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Maggie
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| Posted: May 04 2011 at 12:40pm | IP Logged
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Hi Moms~
My husband and I love languages. We are both fairly proficient with Spanish and he in French. We went to Italy a couple years ago and very much enjoyed our 6 week self-directed crash course in Italian. Our children picked it up well.
Now that dd is older, she has an intense desire to learn languages...multiple languages.
I am looking for a good program.
I am skeptical about Rosetta Stone--the price is a bit overwhelming--but I have been reading reviews that decry the lack of content, mainly.
I stumbled across Tell Me More and was wondering if anyone has used this. Also...with littles?
And i have heard of Fluenz but did not know if anyone has used these either.
Basically, I don't mind paying for a product--if it is totally and completely worth the money.
Any advice?
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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kristinannie
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| Posted: May 09 2011 at 2:59pm | IP Logged
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I haven't heard of the other two, but I can speak to Rosetta Stone. It is a great program to supplement something else (I am using it to gain fluency in German), but I would not use it as a stand alone program. It doesn't really cover grammar. You learn by immersion which is great when you are trying to pick up vocab, but I would not like it nearly as much if I didn't already speak German. Let us know what you find that you like!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 09 2011 at 3:04pm | IP Logged
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I was going to speak to Rosetta Stone as well.. you learn the language to speak it.. but it's lacking in things like the grammar (though I thought they'd beefed that up in the last few years) for it to count as a "course in.." a language.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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nissag
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| Posted: May 09 2011 at 3:34pm | IP Logged
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We love Rosetta Stone. It is great for conversational fluency. If your aim is to fully understand the language, and to become a proficient writer, then for sure supplement the curriculum. You may be able to use the software from your local library, or possibly find a second hand package.
Our favourite foreign bookstore in Boston has an online shop. There are grammars, literature, audio, and I think some video as well in a whole slew of languages.
Schoenhofs Foreign Books
Blessings,
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Nissa
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Maggie
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| Posted: May 09 2011 at 7:36pm | IP Logged
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Ok...I found this website, toohas kid specific software...I suppose, you get what you pay for...but my dd is young...
Anyone heard of Transparent language company?
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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kristinannie
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| Posted: May 10 2011 at 11:13am | IP Logged
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I have bought quite a few things from Transparent Language and have liked them, but I bought Kidspeak in Dec and it NEVER worked on my computer. I have called a couple of times and it has been frustrating. I guess I am out the $49!
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John Paul 8.5
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Maggie
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| Posted: May 10 2011 at 11:46am | IP Logged
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Ewww. That's not good at all.  How frustrating.
Customer service is definitely something we highly value around here.
Anyone else have an experience with this company?
I look online to see if I can find reviews, too...
It seemed like a cool concept, but I was not sure how much was provided with kidspeak...if it was just a handful of games and not worth the money, kwim.
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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MichelleW
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| Posted: May 11 2011 at 1:13pm | IP Logged
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I bought Learnables last year and I love it. It is very much like Rosetta Stone buts costs much less ($50 versus hundreds), and includes some grammar. It uses cartoon drawings instead of photos. I bought the CD-rom version. Honestly, I was skeptical before I bought it, but I really like it.
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Michelle
Mom to 3 (dd 14, ds 15, and ds 16)
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pmeilaen
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| Posted: May 11 2011 at 8:20pm | IP Logged
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MichelleW wrote:
I bought Learnables last year and I love it. It is very much like Rosetta Stone buts costs much less ($50 versus hundreds), and includes some grammar. It uses cartoon drawings instead of photos. I bought the CD-rom version. Honestly, I was skeptical before I bought it, but I really like it.
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We are using the CD version and have been using it for French for 7 years now. We are using it for preschool through grade 7!
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kristinannie
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| Posted: May 07 2013 at 4:00pm | IP Logged
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I just spent some time on the Fluenz website and I think I am going to purchase it. I'll let you know how I like it!!!
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John Paul 8.5
Meredith Rose 7
Dominic Michael 4.5
Katherine Elizabeth 8 months
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jawgee
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| Posted: May 07 2013 at 7:02pm | IP Logged
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Just a quick note to check and see if your local library offers Mango free for residents. We are lucky that we have that as an option. It's similar to Rosetta Stone in many ways.
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Monica
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 07 2013 at 7:23pm | IP Logged
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We like Learnables as well. I've not tried Rosetta Stone, but I think Learnables is a good value compared to the other programs I researched. We are using it to supplement the German classes my children attend once a week. Most of the other children have native speaking parents and are able to acquire more vocabulary at home, but my son's teacher says he's improved a lot since he started using it. We only use the CD-ROM, not the supplemental book of exercises, so I can't speak to those.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 07 2013 at 7:31pm | IP Logged
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I just wanted to add that the price for Learnables is better at the Homeschool Buyers Coop than I could find anywhere else. 
Also, I remembered that I know people who really like Earworms. I am adverse to most methods that will get stupid songs stuck in my head  , but I can see how it would be very effective, especially if you were learning for fun as a family rather than studying the language more seriously.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SallyT
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| Posted: May 07 2013 at 8:04pm | IP Logged
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My younger kids and I have been enjoying Duolingo for German -- they also do French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and more. It's free, it's fun, and it's a decent way to acquire some vocabulary and conversational basics.
My older son did Deutsch Interaktiv for a year and a half before moving successfully into the second half of a first-year college German course. That was more of a "solid" high-school-level course with a greater emphasis on grammar. And it was free. I love free. He also has used Duolingo some, for fun and extra practice.
Sally
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: May 08 2013 at 12:29pm | IP Logged
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I really want to buy a comprehensive French program for my family this coming year as my DS is entering fourth grade, but the prices of ones like Fluenz and Rosetta Stone scare me!
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Learning language as a family
