Rosetta Stone V3: Spanish (Latin America), Level 1

I'm giving this product a "2", only because of the company's behavior, not because of the product. The product is good, but overpriced. If the price and company were reasonable, it could warrant a 4.

I have purchased Rosetta Stone products twice. Most recently V.3 German, level III, hoping to brush up on my abilities. I found though, that level III really still was not up to my level (I've been active with the language for 22 years). So, I sought to simply resell it and recoupe some of my money.

However, I found that Rosetta Stone and Amazon, along with other retailers, have entered into an unholy pact to stop customers from reselling the products that they have bought and paid for. Imagine buying a car down at your local dealer, and when you go to resell it, they block you from selling, and no newspaper will take your ad! Isn't this called racketeering or something? Despicable!

So, reluctantly, I must say that I can no longer recommend Rosetta Stone products, even though they are essentially fine language learning tools. The company however, has devolved from one nobly engaged in spreading knowledge and making, I'm sure, a tidy profit, into a mere money-grubbing operation.

There are numerous other language learning software and methods out there that work well, don't cost as much, and are produced by admirable companies. I, for instance, became fluent in German without ever even having heard of Rosetta Stone. Until Rosetta stone relents on this racket they are in with Amazon and other sellers, I will not buy another product from them.

I bought Rosetta Stone Levels 1 & 2 for my son to keep up his language skills over the summer. He never really got into the programs, using them for only an hour or two, so I decided not to keep them. Because we were beyond the 30-day return period, I decided to list the discs on eBay, to try to recover some of my $300. I received a legal notice saying that Rosetta Stone would not permit the sale. Rosetta Stone said that I hadn't really bought the programs, just a license to use them, and that I couldn't sell the packages I had paid over $300 for. Legally, they're probably right, but this corporate policy is unfair, and it's a poor way to treat customers. I paid good money for this product, it didn't have the value I expected, and now they're legally blocking me from selling it to somebody else. That just isn't right. I don't think I've ever left a negative review like this before, but potential buyers deserve to know how Rosetta Stone treats customers after the fact.

Honestly, I was a little skeptical about buying this software at first, but now I am glad that I did buy it. In one month this software has taught me more Spanish than I learned in two years of high school Spanish classes. Rosetta Stone is a little over priced, but it does work.

I am currently in using the product and I think it's great. I'm a visual learner so it works out but I do have to say that you should get a Spanish to English dictionary. The headphones\microphone that come with the software are not very good. Even speaking in a clear loud voice it misses words. I'm not talking about hard to say ones, it misses words like "el" and "la" even with several attempts. I used the onboard mic on my laptop and it seems to be better.

Other than the headphones I am pleased with the software so far.

Came in speedy time, just as described. Great, easy to use and really learn from it.