Language-Learning Immersion With Rosetta Stone TOTALe, French

TOTALe provides an environment where you can interact with other language learners and schedule online sessions with live instructors.
Language-Learning Immersion With Rosetta Stone TOTALe, French
NEW WORDS: Rosetta Stone TOTALe, French, gives full access to Rosetta Stone's language-learning program. The package also comes with a set of 12 review CDs and a USB microphone headset. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)
Joshua Philipp
9/27/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/RosettaStoneTOTALe.jpg" alt="NEW WORDS: Rosetta Stone TOTALe, French, gives full access to Rosetta Stone's language-learning program. The package also comes with a set of 12 review CDs and a USB microphone headset. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)" title="NEW WORDS: Rosetta Stone TOTALe, French, gives full access to Rosetta Stone's language-learning program. The package also comes with a set of 12 review CDs and a USB microphone headset. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1826061"/></a>
NEW WORDS: Rosetta Stone TOTALe, French, gives full access to Rosetta Stone's language-learning program. The package also comes with a set of 12 review CDs and a USB microphone headset. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)
You see the ads all the time.  Offers to “Learn Spanish in 20 Minutes a Day” and similar materials fill the foreign language sections of many stores. Yet, for those who have tried such programs, these language-learning quick fixes aren’t nearly as easy, or as effective, as they make it sound.  Without interaction, conversation, or regular practice it proves difficult to retain much.

Rosetta Stone TOTALe offers a different approach. In addition to incorporating Rosetta Stone’s famed no-translation, language-learning program, TOTALe takes the process a few steps further, by providing an environment where you can interact with other language learners and schedule online sessions with live instructors.

Each element of the software serves well in itself, but it’s the full combination of learning environments that make TOTALe simply brilliant, as the effects in learning a new language can be quickly seen. After spending a few weeks with the French-language edition, I was able to retain around 90 percent of what I learned in the program—and when it comes to learning anything, retention really is the true measure of accomplishment.

Getting Started


The box comes bundled with a USB microphone headset and instructions on how to get started. It also includes a full set of companion CDs to review the vocabulary you learn in each lesson. The French version comes with 12 CDs in all, which can also be uploaded to an MP3 player.

There is no installation necessary in TOTALe, as the software runs online. This has some real benefits, as you can access the digital classroom from anywhere you can access the Web.

After typing in your username and password the program starts right up and runs rather smoothly, with very little lag and load times—I used a cable internet connection. On the first menu you are always greeted by your personal homepage. From there, you can view your progress on a timeline of Rosetta’s full language program. The menu layout is also easy to navigate.

[b]Learning to Speak[/b]

Rosetta Stone’s teaching method is rather interesting. There is no translation. There are no in-depth descriptions. It is just you, the new language, and images to guide you along. It is complete immersion.

It sounds intimidating, but it is surprisingly quite the opposite. In fact, this is how everyone learned to speak their first language, and why Rosetta chose this method. The objective of Rosetta Stone TOTALe is to make you think in the new language, rather than have you view it through the looking glass of what you already know.

The classes start off easy with just a few words shown with different images. A male and a female speaker read the words to you, while different segments have you participate in different ways. The sessions get more complex as you progress, but there is enough review to help ensure you keep pace.

Some lessons have you speak the words or phrases. Some have you select from a set of images and choose the one that relates to the word. And other lessons have you match appropriate words for an image from a pop-up list, or have you write the words yourself from memory.

Rosetta Stone offers enough variety in its teaching methods to ensure you learn the new language from just about every angle possible, while keeping the lessons concise enough to avoid irrelevance.

There were a few times when I felt lost. New words come in often. Since there is no translation, it is sometimes difficult to tell at first what they are, much less what to do with them. This confusion is always short-lived though, as you are shown the words used in various situations and with various words you should already be familiar with.

If you really start to struggle there are solutions. You can replay the audio, click an icon that will show you the audio image compared side by side with how you spoke it, or you can simply skip the question. Although I did get stuck a few times—such as with the pronunciation of “journal,” which, ironically, is French for “newspaper”—I did make it though, and with a deep sense of satisfaction, at that.

The speech-recognition in Rosetta Stone is good, although it may vary from language to language. To test this, I had a native-French speaker use the program. It seems to work well as long as you enunciate. According to the French speaker, the program’s accent is “right on.”

The TOTALe Experience


In addition to the main language-learning course, Rosetta Stone TOTALe also includes programs where you can interact with others who are learning the same language as you or schedule sessions with a live instructor.

The multiplayer games are really a highlight of the program. There are quite a few games to choose from, and all of them involve a good amount of participation from all players. The only language allowed is the one you are currently learning, and it can really make you work your brain to find the right words.

To encourage confidence, you are awarded with “stamps” as you advance through the games. You also develop a list of connections with other learners you’ve played games with. I actually found these games just as fun as other online multiplayer games, except that with TOTALe, you’re getting something really useful out of it.

To test the instructor segment, I scheduled a class with one of TOTALe’s live instructors by entering the personal classroom from within the main menu. I was greeted in English by name, by a friendly woman who gave me a quick intro to the feature. After she parted, the instructor came into the room and we began the session.

The one-on-one sessions are fantastic. You can see your instructor in a small window, and they go over the words and phrases you have learned in your current lesson. The instructor was friendly, well-mannered, and helpful. The session lasts 50 minutes.

In a Nutshell


Although Rosetta Stone TOTALe is an incredible package, the price is a bit steep—the French version of the software goes for $999. Still, when you break it down this includes private lessons with a live instructor, which you can schedule to suit your needs; a full, multiplayer mode where you can interact with other TOTALe language-learners; and full access to all lessons in the language you are learning.

When compared to private classes, or even other software packages and language-learning materials on the market, the price for TOTALe actually seems quite reasonable.

Given how much I learned in just a few weeks, I can easily see how a couple of months of Rosetta Stone TOTALe could yield real advancements in learning a new language. It gives you everything you need to master a new language, and provides just the right amount of encouragement to keep you going.
Joshua Philipp is an award-winning investigative reporter with The Epoch Times and host of EpochTV's "Crossroads" program. He is a recognized expert on unrestricted warfare, asymmetrical hybrid warfare, subversion, and historical perspectives on today’s issues. His 10-plus years of research and investigations on the Chinese Communist Party, subversion, and related topics give him unique insight into the global threat and political landscape.
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