Overall Program Evaluation:
Very good, but with some reservations.

Analysis:
The installation of The Rosetta Stone   2.0 for the Macintosh is simple and straight-forward. Insert the (floppy) application disk into the drive, launch the installer and then, when the program has been successfully copied to the hard drive, drag the floppy icon to the trash. Using the copy now on the hard drive, click on The Rosetta Stone   icon and you're ready to go. The CD-ROM disk must always be in place in the drive in order to run the program.

A folder entitled, "Need Help?", may prove useful in solving a few of the more obvious problems associated with incorrect installation/running or with some of the sound features included in the program. The information in these files could hardly be clearer.

In addition to this on-screen assistance, Fairfield Language Technologies offers a toll-free number as well as an e-mail address for technical support, (help@trstone.com). I took the opportunity to contact the support line to ask a few questions concerning the accelerated version. My call was answered promptly and I was treated with courtesy and respect. The company is to be commended for its easy accessibility and genuine concern for its customers.

The Rosetta Stone   is quite user-friendly and experienced Mac users should have no trouble working their way through the basic elements of its operation. Since the learning curve is not too steep, even the novice should be able to come to terms with the functions of the program in a relatively short period of time. Once the student has become familiar with the tools at hand, s/he will find that the operating system becomes second-nature. This allows the student to concentrate on the material being learned without becoming lost in the complexities of the operating system.

The Rosetta Stone   is well organized and logical, its operation smooth and transparent. The user always knows exactly where s/he is working and can access virtually all of its features from unit to unit and from chapter to chapter at any time. This is done, of course, through the mouse. The purpose of the application icons which lead us through the operation of the program is fairly obvious, even to the novice. My favorite is a little figure wearing a parachute who indicates "bail out" (quit). A runner signifies "run" (begin) the program and a trumpeter introduces the credits for the program.

The Rosetta Stone   allows a plethora of choices which should keep just about everyone happy. I find it hard to imagine a more comprehensive array of features presented in such a logical way. Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this review to cover all of them in detail.

To begin the program, we click on The Rosetta Stone icon in the main menu. A few seconds later we find ourselves at the entrance to the program exercises.

Here we may choose from among 8 units, each with eleven or twelve different chapters of increasing difficulty. These may be easily reached by a simple click of the mouse. As the student progresses from Unit 01-01 through Unit 08-12 s/he will encounter approximately 1100 words, as well as the basic elements of German grammar. By the time the student reaches Unit 8, s/he will have to come to terms with the present, simple past and perfect tenses of "sein" and "haben", future tenses, demonstratives, relatives, comparatives and superlatives, etc. With the exception of Unit 8, the last lesson is always a repetition ("Wiederholung") of the material just covered. This is a very comprehensive program.

Let us examine Unit 01-01 more closely. Like all the others in The Rosetta Stone, the exercises in this unit offer the student practice in a wide array of material: vocabulary, nouns and prepositions, present tense verbs, adjectives, counting, time, pronoun substitution, the accusative case and negation, interrogative pronouns. Chapter levels are closely integrated with one another so that the material learned in one lesson appears again elsewhere. This is good pedagogy and extremely effective. The authors of the program never lose sight of solid teaching methodology. They constantly reinforce what has already been covered in earlier sections and build upon it: this is the real strength of The Rosetta Stone .

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