Babbel vs Rosetta Stone: Is Babbel better than Rosetta Stone
The argument of Babbel vs Rosetta Stone mainly depends on what kind of language learner you are, what language you want to learn and how far you want to go with your language. First of all, let’s take a look of simple compression of these two language learning products.
PS: if you would like to know more language learning tools, read more about Babbel vs. Duolingo and the full Babbel Review.
Overview of Babbel vs Rosetta Stone
Babbel | Rosetta Stone | |
Price | $12.95/month to $83.40/year | $11.99/month to $ 249/Lifetime |
Language options | 14 languages available | 30+ languages available |
Focus | Helps with beginner conversation phrases | Grammar and vocabulary |
Some features both programs have:
- Speech recognition
- Personalized review sessions
- Mobile applications to study on-the-go
- A variety of subscriptions/purchasing options
Babbel vs Rosetta Stone: What I Like About Each Platform
Babbel | Rosetta Stone |
Conversational language that you’re likely to use in real life. | Tries to mimic how a child learns |
10 to 15 minutes bite-sized lessons | Many languages available (more than 30) |
Offline mode supported | Classroom modules are available |
The methods of Babbel and Rosetta Stone are using is quite different.
The approach Babbel uses is aimed at creating “The shortest path to real-life conversation.” It does this through short 10-15 minutes lessons that are focused on material that will get you conversational.
However, Rosetta Stone aims to be a full immersion experience, where all skills are trained through listening and image-matching exercises, and their advanced TruAccent™ speech-recognition technology.
Babbel vs Rosetta Stone: What I Dislike About Each Platform
Babbel | Rosetta Stone |
Only 14 languages are available | Repetitive exercises revolve around matching pictures to words |
No serious spoken component | Lacks cultural information and translations |
Repetitive exercises that aren’t very unique. | Only starts at a beginner level |
Content quantity varies by language | High price |
For the shortcomings, I really dislike that there are only 14 languages are available on Babbel: German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Turkish, Dutch, Polish, Norwegian, Indonesian, Russian, Danish and English. If the language you are going to learn is not in the list, you have to go away and look other choices.
As to Rosetta Stone, I must say that the immersion method may work for some people while it may not work for the majority. The platform forces the language learner to rely on their own intuition to comprehend the meaning of each word in the foreign language. If you are not an intuitive learner, it is very hard to start with Rosetta Stone.
Is Babbel better than Rosetta Stone?
It depends on what you’re looking for. Please think about if you want an immersion approach or explanations in your native language, what topics you would like to focus on, and what aspects of a language that are important to you.
Rosetta Stone seems to offer more languages. So, if the language you want to learn is not in the list of Babbel, you can choose Rosetta Stone, Duolingo or other language learning platforms.
However, if you are not an intuitive learner, starting with Babbel or Duolingo would be better.
Finally, please Keep in mind that neither apps are designed strictly to help you reach fluency in conversation, and investing in either applications expecting to become a fluent speaker in months is false. I think both Babbel and Rosetta Stone are the perfect addition to a real language teacher, while you should never expect an online learning software to replace a teacher.