BootsnAll Travel Community

HI all,

I want to learn Farsi, and since I can't take it at school, my only other option is a CD or Software program.

Now, I haven't done extensive research, but from what I've seen, it looks like my choices will come down between Rossetta and Pimsleur.

Here's what I've gathered so far:

Pimsleur:

Great because you can take anywhere. Very fast at getting you to a conversational level.

Rosetta:

Interactive (type or pick your answer, etc) and helpful with becoming literate. Must be used with a computer.

I don't know how in depth I want to go just yet. I do know someone that speaks Farsi that I talk to quite a bit, so I would have someone to practice with. Other than that, I don't know!!!

I'd love to hear from someone that's used both programs.

Chris

I've used Pimsleur and been somewhat exposed to Rosetta. I enjoyed Pimsleur overall (at least the Chinese version), but it certainly won't make you in the slightest bit fluent, but none of these programs will. It will, however, give you some useful basic phrases and give you a pretty decent accent. I used a little of the Mandarin when I was in Kunming and locals understood me no problem.

The U.S. State Department recently bought a few hundred copies of Rosetta Stone and makes it available to Foreign Service Officers and their families who are overseas and want to do a little training on their own so I guess that is an endorsement.

I'd suggest using both if you have a chance, but if you can do only one then I'd start with Pimsleur. Learn some basic phrases and how the language sounds and then start practicing with your friend as much as possible.

Pimsleur is quite expensive, in my experience (don't know about Rosetta Stone), so if you can check either out of your local library (perhaps through inter-library loan?) first to see if you like it, that'd be a wise idea.

They do have the Pimsleur Farsi course at the Portland, OR library. I know that doesn't exactly help Chris but I had no idea you could check out the Pimsleur courses from the library. The library is so cool, I'm in love!

Calli,

Would you be kind enough to check the disc out and mail them to me?

Looks like the Long Beach library isn't as hip as the Portland one. Imagine that. You damn hipsters and your good library, with books and stuff!

Jessie,

Rosetta is actually a bit more than Pimsleur! This may be because it's computer software, I don't konw.

Ah fudge. I just need to get over my facination and do something else

Thanks for the replies, and keep them coming!

Chris

I don't know about Pimsleur, but Rosetta Stone is excellent. I used to help refugees learn English and we used Rosetta Stone and it was a really good program.

Whatever you decide, check around on the web before you buy - I've seen some good bargains on Ebay and other discount websites.

You also might check WorldCat - this database lets you search all libraries (or those within a geographic area) for a particular item.

Ooh, eBay, that's a good suggestion. I love eBay.

And this is making me think I should check on eBay for the Italian Rosetta Stone for a little extra help!! Perhaps that can be my New Years resolution...

eBay can be a good source. If you have low moral standards (like me) then you might be able to find a lot of the Pimsleur stuff on a BitTorrent type site and download it.

To be honest, if you don't want to dish out the cash for Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone, you could just get some basic little home course from Barnes and Noble and then use some of that money you saved to find a local college kid that you can pay $20 an hour for a few sessions. Those few sessions of actual one on one attention will probably be worth more than the entire beginner Pimsleur course.

quote:

To be honest, if you don't want to dish out the cash for Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone, you could just get some basic little home course from Barnes and Noble and then use some of that money you saved to find a local college kid that you can pay $20 an hour for a few sessions. Those few sessions of actual one on one attention will probably be worth more than the entire beginner Pimsleur course.

This is true - I bought one of the tape series to learn Spanish (Learn in Your Car Spanish), which was fine for getting the basics down. In fact, I was surprised at how much I learned from it in 9 months. However, I really started improving when I took semi-private lessons from a local Spanish teacher who gives lessons on the side.

Hello all,

Just wanted to drop by and say thanks for all the advice, and give a bit of an update:

I ended up getting the Rosetta Stone Faris program, and I LOVE IT! It may be because I'm easily amused, but I actually enjoy the lessons. The only issue some may have is that there are no translations. It's supposed to be an immersion method (not that you can get that from a program).

For those of you that are interested, it seems that Pimsleur also has low cost courses. I believe the full Pimsleur comes with 30 half hour lessons and retails for about $200. You can get the first 16 lessons in the basic program for around $30-35 on Amazon. That's the prices for Farsi, but I reckon it's similar for the other languages. After a bit of time with RS I may pick that up as well.

Chris

Yeah, I've found with Rosetta Stone that you also need to have a good ol' fashioned paper dictionary

I've been using Rosetta to learn russian. I find it really easy to use and the lessons are a nice length. It certainly helps my pronunciation. Just need to keep going on it regularly until July when I'm over there.....only then will I see its effect I suppose

Hey Hooley,

Have you been using the speaking feature on Rosetta? I've heard mixed results on it, so if you have, let me know your thoughts on it.

Hey Chris,

Yeah I've been using the speaking feature on there. There is a little dial on the right hand side of the screen that indicates accuracy. It stays in the red you arent pronouncing it right, it goes to green and your good.

To be honest I found it a little tricky at first but noticed there are three word speeds on there so you can start off saying the words slowly and then speed up as you get more confident. I like it to be honest with you but can understand why some people would get frustrated.

Cheers

Chris

Hello all,

I found a site selling the Pimsleur CD's that lets you sample an entire 30 minute lesson. Here's the link.

I just picked up Pimsleur Spanish at the library and am really enjoying it. They provide lots of repitition but do it in the context of a conversation to keep it interesting. The only downside so far is that, since it's a CD, there's no way to get feedback on your pronunciation.

I've tried both. Pimsleur really forced me to imprint the phrases in my mind. Rosetta Stone was ok, but nothing stuck. It wasn't worth the time.

With that, you don't learn grammar with Pimsleur, and will have to supplement it with an old-fashioned text book.