Rosetta Stone Arabic Level 1-3 Set

I almost didn't buy this product due to the highly negative review on this site that I read that discusses the issue of it teaching a very "formal" version of the language and said it was totally worthless. However, after trying some other approaches, I purchased it anyway and gave it a shot. I am so happy I did. It is by far the most effective Arabic teaching tool I have discovered. It has been a joy to learn from Rosetta Stone Arabic.

Let me just begin by saying that George's very negative review makes some valid observations. I think a little explanation of the Arabic language is in order. The Arabic spoken in the street, unlike in English, is very different than the Arabic spoken in formal situations like religious sermons or on television by news reporters. Formal Arabic, known as "fusaha", and also commonly called Modern Standard Arabic, is similar to the classical Arabic used in the Quran and is very different than the type of Arabic used by everyday people in comon situations. Morever, the street dialects of Arabic vary from region to region and are mutually unintelligible. A Lebanese and a Yemeni will not be able to talk together unless they use the formal Arabic, and neither will a Moroccan and a Syrian. But if both are educated, they can use Modern Standard Arabic to communicate.

The questions are really two-fold: One, for what purpose are you learning the language and two, what are the resources at your disposal? If I knew I wanted to learn a specific dialect, say, the type used in Beirut, and that dialect only, perhaps for family reasons, and I had the money to move there and take classes in that dialect, I would absolutely go there and do so. But it is unfair to denigrate Rosetta Stone for not offering such specific courses. Rosetta Stone will never be able to teach all the different dialects in the Arab world. There just simply isn't the demand to make it worthwhile for them. If your purpose is that specific, George is absolutely correct: Save the money you would have spent on Rosetta Stone and just fly there and take classes.

I am studying Arabic to speak to people from different regions, to watch the news, and to read books. For that pupose, the Arabic taught by Rosetta Stone is perfect. And the method they use is incredibly effective. I am learning lots of Arabic every day. And I simply do not have the time, money, or even the interest to spend the next two years overseas learning to speak Arabic like a local. True, I will never fool the next guy over at the cafe in Cairo into asking where in Egypt I grew up. But that isn't my goal.

And believe me, you could do a lot worse. I first tried learning Arabic on my own. Impossible. The grammar is so complex you will absolutely never figure it out on your own. Books can't explain it. And then I invested in an extremely expensive online course taught by an "expert" which cost approximately double Rosetta Stone. Worthless. It was so complex it made Arabic sound like nuclear physics. And the instructor teaches using Arabic words and terms much of the time, so unless you know already lots of complex Arabic grammatical terms, forget it. I will not dignify that program by mentioning the name here so as to deprive it of undeserved publicity.

I swear on my sacred honor I am not affiliated with Rosetta Stone. I don't have any investment in their company, I don't work for them, I just bought their product and am using it. My only purpose in writing this review is to guide other people interested in learning Arabic to a really effective and fun product and away from other paths that are much less useful.

Okay, I do actually own this product, and I have also been a student of Arabic for some years now. I really would not recommend Rosetta Stone products for non-European languages for several reasons, but I focus on the Arabic here (and I assume the learner is a native English speaker):

-The type of Arabic this teaches you is called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Fusha. This is the "higher register" of Arabic which is used in formal settings by the educated class: the news, academics, some clerics, most literature. Generally, Arabic speakers use a local dialect of Arabic, which is very, very different from this version of the language. For instance: imagine reading a work of Medieval "Middle" English. The language would be mostly quasi-familiar English words, but most of the usage, pronunciation, and grammar would seem tricky, overly complex, or old-fashioned. You would be able to understand some of it, but would miss a bit, too. "The sky is blue" would be like "de heofon ist hewn bleu." MSA is like that to 90% of Arabic speakers: not totally gibberish, but not approachable either. Don't misunderstand me though, all Arabic learners should learn MSA, but know that you won't be speaking it much.

-The reverse is also a problem. You can speak all the MSA you want (from Rosetta Stone or elsewhere) but almost no one will speak it back to you, and some people will literally laugh in your face for speaking that way. None of the living dialects of Arabic are that close to MSA, so even if you memorized every word of Rosetta Stone Arabic, you would not be able to understand almost anyone who didn't go to university.

