Rosetta Stone

Founded in 1992, Rosetta Stone is a language learning software company offering instruction in more than 25 languages. This is one of the most famous language learning programs in the United States. Many people will recognize its marketing within the last 20 years. It was even sold in mall kiosks.

Rosetta Stone's learning method is based on interactive language immersion, rather than an English explanation of each new word or concept. This immersion style program introduces new information through sights and sounds, phrases, and in-context conversations. The program uses a lot of image association and deductive reasoning to teach you how to react to grammatical patterns. It uses instant feedback (right/wrong), speech recognition, and repetition to teach languages. For a price, you can add online tutoring in a webinar with a live instructor.

While you used to be able to buy Rosetta Stone via CD-Rom sets, this option has been phased out for a more subscription-based system, but may be available for some languages. Subscribing gets you access via your web browser, as well as mobile apps, which offer the option to download lessons for times when you don’t have internet access. However, you subscribe to just one language. Adding a language to your account requires a fee.

If interested, you can start a free trial with three full days of access, without even entering a credit card. There are several membership options:

• 3-Month — $79
• 6-Month — $119
• 12-Month — $179
• 24-Month — $249

Rosetta Stone also offers special options for businesses and schools.