Friday, July 18, 2008

Rosetta Stone V3: Spanish (Latin America), Level 3

Why is Rosetta Stone the world's No. 1 language-learning software? Because it works.

Escape the endless tedium of translation, memorization, and grammar drills. Get the language you want, the skills you need and the success you deserve by learning a new language naturally--the same way you learned your first language.



The complete immersion environment puts your native language-learning skills to work, eliminating your dependence on tedious translation and rote memorization.

Images Intuition

In Rosetta Stone you learn the meaning of new language from clear, real-life images.


In this activity you learn colors.

You advance using language you've learned and clues from new images. That's your intuition at work.


Now that you know colors, you can easily grasp the meaning of the new words...

Interactivity Instruction

Throughout Rosetta Stone, you constantly interact with the program to confirm your intuition.


...and then check what you've learned.

From beginning to end you build systematically toward your language-learning goals, for the most effective and enjoyable instruction anywhere.


And finally, you get the fun of trying your new language in a real-life simulation. Speech recognition shows you exactly how you're doing.

You learned your first language without translation.
You learned your first language easily and naturally by connecting words to objects and events around you. With Rosetta Stone, learn a new language the same way: using native speakers and thousands of real-life images to help you think in the new language from the very beginning. Studies show that learning exclusively in the new language, without translation as a crutch, is crucial.

The exclusive Dynamic Immersion method reinforces your natural language-learning skills with award-winning instructional technology. Identify your learning goals, then choose customized courses that take you there.

The timeless immersion method, along with research-based techniques and new technologies, make Rosetta Stone the clear solution to your language-learning needs.

What will you be able to do?

Understand everyday language.
Through Rosetta Stone's proficiency-based listening and reading activities, you'll learn quickly.

Pronounce words correctly.
After practicing with Rosetta Stone's speech recognition and analysis tools, pronunciation will come easily.

Speak without a script.
Contextual Formation makes sure you have the confidence and cues you need to get the words out on the spot.

Spell and write accurately.
You'll build gradually from letters to words and sentences.

Engage in real-life conversations.
With Milestone activities, gain confidence using speech alone in simulated situations.

Retain what you learn.
The unique Adaptive Recall reinforces language so it sticks with you in the real world.
Customer Review: great system
I am now on the 3rd and final level of Rosetta Stone's Spanish (Latin America). I have been very impressed with the series. I do also use Pimsleur Spanish CDs in my car to supplement my learning. I'd recommend both to anyone interested in learning any language.
Customer Review: Installation challenges
This version is sold as Vista compatible, however installation was not straight forward with Vista Ultimate as operating system. Once installed there is an error message as the file framedynos.dll is not found. We needed to copy it into the program directory. The activation program does not work with Vista, we needed to disconnect the PC from the internet and activate via phone. Neither of these two problems was listed in the manual. The good thing was that the phone service was available even late in the night. Once these two hurdles were overcome the program seems to be working well.


For all the ubiquity of post-punk inspired bands flooding the mainstream over recent years, the amount of truly innovative music they have collectively produced has been disappointing by comparison. It's not difficult to see why; the original class of 78-82 set the bar high and bequeathed one of the most astonishingly imaginative musical legacies ever - a lavish cross-pollination that embraced punk, disco, dub reggae, funk, glam and krautrock to often dizzying extremes. And while some of these acts (Talking Heads, Wire) have become touchstones for a generation of indie kids, other key players (Associates, Magazine) have proved simply too rich to rob - talents so 'out there' as to defy influence.

It's a willingness to experiment, both musically and technologically, that's been missing of late. All the aforementioned artists broke new ground in the studio and, in their own ways, redefined what the pop single could be - mental but magnificent, yet still within detection of the Smash Hits radar. Certainly, the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Maximo Park have produced top-notch material in recent years but, worryingly, little new ground has been broken and the 30-year-old model remains the blueprint.

Thank flip, then, for Foals and their wonderful new album, Antidotes. Ostensibly, given their youth, NME-darling status and oft-mentioned Skins appearance, it would be easy to dismiss this Oxford bunch as yet more spiky-guitar-driven, jerky vocal, Gang of Four wannabes. Not so. Foals have ambition by the truckload and, while their influences are clearly apparent, they've applied them in new and unpredictable ways. And finally, thrillingly, over a decade after Oasis single-handedly kicked the cack out of musical progression, here's a guitar band that's clearly in love with the studio, electronics and the notion of stretching possibility.

The singles Cassius and Balloons are perfectly formed pop confections that, like with all the best albums, only scratch the surface of the whole. African-influenced guitars abound but it's the concise drive and restrained neurosis that strikes, as well as the arresting use of saxophone (think Mirror In The Bathroom rather than Baker Street). The album's true heart lies deeper, however, and the tension is released throughout Antidotes at several key moments, so when everyone stops to admire the beautiful view they've created, - the heart-rending chorus of Red Sock Pugie; the gentle ascent of Big, Big Love (vaguely reminiscent of Unforgettable Fire-era U2) - it's exhilarating.

At last, the noughties have their own Fear of Music, Chairs Missing or Fourth Drawer Down - a record driven by an impulse to create something new, where musical dexterity is of secondary importance to the idea, but still retaining one foot on the dance floor. Yes, that good.

http://www.whatswinning.com

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