-To make matters even weirder, Rosetta Stone Arabic included the highly complicated case endings (called Iraab) on all the words. That is to say, there are certain changes to the last vowels of most words in the most formal of formal Arabic literature, like the Qur'an, the Bible, and poetry. These case endings mark what part of speech is being used, so for example "kitaab" is "book," "kitaabun" is "book" if it is the subject of the sentence, "kitaabi" is "book" if it is direct object, "kitaaba" is "book" if it is in a prepositional phrase, etc. It is very complex and NO ONE EVER, EVER SPEAKS THAT WAY, even in MSA. Iraab use is technically correct, but even native speakers get confused by it (and rightly so). Not only does it not reflect any normal Arabic speech, because Rosetta Stone does not explain any grammar directly, I seriously doubt anyone would be able to sort out the meanings of the case endings just from context. This one was a major blunder that is mind-boggling for such an expensive product.

-More on the grammar bit: it is great that Rosetta Stone wants to avoid speaking English, but Arabic grammar is not intuitive for English speakers. Therefore, unless you already have a fair bit of Arabic grammar, you will be completely confused. For example, in Arabic there is a system of root letters that make up most words. The pattern of these roots changes depending on meaning, so if a book is "green" it is "akhdar," but if a car is "green" it is "khadr'." Unless you already know that Arabic has a masculine/feminine gender system, and a root for greeness based on the letters kh-d-r, you would not be able to deduce what was happening (I really, really doubt it anyway.) Arabic has lots of grammar that throws English speakers for a loop and needs to be explained directly and in detail: there are tons of ways to pluralize, a "dual" case between singular and plural, a very different sentence structure, and on and on.

-There is no cultural context provided, which is really strange. Why would I need to know the word for "sandwich" in the formal register of Arabic? Why does it teach how to say someone is "Russian" or "Japanese" and not how to say they are "Jordanian," "Saudi Arabian," or "Moroccan"?

I could only imagine two reasons someone would find Rosetta Stone Arabic useful:
1. If they already spoke some Arabic and wanted a refresher course in the more formal parts of the language, which I guess could happen.
2. They wanted to focus specifically on Arabic literature of some sort and already had some familiarity with Arabic grammar and syntax.

Do not buy this product if:
1. You want to learn Arabic from scratch on your own. You will learn nothing at all, I swear.
2. You are traveling to the Arab world and want some basic speaking skills.
3. You want to learn about Arab culture or the language's use and history.

I didn't intend to rant but this is a very expensive product and it really is not worth the cd its copied on. If you want to learn MSA or one of the many dialects (or better yet, both), get a dictionary, a class, and a plane ticket.

I completed all three levels of this course. Then Rosetta Stone upgraded to V4 TOTALe which is even better. I learned French in College and this is 10x better, easier and more fun. The immersion approach, not getting any translations, is hard to adjust to but I recomend simply "let the tool do the work" and you will start to "get it". As it all starts to sink in, you will find that it "sticks". If you just cannot stand not knowing, I recommend the "Visual Arabic English Dictonary" as a supplement. Also, if you look around at Rosetta Stone, they have the curricula in PDF form for all their languages including English. So that course is very similar to the Arabic and you can use the two PDF documents as a "Cheat sheet" but try not to.

I would say that each of the levels takes about 40-50 hours to complete. You should then expect to review these levels periodically, using the review feature, every few weeks for a few hours. To be really effective, I think you should be ready to spend at least 5-6 hours, preferably 7+ per week. If life intervenes, at least use the review feature to keep your mind on what you learned. Stick with it and you will be rewarded. I suggest getting all three levels. If you enjoy it, you will want all levels. If you don't, Rosetta Stone has a no questions asked return policy in the first six months.

For soldiers preparing for overseas duty, know that you are more likely to encounter Pashto and Urdu in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Arabic is spoken in Iraq and essentially all Muslim countries west of there except Turkey. This course is useful none-the-less as it is he core language of this culture. You will, for example, be able to understand Arabic news and web sites.