I have been using Duolingo for learning Vietnamese. However, it currently lacks pronunciation practice for Vietnamese, and pronunciation is actually the most difficult part of this language. Therefore, I did a Google search for 'vietnamese pronunciation practice app' and Rosetta Stone featured in an ad at the top. I checked out the reviews and support for Vietnamese - it ticked all the boxes. For $299 Australian I bought the lifetime subscription.
There was actually a trigger point for me getting Rosetta Stone. Being a bit OCD, I got engrossed in earning experience points (XP) in Duolingo and staying in the Diamond League (the top and tenth league). Being quite tired on a particular day, I decided to do the bare minimum to remain in the league and just do the odd lesson if someone else beat me on XP. Unfortunately, two other people were doing the exact same thing, but I was also trying to meditate at the same time (probably not recommended!). I was back in the demotion zone with just two minutes until the deadline. I did not manage to do a lesson in two minutes and dropped out of the Diamond League. My OCD being triggered, I meditated on it and discarded not just the anger/pride but also my attachment to leagues and experience points. I decided to ignore both and simply maintain my at-least-one-lesson-a-day streak, currently sitting at 307.
Going further than that, I realised Duolingo wasn't fulfilling my Vietnamese learning needs on its own and decided I needed pronunciation practice too. Rosetta Stone doesn't actually use a reference language like English as a base for learning. Instead, it uses photos. This approach is actually a bit fun, even with some of the animals in the photos being a bit cute. Having already practiced in Duolingo, I went straight to 'Intermediate' but immediately found it too difficult. Therefore, I tried 'Beginner'. Generally easy, but struggled a bit with the pronunciation. I have been doing this for 2 days so far as at 16 August 2023. In the end I decided to keep using Duolingo every day as well but not to the same degree. Hopefully I will eventually be able to have a verbal conversation with my partner in Vietnamese.
