The world is interconnected in so many ways. With technology growing exponentially, the vast world is quickly becoming a small world. The ability for people to communicate across many oceans is increasingly important today. The market for language immersion courses is in very high demand. College students are grabbing the opportunity to study a foreign language. American high schools have made the study of a foreign language an academic requirement. Parents of young children are now realizing the importance of having their school-aged children start learning a second language. Young professionals of Generation X and Y, don’t have the time to take courses. Fortunately, there are a few language immersion products currently available to the masses. These products help individuals, whom are short on time, learn a foriegn language in less time and for less money. The folowing foreign immersion products will be profiled: Onlingo and Rosetta Stone.

In an attempt to learn Spanish as quickly as possible before departing for a year in Mexico, I turned to two different language-acquisition approaches: Spanish software and an instructor-led Spanish language course.

Learn Spanish Faster - Rosetta Stone or Spanish Immersion Course?

By Jesse Roth

Attracted by its compelling marketing and rave customer reviews, I purchased Rosetta Stone Spanish levels 1 and 2. But the first several times I used it were dismaying. I wanted to learn to say “Hi,” “How are you?” and “Fine, thanks. And you?” Instead I learned “The clown has blue hair” and “The boy is under the table.” After making a note to myself to search out a clown and a mischievous boy upon arriving in Mexico, I figured out how Rosetta Stone really works.

The software uses ZERO English in teaching Spanish. Instead it uses visual and verbal cues, both pictures and words, to teach you your new language in a “natural” way. You’ll begin to understand the relationship between words, pictures, sounds and meanings while being fully immersed in the Spanish language. Once you get the hang of it, your vocabulary will grow very quickly. Although the point of Rosetta Stone is clearly not to learn/memorize vocabulary. It’s to understand how to form clear words and sentences, as well as to understand spoken Spanish by developing your “Spanish ear.” In this regard, Rosetta Stone is much better than a textbook.

But even after many hours of using Rosetta Stone, I still wasn’t familiar with the simple components of the basic conversations in which I’d be engaging in Mexico. So I enrolled in a Spanish course that used a similar “natural approach.”

The course provided me with all the benefits of Rosetta Stone (developing my verbal, visual, and comprehension fluency) plus one all-important bonus: Spanish conversation. It’s one thing to familiarize yourself with the meanings of different words and phrases, but it’s quite another thing to employ the right ones with the right pronunciation at the right time. This freedom to learn to ad-lib in a foreign language is among the biggest advantages an instructor-led course has over language software.

You want to learn a language in the way you will be using it: to speak, to write, or to read. My goal was to learn to speak Spanish. Rosetta Stone did an admirable job teaching me, but nothing compared to the actual, dynamic conversations I enjoyed in my Spanish class.

Author’s Note: Living in Mexico, I can confidently say that the only thing more effective than both software and a language course is a Spanish immersion experience.

Jesse Roth is a student at La Catalina Natural Language School in stunning La Manzanilla, Jalisco on a little-known stretch of Mexico’s Pacific Coast. La Catalina School also uses a “natural” methodology. Visit the school at http://www.lacatalinaschool.com

About Onlingo

Launched in 2005, Onlingo has qickly risen to become a leading language learning program that utilizes a proven method of cultural immersion, repetition and interactivity to teach Spanish, French, German and Italian. Onlingo’s core belief is in “Language Living” - the belief that truly knowing a language requires an understanding: of the culture, the spirit of the country and its people - learned by hearing, seeing, and reading as one would if immersed in a culture. Onlingo’s multi-modal approach allows a consumer to learn the way they learn best. Onlingo provides Audio CDs, a written Learning Guide and an interactive CD-ROM in each of the eight levels within its language package.. Onlingo is a product of Syndero, Inc., a consumer products company based in San Francisco, CA. Please visit www.onlingo.com to learn more about the unique and personalized language learning programs. Complete Onlingo Press Release Available at at Emediawire.com

Additional Onlingo Sources:

Onlingo offers interactive courses in Spanish, French and German.

Onlingo is featured on Michigan Business Online.

Onlingo is featured on “EDU in Review.”

About Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone Inc. is the leading provider of language-learning software. Acclaimed for the speed, power and effectiveness of its Dynamic Immersion method, Rosetta Stone has revolutionized language-learning. While teaching 31 languages to millions of people in more than 150 countries throughout the world, Rosetta Stone is the key to language-learning success. Inc. Magazine has named Rosetta Stone Inc. one of the 500 fastest-growing companies in the United States, and for the third year Deloitte and Touche has named it one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Virginia. The company was founded in 1992 on two core beliefs: that the natural way people learn languages as children remains the most successful method for learning new languages; and that interactive CD-ROM and online technology can replicate and activate the immersion method powerfully for learners of any age. The company is based in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit www.RosettaStone.com

Additional Rosetta Stone Sources:

Rosetta Stone offers language immersion products for homeschooling.

Rosetta Stone is a foreign language immersion program used by students and professionals around the world.

Rosetta Stone is featured on Wikipedia.com