Picking the right language program can be tricky, especially with big names like Living Language and Rosetta Stone. I’ve used both, and they each have something great to offer.
Living Language teaches with clear lessons, grammar tips, and real conversations—perfect if you like structure.
Rosetta Stone is all about full immersion, using pictures and no translations to help you think in the language.
So, which one is better? It really depends on how you learn best. Let’s break down their methods, features, and what makes each one special so you can choose the right fit for your language-learning journey!
Bottom Line: Rosetta Stone has a little edge over Living Language because of its content quality and easy-to-use user interface. Learning a new language is always difficult, so you would want a platform that will make things easier for you, and Rosetta Stone is that platform in my recommendation. Try Rosetta Stone for yourself to know the difference.
Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone 2025: Which One Is Better for Learning?
When it comes to learning a new language, choosing the right program can make a huge difference in your progress.
Living Language and Rosetta Stone are two of the most well-known options, but they take very different approaches. Understanding how they work can help you decide which one fits your learning style best.
What Is Living Language?
Living Language is a structured, textbook-style language program that focuses on building vocabulary, understanding grammar, and practicing real-world conversations. It was originally developed by language experts for the U.S. government and later adapted for everyday learners.
One of the best things about Living Language is that it provides clear explanations and translations, making it great for those who like to understand why a language works the way it does.
The program includes audio lessons, written exercises, and online activities, so you get a well-rounded learning experience. If you enjoy a step-by-step approach with clear rules, Living Language is a solid choice.
What Is Rosetta Stone?
Rosetta Stone takes a completely different approach. Instead of teaching grammar and translations, it immerses you in the language from the very beginning. The program uses pictures, sounds, and repetition to help you learn words and phrases naturally—just like a child learns their first language.
With Rosetta Stone, you won’t see direct translations. Instead, you’ll connect words to images and rely on context to understand meaning.
It also includes a speech recognition tool that helps you practice pronunciation. If you’re a visual learner or someone who enjoys a learn-by-doing approach, Rosetta Stone could be a great fit.
Rosetta Stone vs Living Language: Languages Offered By Them
Living Language
Living language offers a number of language learning programs like Arabic, English, Dutch, German, French, Polish, Dothraki, Japanese, Spanish, Hindi, Greek, Portuguese, Tagalog, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew, Italian, Irish, Swahili, Vietnamese, Korean as well as American sign language plus a few more as well. You can start from the basics to advance. You can also watch the videos of native speakers of that particular language. It is your choice which one you have to start with. If you already know the basics, you can select intermediate options rather than wasting time doing basics again and again.
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta stone’s course is available in 24 languages. However, when it comes to the mobile application of the software, it discriminates. The languages offered for Android and iOS devices are different. All 24 language learning programs are available for iOS users. In contrast, as for Android users, there are selective language learning programs available, like German, French, Italian, and Spanish taught by native speakers. This is one of the features that I really do not like because the language learning programs offered need to be the same regardless of the device.
Rosetta Stone vs Living Language – The Differences
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone offers a variety of exercises to help you focus on language learning. The course is divided into units that cover words and phrases, starting from the basics and gradually increasing in difficulty. It caters to both beginners and intermediate learners, although the abundance of exercises can become repetitive, potentially leading to a loss of interest in learning.
The course heavily relies on images, requiring you to guess the word based on the picture presented, without any additional explanations. While this method can be effective, it may also be challenging for those who are just starting out. The repetitive nature of the exercises might contribute to a sense of boredom over time.
Rosetta Stone focuses on developing listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Their speech recognition engine, known as “TruAccent,” helps learners perfect their pronunciation.
Additionally, the “Extended Learning” section includes stories, games, and features that allow you to compete against other learners studying different languages. In certain languages, you also gain access to a helpful phrasebook.
Living Language
Living Language offers you the opportunity to choose from a variety of 20 languages. They provide several language learning programs that include textbooks and audio CDs featuring native speakers. You can also take their materials offline to study with physical resources alongside their software.
Their courses are organized into different categories, such as travel, business, or jobs. After selecting a language, such as Spanish, you will be prompted to choose a course level, which is divided into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.
Each lesson includes flashcards related to specific topics, such as food. These flashcards display a picture alongside the word, and when you click on the card, you can hear the pronunciation. Once you complete the flashcard activity, you proceed to the next section, which focuses on grammar or vocabulary.
At the end of each lesson, you can engage in games and listen to conversations. You have the flexibility to switch between different activities as you learn. For instance, you can start with vocabulary through words and phrases and then move on to games in the next segment. While Living Language has a suggested order for lessons, it allows you to follow your interests.
As you progress and win games, your proficiency percentage increases, and you earn rewards such as medals, stickers, and more. The number of lessons available can vary depending on the language you choose.
Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone-Pricing Review
Living Language Pricing
Living language offers comprehensive courses starting from $25 per month to their specialty courses for jobs, business, and travel at $15 per month. The prices vary from languages to languages. When I tried learning French through living language it said $39/month which is too expensive for me. This price is much higher because there are too many competitors providing the course in fewer prices. You can also order textbooks and audio CDs through their website at different prices.
Rosetta Stone Pricing
The subscription to Rosetta stone is different based on the number of months you chose for. Currently, for $299 Rosetta stone provides lifetime membership, and by the number of months you select, you get the plan accordingly starting from $11.99/month for 3 months which will only have one language whereas for 12 months paying $14.92/month you can have unlimited language subscription. The prices vary due to subscription length.
Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone-Lessons
Both the software aims at teaching a language. Since the main aim of both of them is the same, the lessons have differences. Everyone follows their own forms of teaching. This is completely one’s personal choice on what kind of learning they like.
Living Language Lessons
Coming to Living languages, when you start the lesson it starts with vocabulary flashcards. Assuming that you are going through their order, once you have marked the card as “signed as Mastered” it is understood that you know them fully. After the vocabulary section, you are moved to the reading section where you will be provided with reading materials of what you have learned or grammar. After that, you can hear the conversation which contains new words that you might not be familiar with.
They contain lots of games which makes it one of the most entertaining parts of the software. Games like Fill in the blanks, word searches, and sentence making is included. To defeat the dragon you can also pop the bubble. The rewards are different on the basis of your knowledge. For example, if you complete with least errors you are rewarded with a gold badge, if you complete the game with few errors then you will be rewarded with a silver and bronze badge. As mentioned earlier it counts as several percentages in completing your level and it can be seen on the home page.
When you are done with the first grouping of lessons, you will be moved to the next one where you might not feel as entertaining as before. It includes summary, flashcards, games, and conversation. You need to remember that the game does not pop up automatically; you have to click on the option.
Initially, the games are really entertaining and make learning exciting fun. This idea is used to keep learners entertained but on the other hand, it is observed that you forget what you have learned because you are too busy winning. Different badges or rewards are very interesting but at a point, it becomes more of a competition rather than learning the language. The target moves from learning to winning the game and collecting badges.
Rosetta Stone Lessons
In Rosetta stone, there are plenty of exercises available and there are many opportunities for you to practice your skills in different-different language learning programs. Rosetta stone has 250 Hours of instructional content. The course is divided into units and they all have different themes like Tourism, Home and health, style, or personal wellness. Each unit contains four core lessons. The number of exercises differs from language to language however they are all divided to focus on learning, reading, listening, and speaking.
Here if you are someone who is interested in games, their Extended learning is right for you to get to play games and get access to their phrasebook. In unit 1 lesson 1, it starts off with complete basics where you will be given some simple phrases accompanied by pictures to select the right one. Along with this, you can hear the phrases to understand their pronunciation. After a few times, the phrases disappear and you have to write them so make sure you pay attention to the phrases and hear them carefully.
At the end of your section, you get the result of your right and wrong answers. This helps us understand where we made a mistake. After this, you are taken to the pronunciation part. This feature is my favorite part as you can see whether you can pronounce the phrases correctly or not. After you are done with pronunciation, you will be moved to the vocabulary part which takes about 10 minutes to complete. Next, you are moved to the grammar section where different exercises are given for you to solve.
After you are done with grammar, the reading section follows where certain phrases are read out to you and you have to repeat them. This helps you increase your pronunciation as well. Along with reading you also have to write what you hear. This is a great approach for someone who wants to do all the exercises differently rather than merging it all together.
Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone — Pros & Cons
Living language Pros:
- You can switch between the levels and topics from beginner to advanced materials.
- 16% more hours of instruction compared to Rosetta Stone,
- After you have subscribed, it comes with summaries and forum access.
- Games keep you entertained and there are various games that you might have never played before joining Living language. This keeps the learner’s interest alive and keeps them interested to learn ahead.
- Audio CDs and books can be ordered. Essential books can be ordered at different prices.
Living Language Cons:
- There is no tracking of our mistakes. This makes it difficult for learners to understand their mistakes and prevent them from making them again.
- There are few errors in the translation which is really a huge problem for the learners. You cannot learn a language with the wrong translation because it makes you question the entire course that you learned.
- Talking about games, they are fun in the beginning but at a certain point they get boring and this might cause learners to lose their interest in learning further.
Rosetta stone Pros
- It is user friendly and the content is clear. It does not look like a database when reading compared to a living language.
- They cover everything from learning skills to reading and writing. With their “TrueAccent” one can improve their pronunciation of words.
- The phrasebook comes for selective language which enables the learner to understand expressions, greetings, and more.
- Lessons are built and divided clearly and the levels are as per the requirement one needs for learning a new language.
- If you are a beginner it is perfectly suitable for you. It also covers a number of exercises for you to enjoy it.
