Sometimes products become popular not because of their functionality and usefulness but because of brand name and how they are presented. As is the case with Rosetta Stone. The language learning program has been around for years and years and has long reigned as the number one language training solution on the market. But is it still really the best on the market or have consumers closed their eyes to other products because they’ve become accustomed the brand? Research will show the latter to be true.
Rosetta Stone in itself is a good product and no one can argue that, but what can be argued is that since it’s release, other language training products have emerged in the market; products with higher quality content and user-friendly capabilities that surpass those offered by Rosetta Stone. This happened because Rosetta Stone spends most of it’s funding and budget on marketing and advertisements rather than in research and innovation of language solutions. As a result, there are better language learning solutions out there with enhanced capabilities not supported by Rosetta, like Dexway Language Innovation Solutions, for the same or lower costs.
Dexway vs Rosetta Stone
While Dexway and Rosetta Stone are both language training solutions with similar foundational features such as multiple CEFR levels, diverse language catalog, and mobile responsiveness and capabilities, what one has and what the other lacks is what sets them apart. For starters, Rosetta Stone is a company operating mainly in the United States since 1992. Dexway by CAE runs successful operations from the US, Europe, and LATAM since 1981. We mentioned that Rosetta Stone invests heavily on marketing and advertisement and not so much on creating the best, most innovative product. Dexway, on the other hand, has invested most of its time and money in research, innovation, and development of the best language training solution available on the market.
So, what top 12 key features does Dexway have that Rosetta Stone does not?
#1 Specific language solutions for each sector
Dexway is dedicated to bettering the language learning community by offering something for everyone. Unlike Rosetta Stone, Dexway also offers complete language solutions that are specific for the needs of each sector. Where Rosetta Stone has one language solution that is distributed through different channels, Dexway has created sector specific solutions for secondary and higher education, language labs, training academies, public libraries, and more.
#2 Blended Learning Available for Every Sector
Blended learning is the new, innovating learning and teaching model being adopted by educational institutions all over the world. It engages students in both an eLearning environment and face to face trainings so language learning doesn’t have to be only in the classroom or only online – this solution blends both methods together. Dexway offers this blended learning system for language learning in all sectors: corporate, secondary and higher education, and language schools and training centers. Rosetta is restricted and only offers this solution to colleges and universities who fit the profile for it.
#3 Language labs available with or without internet connection for flexibility
For any and every Rosetta Stone solution, stable internet connection is required. Dexway offers flexibility and courses for language labs that are able to run on little or no internet connection. Courses are installed on a local area network for facilities where students cannot access the internet and can be updated by administrators over the wifi or hotspot. For locations with little or no internet, students take the course for as long as they want and scores update when the student is able to connect to the internet again. Even mobile courses work when students are in low reception areas such as the subway or airports and are updated once mobile service has been restored.
#4 Built-in Collins Dictionary
A big complaint of Rosetta Stone Users is the lack of language definitions available inside the course. It is difficult, especially when learning a new language, to not refer to a dictionary every few seconds. Dexway has an exclusive partnership with Collins dictionary and is the only language learning solution that offers a built-in Collins dictionary within the course – Rosetta Stone does not offer any type of dictionary definition for its users. With Dexway’s courses, a student can click on any word within the screen from the instructions to exercises and receive a dictionary definition of that word. On top of that, when the definition for a word opens within the course, students can also listen to a recording of the correct pronunciation of that word – that way students have extra speaking skills practice.
#5 Fully integrated solutions with LMS, courses, and virtual classrooms
Dexway and Rosetta Stone both offer virtual learning, but Dexway’s solution is more wholesome than Rosetta’s. In contrast to Rosetta’s virtual classroom, Dexway’s virtual classroom platform is fully integrated within the educational LMS that supports Dexway courses and forms the entire learning solution, Voluxion. Dexway is the only language learning solution that offers full integration and analytics tied to virtual classroom usage; meaning, Dexway gives administrators access to see when someone has accessed the platform, how often, for how long, etc. Rosetta Stone’s virtual classrooms are hosted outside of their language platform.
#6 Freely Switch Between US and UK English Within the Same Course
Any English learner can tell you, there is always even a slight curiosity about what it would be like to learn both US and UK English. With Dexway English language courses, you can! Unlike Rosetta Stone’s English courses, you can actually switch between US and UK English within the same language course. Exercises in American English are closely tied in real world situations for American culture, where British English courses are based on the British culture – learn all about both US burger and hotdogs and UK fish and chips.
#7 Offers native language in-course help for beginners
Rosetta Stone is very open about the lack of grammar help available to their users and it’s something students have found hard to cope with. Not only does Dexway offer in-course grammar help, but we’ve gone a step further! Beginner level users can choose to have grammar help in their own native language. For example, a Brazilian student in the beginning stages of learning English, will have all grammar rules and information presented to them in Portuguese, making it easy to understand key language skills and concepts. Also in the student’s native language is the course syllabus and manual that explains every functionality and instructions for each course.
#8 User-friendly Smart Educational LMS
Dexway language solutions are much more than just a regular language course. Where Rosetta Stone sells a language course in a box, Dexway emerges as a product that truly is a complete language solution. Aside from being a language training program with an impressively structured curriculum, Dexway also has one of the most user-friendly and advanced educational LMS systems on the market to support these courses. LMS administrators can host Dexway courses on the LMS, but can also create and add their own courses, track student progress, manage online group classes, and more.
#9 No Clunky CDs Required
It’s 2016 and Rosetta Stone is still out distributing CDs for software. What happens to CDs? They get lost, scratched, broken, or simply become outdated and useless. Dexway has evolved from that. All Dexway language courses are available as SaaS – Software as a Service. This means all courses are stored on our cloud and can easily be downloaded, installed, and updated on any computer or hardware.
#10 Teacher’s Guide available for Blended Learning and Labs
The best thing we at Dexway could do to help out our language tutors and instructors is to give them course guides and materials to help increase their productivity in the classroom. Dexway has made a Teacher’s pack available that includes course guides, extra exercises, dynamic activities, and other resources they use to supplement their language lab or blended classes. Rosetta Stone is more focused on the end-user being the student and does not offer extra course resources designed specifically with instructors and teachers in mind.
#11 Clients can create personalized certificates of achievement
Last but not least, the customizable certificate of achievement. Because no one wants to complete a language course without something to show for it, Dexway has provided course administrators with the option of creating a certificate of achievement personalized for each educational institution or company for students upon course completion. Rosetta Stone only offers a basic certificate of completion that can basically be downloaded by anyone on their website and does not require any quality control.
#12 Works with ALL iOS and Android Devices
Dexway offers full compatibility with all iOS and Android devices, take the course on any mobile device available. Rosetta Stone only has a few course components that are fully compatible with both, otherwise, most of their solutions are only available for iPhones and iPads running on iOS.
Click here to discover more of Dexway Language Innovation’s language learning solutions.
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