Rosetta Stone

I could write on and on about Rosetta Stone, but I will make it short. You've seen the commercials and more likely than not seen their kiosks in the malls. So, does it work? In short, yes. But with one condition: you have to actually keep up with it. I have had about 7 or 8 different Rosetta Stone courses, I have only fully completed two levels. You must be mucho motivated and it is best to use in conjunction with another course like the Teach Yourself Series. I completed Danish and Farsi, both level 1. The first issue was they kept coming out with new versions, thus making me feel that I was putting effort into "old tech". Most of the ones I had were version 1 with the purple box from 8 years ago or so. The newer ones have gotten better. The second issue was simply making myself want to sit at a computer and click my mouse for an hour.

So, pros and cons...

Pros
- Easy to use
- Greatly improves listening skills
- Good for visual learners

Cons
- Expensive; really expensive
- No dictionary. Of any kind. At all.
- Speaking exercises will make you feel silly (then again clicking on a picture of a balloon on top of an elephant is silly too)