Rosetta Stone Version 3: Hindi Level 1, 2 & 3 Set with Audio Companion

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 6 ratings

Price:

Last update: 09-04-2024


About this item

Includes Audio Companion CDs to reinforce your language learning anytime any place
Included is a USB microphone headset that allows you to listen to the program and practice pronouncing words correctly while working with Rosetta Stone's proprietary speech recognition and analysis tools
Contextual Formation feature uses real-world simulations to give you the benefits you need to succeed
Adaptive Recall Language feature tracks progress to reinforce your strengths and revisit needs
Intuitive, sequential learning makes every lesson count and build progressivelyMinimum System Requirements

Top reviews from the United States

P. Shockley
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Program
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2009
I am a language teacher and this is a much better way to learn a language than others that I have seen. I learned Spanish in the traditional manner (memorization) in about 2 years. However, I am making headway in Hindi much faster than I did in Spanish even with learning a new alphabet.

The software has no problems running on my 2.5 year old system. Make sure that your system complies with the specifications laid out. The supplied USB headset is very good; much better than a typical headset. I have been using it for about 2 months and the software has never had any hang-ups on my system.
Tamie Smitherman, R.Ph.
5.0 out of 5 stars Rosetta Stone Hindi
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2008
This is my first foreign language at 49 years. It took me several weeks to get the hang of it, but now it is speeding up. It is an intuitive program. and the associative pictures really do help to integrate your memory. It is easier than just the audio programs I have purchased over the years and never retained the knowledge. My favorite feature is the voice activated recording that graphs your voice against the correct pronouciation. It is so cool and instructive.
Marmot
4.0 out of 5 stars Well-designed, engaging program but not a total solution.
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2009
I've made it through the first three sections of Level One and I'm enjoying it a lot. Rosetta Stone is very easy and intuitive to get into - you simply match phrases with pictures and, by using the visual associations you've already made, learn new material. No language other than Hindi is used anywhere in the interactive lessons.

You should definitely learn the Devanagari script before you start, because RS does not use transliteration. While it does explicitly teach you certain Devanagari characters along the way, the pace is extremely slow. I feel you'll be able to make associations between characters and the spoken sounds in RS much more quickly if you already have some familiarity with the script (I recommend Rupert Snell's book).

The program is visually appealing, with lots of quality photography and audio - it seems like there are at least two different male and two different female native speakers on the audio, which gives you a broad variety of pronunciation references. It clearly took a lot of effort and money to create this product.

However, if you're not careful it's easy to coast along on the beautiful surface of the program, and not learn as much as you really can from it. For example, in order to teach you colors, the program relies on your prior knowledge of other vocabulary, so it might show you four pictures of objects and give you a sentence such as "the apple is red". It's really easy to click on the picture of the apple because you know the word for "apple", and completely ignore the new word "red" that they're trying to teach you. Even if I'm not doing a "speaking" section, where my voice is being recorded and analyzed, I still like to repeat all sentences and really study the text.

The default pacing of this program is too fast, I think - it always wants to move you relentlessly forward, but it's important to pause once in a while and really look closely at what's on the screen. For instance, sometimes you'll be given four pictures, and hear audio of a sentence (but no text) and have to choose a picture. Only after you've finished the screen does the text of each sentence fade up next to its picture - and it stays up only several seconds before the screen fades out and the next one comes up. I find myself scrambling to hit "pause" so I can really read the words and see how they're spelled.

For me personally, the intuitive approach is a great way to be introduced to new material, but in order to really learn the structure of the language, especially grammar, I've been looking at other, more traditional sources, such as Snell's "Teach Yourself Hindi", that lay out the rules rather than have you guess them.

I also find that once I've gotten through a section, it's almost impossible to refer back to a specific screen to refresh my memory, because sections are named very vaguely, and individual screens are only numbered. For instance, if you wanted to revisit the screen where they first introduce the words for the rooms of a house, it would be a frustrating exercise in trial and error. For this reason alone it's a good idea to have a Hindi-English dictionary and a grammar book or more traditional course on hand as well as RS.

Although it's hard to do your own review of specific words or rules, the program does automatically take you through review screens of previously completed sections, based on how many days have passed since you first completed them, which is a useful feature.

Overally I think this is a great product, especially for visual and intuitive learners. Rosetta Stone is unique in its approach, and it's a much more engaging and "entertaining' way to learn than many others out there, but most Hindi students will need other resources as well to really learn the language.
SJ
4.0 out of 5 stars brilliant for speaking,and reading -- average for writing
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2010
I love this program. It has increased my confidence greatly, and because I'm a visual learner, its made a lot of sense. It also does as a previous reviewer mentioned "push relentlessly onward" but I've noticed that the program does loop back on itself, and remind you and repeat words learned before. The separation of male and female, adult and child speaking voices, really helps understand the class and gender issues used in Hindi. And the microphone is amazing... that it listens to you and makes you repeat things also while seeing the writing links the written and the spoken strongly.

In critique, however:
-if you have a slow or old computer, make sure you have plenty of memory, or it may affect the speech recognition feature.
-the use of English words (that are homophones in both English and Hindi) is disappointing, mostly because it relies heavily on many spacial characters and conjugated letters, that are rare... and it misses an opportunity to link viewers to Indian culture.
-These special characters are difficult to type (esp. as you get up into the higher levels) and there is no "cheat sheet" which shows which consonants + vowels, or conjugate consonants make which sort of letter. Sometimes it is obvious, but most times often in the case of homophonic words, it isn't (and I've been at this for a while) -- (If anyone has figured it out please help?)
-the program doesn't recognize ' and ' + ' as the same thing -- it would be the same "written by hand" -- but not in the computer... making a good portion of the letters hard to get "correct" in the written lessons.

BUT - I love this thing. And believe me when I tell you -- I have tried it ALL. Snell, Rao, classroom learning, "teach yourself" series -- all of it... And while those books/knowledge did come in handy when trying to understand what the program was aiming to teach you in a given exercise, this is the first thing that had made it "stick" -- with regular use, of course!

Best Sellers in

 
 

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 17 Standard [Old Version]

3.1 3.1 out of 5 stars 21
 
 

Math Advantage 2009 [OLD VERSION]

3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 21
9.99
 
 

Human Japanese

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 125
36.29
 
 

ITY Interpretype Portable Single-User Keyboard and Screen The Communicator for the Deaf

0 0 out of 5 stars 0
 
 

Reader Rabbit 1st Grade with Learning Creations

0 0 out of 5 stars 0
 
 

A Topographic Field Trip of Washington, D.c.

0 0 out of 5 stars 0
 
 

On Hand LEGENDS OF A MEMORY

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19
9.99
 
 

Quicken Personal Finances Deluxe 2007 [OLDER VERSION]

3.1 3.1 out of 5 stars 112