Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariWhen comparing Rosetta Stone vs Pimsleur, the Slant community recommends Pimsleur for most people. In the question“What are the best sites for learning foreign languages?” Pimsleur is ranked 17th while Rosetta Stone is ranked 23rd. The most important reason people chose Pimsleur is:
Spaced repetition in and between lessons are timed for maximum recall. This also means you can't skip days between lessons, or work ahead. Each level takes one month.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Speech recognition technology
Instead of teaching word recognition, Rosetta Stone uses speech recognition technology to make sure that students are learning to pronounce the words correctly.
Pro Provides immersive learning without uncomfortable experiences
While trying to cary a conversation in a foreign language can be an effective way to learn, sometimes it causes a lot of stress. Rosetta Stone takes this concept and applies it to a stress free environment.
Pro Real human contact
At the end of each lesson, students are able to review live with real teachers.
Pro Games with other students
When learning another language, a learner from that language can be invited to play a game for mutual learning purposes. Unfortunately, Rosetta Stone hasn't spread very much to countries outside of the US, so this game system isn't very developed yet.
Pro Graduated interval recall
Spaced repetition in and between lessons are timed for maximum recall. This also means you can't skip days between lessons, or work ahead. Each level takes one month.
Pro Very effective for beginners
Pimsleur is based on proven memory science, it's not perfect, but it is very effective. Intermediate learners may not get as much out of it.
Pro Learn while you commute
Pimsleur uses daily 30-minute audio lessons. You can probably fit this in while you're driving to work.
Pro Principle of anticipation
Rather than simple listen-and-repeat, you also have to translate phrases and answer questions in the target language during the lessons.
Pro Teaches pronunciation well
Uses the backchaining technique with native speakers.
Cons
Con Makes no use of native language
While Rosetta Stone tries to emulate "learning by immersion," many people find the inability to find direct translations of words to be an unnecessary an ineffective part of the program.
Con Uses the same course for learners of different nationalities
For a user learning English, the course will be the same whether they are Chinese, Russian, Italian, etc.. While this is a good way for the company to remain efficient, many cultural differences are overlooked.
Con Inconvenient meeting times for teachers
For users in the US, it can be easy to find a teacher to work with. In any other country, it can be extremely difficult to find an available teacher because of the differences in timezones.
Con No writing practice
Pimsleur is an audio-only course. This can be easier for beginners learning languages that don't use the Latin alphabet, but for serious language learners, it's a gap they'll have to fill using something else.
Con Expensive
All the CDs for one language cost nearly a thousand dollars. The .mp3's are about half that. Your local library may carry the CDs, those that don't may be able to get them via inter-library loan (ask your librarian). You can also find them used and re-sell them for nearly as much (depending on how long you want to wait), after you finish. Be certain to get the same edition for all levels.
Con Too slow-paced and repetitive for some learners
If you learn quickly, you may find that the 30 minute lessons covering only a small handful of vocabulary move too slowly for you.
Con Limited vocabulary
It teaches hundreds of words. A great start, but not enough to achieve the thousands required for fluency, even with all three levels. Pimsleur deliberately focuses on the most common words of the target language for maximum recall.
