Hello! My name is Will. I am from New Jersey, USA. My knowledge

I would be interested in your take on Rosetta Stone. I've had it for about five years and never actually got all the way through the lessons. Of course, I'm less than assiduous about studying it; I'll work on it for a few weeks and then drop it for a few months. There's a lot I like about it; there's a lot that frustrates me. Anyway, what are your thoughts on it?

@wbascara
Welcome, Will! I had a lot of difficulty with Rosetta Stone -- it's supposed to be better to learn the language naturally, but with the grammar of Tagalog being so much different, I kept wanting them to do at least a little explaining of what was going on structurally...I admit I quit their program after a couple hours.

@Diegocorry - What did you like and dislike about it?

@TLDCAdmin - I just happen to learn better by doing and that is what I think is the advantage of Rosetta Stone. I’m sure a lot would agree. But yes I also wanted to know what’s going on with the grammar plus I wanted to know more words not encountered on Rosetta Stone. I do wish it was complete on those aspects. I’m glad I came across this site as it begins to go about those quite good.

@wbascara I like the fact that it teaches by having you learn without supplying English translations. I think translations are, for the most part, more of a hindrance than a help in language learning. I also like that it offers (for a price!) the opportunity to chat with native speakers. I don't care for the spelling lessons - I don't think they're all that necessary or helpful. Also, a very nit-picky thing I don't like is how they have the speaker "balloons" set up: sometimes it's impossible to discern that the person in the photo is the speaker (like I said, nit-picky). Also, I agree with @TLDCadmin that Philippine languages are so much different structurally and grammatically that some helps might be beneficial. Overall though, RS is far better than trying to learn from a textbook. Also, the last I knew, neither Babbel nor Duolingo offered Tagalog. This site (TagalogLessons) is nothing less than spectacular in the depth and variety of its resources, and in the very knowledgeable and more-than-willing-to-help people that populate it. So, mabuhay! and happy learning!

@Diegocorry: I think that the speaking and typing exercises in Rosetta Stone were good enough for me. I do think proper spelling was crucial to me as I easily confused terms. Yes, I also think it's nit-picky regarding the speaker to picture parts; it's not aesthetically pleasing. But I am glad I started out with it and I have no regrets. Thank you for your regards. Ingat po.

@TLDCAdmin: Is there a lesson module here for enclitics such as "pa", "pala", "naman", or yata? Or can you recommend another site or forum post here?

@Diegocorry: Same question above. Thank you both.

@wbascara Check the FlashCards section.

@Diegocorry: I have gone through them. Getting most wrong, I could use a lesson/explainer. :-(

@wbascara Wish I could be more help here. The book "Elementary Tagalog" by Jiedson R. Domigpe and Nenita Pambid Domingo offers some lessons on enclitics. I purchased it through Amazon a few years ago, and find it to be a very good resource for all things Tagalaog.

@Diegocorry: Salamat po. :-)

@wbascara We don’t have a good lesson on them yet, here. A lot of the online explanations are not great, so it may be worth buying a Tagalog grammar book.Generally, enclitics are really useful to give nuance to Tagalog sentences.I would go over those flash cards until you get them memorized, as a first step. There are some nuances after that, but it’s a good starting point for the basic meaning of those enclitics. As a beginner, I don’t think there’s a good way outside of memorization as a first step.
www.tagaloglessons.c om/flashcards/cheat_ sheet.php?flash_card _set_id=74&back

@TLDCAdmin: Salamat po din.