure if they should take that route due to the significant investment of money

To be fair, I've only used two other language learning software: one program which was more of a dictionary than anything else, and My Japanese Coach for DS, which is more hands on learning.  Which again, to be fair, MJC gives a unique opportunity to learn hiragana by tracing the characters as they fade.

For anyone who hasn't heard this little speech yet: I feel it is important for people to know at least a second language, regardless of what that language is, to show that that person has a better understanding of the nature of people as a whole.  As for myself, I have been passively hammering at Japanese since I was about fourteen, but I'm hoping to gain a mastery of it as I progress.  I could have taken Quebecian French or Mexicanese in high school, but both dialects of those languages would not have helped me in any interest.  I took, but quit German; I probably could have passed it, but I had problems then.  Japanese is far more helpful to my interests though ^.^
Viewed: 11 times
Added: 12 years, 3 months ago
 
ShanetheFreestyler
12 years, 3 months ago
But it's so fucking expensive. D:
PeachClover
12 years, 3 months ago
Consider this: the home school version of TRS, which is exactly the same as the regular version ($379), has the option of being installed on two different computers, holding five user profiles per computer.  Assuming you live in a furry apartment of four, and you can talk your roomies into learning one language together, the cost falls to $95 a person.  One level is equal to one college course of that language so, of your $95, you are paying $32 for each level.

Or let's look at it another way: an easy language for speakers of english to learn is mexicanese.  I read, most users have passed level one of spanish within 150 hours of use (one 30 minute session 5 days a week) meaning it's finished in about three to four months.  If you divided the cost by hour, you are spending at a best case scenario $2.53/h, but let's say you pick the most ridiculously difficult language you can imagine and it takes you a whooping 400 hours to complete level one (I haven't read anyone needing this amount of time on anything), in this case you are spending $.95/h.  In college, you have to move at the instructors pace or simply get left behind, and may end up paying for the class again, if you couldn't keep up.

I've listed two different methods of dividing the cost of the program because unlike other programs, this is the WHOLE thing from nothing to visit the country without a translator.  If you learn from books or CDs, then method one shows how little you spend compared to other methods, and if you are a college goer or one who sees time as money, then method two shows you the efficiency of TRS.  

The bottom line is, I don't think you can get a better system for less.
ShanetheFreestyler
12 years, 3 months ago
Still doesn't make it any more affordable. >.<
PeachClover
12 years, 3 months ago
o.o  Yes, it does.  Cars and houses cost much more, but when you divide the cost by the usefulness, it shows that it is a reasonable purchase.  If you are saying that $400 is a lot of money, I would agree with you that this is not something that you are like to buy in a single paycheck, however I have checked year after year and have found that the closest convention to me costs $400 when all is said and done.  What about a fursuit?  The average custom built fursuit commissioned from a reputable builder costs a minimum of $1600.  

Do you ever expect to make that much in one paycheck, or do you just say to yourself "that's not affordable"?  If you do, then you obviously don't understand money management.  I am honestly frustrated that you managed not to see my point from earlier, and as such I am going to ask you to visit this site to gain a better understanding of the point I was trying to make regardless of whatever your monetary choices may be in life.
ShanetheFreestyler
12 years, 3 months ago
For a site like that to work you need to HAVE money in the first place.
PeachClover
12 years, 3 months ago
I don't know how old you are, but posting a comment of "too expensive!" followed by "I'm broke!" makes you sound really ignorant, and twelve years old.  If you would have said, "that's too expensive for me." I would have left it alone; if you would have said, "I'm broke" I would have left it alone, but using the line, "But it's so fucking expensive. D:" implies it's too expensive for anyone, and saying something like that just because you personally are too young to manage your money or happen to be a homeless person with access to the internet is just bad netiquette.
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