Elephantus, Felis, Canis, Oh My!

We FINALLY splurged on a language course from The Rosetta Stone company. We have been lusting for a chance to use one of their products and we finally took the dive.

They have a special subsection geared to homeschoolers that seems to be a good deal.

The Rosetta Stone language software concept is good for kids who are used to sitting in front of the computer and lack sensation in their behinds *winks* (ok, I really mean, have the computer skills), like to do high tech things for themselves and troubleshoot if need be (there really is no need with this software but it's a good attitude to have in the learning phase for getting acquainted with the user interface, which is very simple), and like to go through the program at their own pace (what kid doesn't?!).

We thought about getting the Spanish or French but we decided on the Latin 1 course.


(Image source: Rosetta Stone)

Level 1 Includes:

3,500+ real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons
More than 300 hours of instruction
Speech recognition for accent perfection
Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills
Previews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials
Written ancillary materials

Why Latin? Well, if Q were to get that invite to festivities at the Vatican next year, she will be prepared. She will also get a firm foundation in the root romance language. Q could pick up on that right away when she said that some of the words reminded her of disease names.

Q especially loves the verbal exercises where she speaks into the microphone we got her and the software lets her know how close it gets to the example sound profiles.

Before we knew it Q had spent hours practicing vocabulary and grammar.

I knew it was a mega-hit when the 3 year old was walking around the room chanting words like "Felis" out loud.

Homo sapiens spongificus, our children.


PS: I don't really care who recommends this product (you will see some of that on the homeschool specific pages) because, as with ANY product, we do extensive research but do not look to these awards and recommendations for real honest input. We figure we will risk the money on the first try and then use it again if it is worth it.
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