Rosetta Stone Cons:
- Because they use a lot of pictures, it is difficult for learners to understand the context because there is no explanation. For someone who is not a big fan of this approach, It becomes very stressful without having an explanation especially when you are a beginner.
- The skills covered in the first 50 hours are way less than what Living language offers.
- The subscription is very expensive. I believe there is other software that provides the same kind of structure with less price. This is a drawback because many of the learners look for something that gives them more learning at fewer prices.
- Even though they have various exercises, the patterns for all the units are the same and get boring after a time period. One can easily lose their interest while learning the language because of receptiveness.
Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone-Improvements Required
Everything has good and bad sides and so do our online learning materials but what is important is that learners don’t invest their money where they are not satisfied with the outcome. There is nothing worse than paying for something without being satisfied with the end product. No application is perfect to fit in every need and wants of their customers but there are some changes that Rosetta Stone and Living Language both need to work on in order to satisfy their learners. Let us discuss this one by one.
Living Language
For a living language, they need to reduce the price a little bit and make it more affordable. Fix the translation errors that are present at a certain point. Focusing more on learning rather than games can also be a good chance. Learners need to be reminded about their main aim rather than assuming it as a video game and playing it. Personally, I did not feel it as effective learning. It is important to limit the gaming part in order to keep the learners on track of their motives. The flashcards and grammars are really basic which can further be improved. Even though all the resources are helpful, people have better and cheaper options available with more interactive learning.
Although there is a bright side for the application too there are major changes that Living language needs to focus on. Living language can outshine if they make it more affordable and reduce the gaming part. The entire course looks like reading a database so they can also focus on making it better.
Rosetta Stone
For Rosetta Stone, it is crucial that the application reduces the price of the subscription. Another thing that Rosetta needs to focus on is giving grammar explanations. This is a real setback for the software because, without proper grammar, learners can get confused. Translation needs to be added in order to make it more flexible. The activities in the software are all similar to each other which is another reason why people would get away from the software because learning is easy when people enjoy it. Repeating the same exercise can be boring for the learners. There needs to be translation available to understand for the English speakers because it is difficult without translation to understand what you are learning.
The other problem that I did not like is that it is different for both iOS and Android devices and certain features are only available for iOS users which do not seem pleasing to me. The features and the languages offered needs to be the same for both of them. Even though it follows an approach with a proper well-structured pattern, it can also improve in making all the lessons different from one another for a better approach.
Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone-Final Thoughts: Who is the Winner?
Living language and Rosetta stone both are competitors of the same field and sometimes this brings a lot of trouble to decide which one you should go for especially now after having so many options available online.
Living Language
Living languages provide many resources for learning the language like an online course, special course, Textbook, and CD options but it still lacks in being helpful. It still did not stand up to the mark for me. Grammar is very basic and the games do not tell you about your progress and what you have learned. They have audios as well to help you understand the pronunciation but they are still missing the value. It is important when you are on the website of the Living language you check out the resources because it differs from course to course. Even though their selection of languages is really good and must be appreciated and if you are more into learning through textbooks then you can prefer Living language as your option but due to errors in their translation, it can make you question the entire course.
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone, on the other hand, has a good course structure as well as plenty of exercises but the lessons get boring at a certain time and there’s a lot of repetitions. The features vary for iOS and android and the number of languages may be restricted according to the device. The phrasebook seems effective and learning but again it is available only in a certain language. The subscription price is the main point that needs to be focused on. It is important to focus on what they lack in terms of learning because learners do not want to waste their time switching from one software to another.
Once they fix all their issues and reduce the price, I would recommend Rosetta stone over the Living Language. Rosetta stone can come handy if you want to focus on your pronunciation and reading skills but if you are looking for a proper Language learning platform then nither of them is not 100% effective when it comes to learning. There are various platforms available at comparatively lesser price and more features.
Quick Links
- Lingvist vs Duolingo 2025: Which One Is The Best? (Pros & Cons)
- Rocket Languages vs Duolingo: Which One To Choose? (#1 Reason)
- Babbel Review 2025: Is This The Best Language Learning Software?
- Rocket languages Vs Rosetta Stone
Customer Reviews
Living Language Testimonials
Rosetta Stone Testimonials
Conclusion: Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone 2025
In my opinion and experience, I would like to say that neither of them provides materials worth the money we pay for a subscription, and neither of them is 100% effective in learning a new language. Another thing, it is upon your preferences and likes and dislikes. If what you are looking for is available in either of them then you should go for that software. I have kept my experience in front of you and if you really want to give it a shot then you should select Living language. However, you may not be satisfied at the end and want to go for Rosetta Stone as well.
If you want to learn a language without putting much efforts then you should try one of these softwares. Many people are familiar with these names and often confused about which one they should go for. It is obvious with so many options it is difficult to select one between Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone.
Both the platforms have their shortcomings but learning a language can be made easy with both the language learning platforms. Hopefully, the review has helped in deciding the right platform between Living Language Vs Rosetta Stone.
