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Jewish World Review April 11, 2008 / 6 Nissan 5768 Online Language Lessons Stimulating By Mark Kellner http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Several decades have passed since I last sat in a classroom trying to learn a language that wasn't English. I can still remember Miss Rachel Nahum (and, yes, she insisted on "Miss," despite being close to our grandparents' ages) telling us what was right and wrong about our pronunciation. A desire to learn other languages has never left, and there are good reasons for me to take up one or more such efforts now. An Arlington-based firm, Rosetta Stone, Inc., whose headquarters recently relocated from Harrisonburg, Virginia, is trying to meet that need with both software-based language courses. But it isn't just software, which I shall tackle shortly and review here soon, by which you can learn. The firm is offering its services online, for slightly more than $21.66 per month for individual subscribers, or $259.95 per year, which works out to about 72-cents per day. By contrast, the "Level 1" software sells for $209; if you want all three levels of the course, available for a number of languages, it'll set you back $499. The online program covers the 31 languages in which Rosetta Stone teaches, ranging from Arabic to Welsh and including both Spanish for Spain and Spanish for Latin America. It would seem to support most Web browsers, including Apple's Safari 3.1, with which I tested the software, as well as both headset microphones and the built-in one found on an Apple iMac. If this stuff works on a Mac, then PC compatibility should be no problem. The premise of Rosetta Stone is to provide language training in a somewhat-conversational format, in what the firm claims is a method similar to the way we learned our first language: the company calls this "Dynamic Immersion," combining what it says is "advanced interactive technology with native speakers and a rich visual environment." As I quickly learned online, Brazilian Portuguese, the language I chose for online study, is not as close to the Spanish in which I drilled long ago. Thus, hearing correct pronunciations was crucial: the online program "hears" - and judges - my pronunciation. In the first "core lesson" of the first lesson of the first unit in Portuguese, I scored 109 correct, 9 incorrect, for a score of 92 percent correct. There are several things that impress me here. First off is the sheer technical quality of the online presentation. It would be very easy for such a system to have massive hiccups; so far, I haven't found any, even though I tried. When setting up the online version, you need to download and install a small application; every time you fire up the program, a microphone check is necessary. After these steps, however, you're ready to go. The second thing that's impressive, even to the non-pedagogical among us, is that even after a few days of separation between segments, a fair amount stays without. I began that first "core" lesson on April 1, and returned to it five days later. My pronunciation was still good, and my memory of the vocabulary was there. I can't spout off in the language yet, but after that five-day absence, my confidence was bolstered by what I knew and was able to recall. I began with simple words and, by the end of the core lesson, I was speaking, or more properly, reading and repeating, sentences. Because the words and phrases are associated with pictures of people doing the described activity, learning and remembering was easier. Now, I'd have to go through the entire course before telling you how well this all works. I have the feeling that my reading and speaking will be rather good, if I continue diligently. I'm off to a good start, however, and I'm enjoying this. Details at www.rosettastone.com. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here. Archives © 2008, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com

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