Language Learning With Rosetta Stone
Last July I attended the Travel Blog Exchange conference in Chicago. I was surprised and delighted to find a lovely backpack waiting for me at my chair, filled with swag for travel enthusiasts.
One of the luckiest scores was a voucher for a free level 1 language learning program from Rosetta Stone, in the language of my choice!
My husband had the Thai, Level 1 a couple of years ago, and we knew enough about Thai and Lao already (Thai and Lao share many words and grammar structure but have different alphabets) to recognize that it was a very high quality and beneficial program.
Rosetta Stone uses a mother tongue approach to instruction: instead of translating from English into the new language, it shows you pictures and gives you the corresponding word (both spoken and written).
I have taught English as a Foreign language for many years, and have thought a lot about how language is acquired. One explanation that suits me is that second language learners go through a “silent period”, kind of like how babies start of life as a listener and it is many months before a recognizable sound comes out. I also believe it is more beneficial to learn words in context rather than relying on translation.
For my free program, I chose Rosetta Stone Version 3: French Level 1 , since I travel a lot in former French Indochina, and France had colonies all over the world at one point in history.
I feel like Rosetta Stone is a fun program. There is a “game” where you are presented with four pictures to choose from. You hear a spoken word and have to click on the proper picture. I love the challenge!
Rosetta Stone language programs have lots of homeschooling fans. In fact I first learned about Rosetta Stone from a homeschooling family about ten years ago.
* Rosetta Stone teaches you a new language naturally, by getting you to think, live and breathe the language
* Innovative solutions get you speaking new words, right from the start
* Rosetta Stone moves forward only when you’re ready–you drive the pace, you set the schedule
* With Rosetta Stone, you’ll discover a foundation of key vocabulary that you’ll use to build into a whole new language
* Audio Companion lets you take the Rosetta Stone experience anywhere: in the car, at the gym, or on-the-go
Visit http://www.rosettastone.com/ to see what languages are available! They have a wide selection from Arabic to Welsh.
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18 January 2010, 9:23 am
I’ve been travelling to Thailand some time ago and took Thai translation software tool with me on my handheld device. I found it here:
http://www.lingvosoft.com/LingvoSoft-Travel-Suite-English-Thai-for-Pocket-PC/
It was really helpful, because I don’t speak Thai at all and this package provides talking phrasebook with a great number of phrases which are clearly pronounced in Thai and English. It also includes talking picture dictionary that does not require the knowledge of Thai. Even the child can use it. The regular dictionary is also included. I enjoyed all the stuff a lot
The name of the company is Lingvosoft. They have translation software for many languages. And the quality is very good. They allow installing trial first, before you decide to purchase. Certainly, I will buy more software from them when travel abroad again.
18 January 2010, 7:58 pm
I agree that “fun” is a good word to describe Rosetta Stone. It’s important because it makes it something worth sticking to instead of dropping it faster than a New Year’s resolution.
I found a great deal at http://www.cbcwebcollege.com for $180 for a year with access to all the French , Thai and all 30 other languages and levels. Rosetta Stone is really a fun program and I can access it anywhere I can connect to the Web. It also helps to have a local library to provide practice CDs.