Rosetta Stone (company)

Rosetta Stone is an American software company that develops language learning programs for computers, tablets and smartphones, and it markets and sells worldwide. The didactic approach of the company is to teach languages ​​by immersion. With the help of the so-called Dynamic Immersion method, the user should learn in the same way he appropriated as a child 's own mother tongue. This end, the e -learning software, a virtual learning environment of word, image and sound from everyday situations in the target language and waives translations into the native language of the learner. Named the company is the stone found in 1799 by Rosette. Its discovery was the crucial key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs Jean -François Champollion for.

History

Rosetta Stone Inc. was founded in 1992 in the U.S., the precursor was the Fairfield Language Technologies Company. In Germany, the company is registered as a limited company. According to the company, the founder Allen Proudfoot learned in the 1980s in a study visit to Germany the local language through immersion. Then he set himself the goal of a program to make that a language learning experience as simulated in the country itself. Together with his brother John Fairfield, who had a doctorate in computer science, and his brother Eugene Stoltzfuß they worked to implement the immersion concept with the help of neuverfügbaren CD -ROM technology. In 1992 they brought their software as the Rosetta Stone to the market. Since April 15, 2009, the company has been listed as the Rosetta Stone at the New York Stock Exchange. Since 2012, Stephen Swad 's CEO. The company's headquarters is Washington, DC, has offices in Harrisonburg, Virginia and Boulder, Colorado; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; London, Great Britain; Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, South Korea.

Language Courses

Overall, Rosetta Stone language learning programs does for 24 languages ​​including Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, English ( American ), English ( British ), French, German, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Persian ( Farsi ), Filipino (Tagalog), Portuguese ( Brazil ), Russian, Spanish ( Latin America) Spanish ( Spain ), Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese. Available in Germany are the courses either in the download as Rosetta Course or Online Subscription as a program package TOTALe, which in addition to the course features includes such as mobile app to privately bookable online lessons with a native teacher or access to the online community Rosetta World. Among the companies and educational institutions that use the language courses Rosetta Stone is one among others, the International School in Frankfurt.

Method and course structure

With the Rosetta Stone language programs, the learner works on a computer with a headset and microphone. In the program, he arranges pictures and pronunciation to each other. The number of images varies. For example, the software shows four images with various objects or situations. Learners listen to a native speaker who describes one of the pictures shown. If the user selects the image described correctly, they will receive a positive feedback. Other exercises include that the learner himself the image verbally describes - the microphone stands on what was said and the speech recognition program gives feedback on pronunciation. In word problems with entering letters and characters that do not exist in the Latin alphabet, the program is a keyboard on the screen. Grammar exercises include conjugations of tense and mood. The course first shows to several examples of grammatical phenomenon and highlights them for the learner. In the following exercises, cloze tests must be supplemented with the correct grammatical form. The lessons gradually build on each other and provide gradually more complex content.

Criticism

With regard to the methodology of language learning programs, opinions are divided. The Economist sees the mobile apps as well as the booking live online conversation training as positive, but criticizes the grammar exercises due to the immersion method as inadequate. In addition to the program are grammar books useful. A review of the PC magazine criticized the lack of cultural references within the Persian - course, the program overall but rated as "very good ". The Sueddeutsche writes that the acquisition of new vocabulary without the support of the translation in the program is sometimes a test of patience, but the long term what you have learned to stay obtain longer term. The magazine for intercultural language teaching criticized the isolated placement of the target language and the lack of cultural references, but sees opportunities the program in an integrated language learning approach to use.

For more information

• E -Learning
• Language
• Immersion