Rosetta Stone’s Computer Aided Language Software September 18, 2008

Rosetta calls their approach “Dynamic Immersion”. Their goal is to teach a new language the way your learned your first language as a child, by looking at real world items and listening to your mom, a teacher, your older friends talk to you. With this program you are presented with photos of real world items and situations. You hear a native speaker describe them and you parrot back what you heard. Next the items are shown randomly and you speak back to the program. If you make a mistake, you are corrected and the intelligence of the program remembers your problems and brings up the words again in a different context. As you learn the program advances and becomes more complex. You start to read simple things, recognize more words, hear conversations, and become more comfortable with what you are learning, very much the way you learned to speak as a growing child. It is a gentle way to learn and most people think of it as fun.

Their rule of thumb is if you spend 20 minutes a day you can learn most languages in six months. 40 minutes a day and you learn pretty much twice as fast. The program is a worldwide success. It is used by our diplomatic core and our military. 31 languages are available. The company is very confident in the success of their method and software. You have six months to try the software, and if you don’t like it, you get a full refund. That is outstanding!

Official Website: http://www.nypc.org