Foreign Language Learning Resources – Which is Right For You?
Most of you have seen the commercials touting a foreign language program using a very well known Olympic gold medalist swimmer. This popular and very polished software package, known as Rosetta Stone, is an excellent example (but not the only example) of a total immersion language program. But the commercials touting ‘The Fastest Way to Learn a Language – Guaranteed’, don’t necessarily paint the complete picture for the prospective buyer. What is it? Let’s start by exploring what is meant by ‘total immersion’. A total immersion system is any program that thrusts you into a foreign language without any (or difficult to access) assistance in your native tongue. The basic idea is to learn by picture/video and audio reinforcement – the same way you learned your native language as a child. The concept is very simple – present a situation, dialog, or group of pictures and challenge the user to (initially) ‘guess’ the native word or phrase that applies to the situation. Variations on this bas
