Eager Learner Using Inefficient Software (Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash)
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Is it possible to learn a language completely through Rosetta Stone?
People often ask whether it is possible to learn a language in its entirety just by using Rosetta Stone.
I don’t enjoy bashing other people’s products, but I must tell you quite honestly that I think it’s a terrible idea to learn with Rosetta Stone (or other programmes like it for that matter). Not only can you not learn a language completely this way; but it is a waste of time to use it at all.
The problem with these sorts of applications is that they are based on entirely false principles. You will pay hundreds of bucks for the pleasure of clicking on pictures, taking silly, little multiple-choice tests and so on.
As humans we all learn languages the same way. You can’t learn a language like you can learn some other skill. You get used to a new language. You “learn” new words by understanding messages in context. The best way to do that is to use massive compelling comprehensible input – which means in practice: read and listen a lot.
Remember that the Main Obstacle in Language Learning is the Words
What is the main obstacle when learning a language? Many people would probably say: Learning the rules. This is wrong. The rules and patterns are important and they are what enable us to speak clearly and elegantly, differentiate time and relationships etc. The main obstacle to speaking a language fluently, however, is the words. There are thousands and thousands of them and we need to understand many thousands of these passively and also use a smaller yet still considerable number of them actively, while expressing ourselves, in order to speak fluently on a wide range of topics.
This is why most people don’t learn a language by attending classes or doing Rosetta Stone. It’s extremely inefficient and it’s based on wrong, debunked principles.
Read and Listen – Don’t Waste Your Precious Time
Read and listen a lot. After a short while you will already understand quite a bit. After a few months, or in very distant languages maybe after a year, you will not only feel the urge to speak, but you will also have the means to start doing so. Your input reservoir will overflow and the urge to speak will be met with a surprising ability to do so.
Don’t waste your time and money on these sorts of things. They are effective in that you will learn something. You will learn a few things. You might be able to say a few things quickly as well – this is how they lure people in. But that comes with a huge opportunity cost. It’s extremely inefficient.
And that’s the major point. It’s not that it’s a con. Of course it works up to a point. Anything you do in language learning that somehow exposes you to the target language works. This seems to me to be a major reason why so many people stick with inefficient methods that won’t get them to a high level of proficiency – and that also waste lots of time.
They don’t know better. And it works a bit.
So no, you won’t learn a language completely through Rosetta Stone. Do yourself a favour. Get graded readers or go to LingQ. Don’t waste your precious time.