Berlitz vs. Rosetta Stone

In Regards to Thing #2: "The Lingual Thing"


I had a couple people recommend I check out Berlitz, for their language instruction course, rather than Rosetta Stone.  I have to say, after checking out both sites, I'm much more sold on RS.  I have a much clearer idea of what I'd be getting into, and their educational software seems to have had a lot of time put into its development.

Berlitz, on the other hand, seems to relegate their "self-study" software to a much more secondary role, placing greater emphasis on their live instructional classes (either face-to-face or via the internet).  Whether or not it's more or less effective, I'm much more drawn to the software approach, so I'm pretty damn close to pulling the trigger on this one.

And sorry nay-sayers...but I'm going with Japanese.

Rosetta Stone?

In Regards to Thing #2 ("The Lingual Thing")


As I've talked to folks about my desire to learn a new language, several people have recommended that I look into using Rosetta Stone as an educational tool.  I checked into it online...a couple hundred dollars for Level 1 software?  Over $500 for Levels 1-3?  Really?

May have to shop around for this one...but if it's as good as folks seem to think it is, I'd definitely be willing to make the investment.  Just a little unsure on this one.  Thoughts?