Courtney Orvig
11/7/11
| My Home Page | Title Page | Introduction | Background and Benefits | Security Concerns and Government Use | Further Research and Conclusion | Reference |
The idea for Rosetta Stone came to Allen Stoltzfus around the 1980’s. Having learned the German language through immersion, Allen Stotlzfus came up with the novel idea to use modern-day technology to learn languages the way native speakers learn them, and he partnered with his brother in law, John Fairfield, to work on the computer science aspect of the program. Fairfield and Stoltzfus designed the program to mimic the way children learn their first language; implementing pictures, sound and context to teach language, rather than the traditional translation and vocabulary lists used in schools. During the process of creating Rosetta Stone, Allen Stoltzfus brought in his brother, Eugene Stoltzfus to add architectural and visual genius to their new product. Together, the three men used new technology to create a more natural and effective language-learning program than any that existed at the time. In 1992, Fairfield Language Technologies was founded out of Harrisonburg, VA, and the brothers named their product Rosetta Stone. (Rosetta Stone was the object that helped linguists finally translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.) Originally Rosetta Stone was only sold in the United States. However, with recent increased demand and a new CEO, Rosetta Stone is now a global company teaching over thirty languages in more than one hundred and fifty countries all over the world. (About Us) Major languages Rosetta Stone offers include:
First of all, the allure of Rosetta Stone is the non-classroom aspect; many people do not have the time or the money to spend on going to class every week to learn a new language. Rosetta Stone is a program that customers can use at their leisure, on their own time, and do not receive grades for. It is a program that allows the learning of a new language, but does not incur the stress that a traditional classroom setting would cause. Rosetta Stone customers can enjoys the benefits of knowing another language without the cost of paying for a class and also spend less time than would be spent attending a class regularly. Today’s job market has gotten more and more competitive, and with the latest downturn in the economy, there are far less job opportunities and career options. With the useful skill of a second or third language, it would distinguish applicants from the others. Not only would higher language capabilities make it easier to find a job, it would also help applicants get better and higher paying jobs. Furthermore, with the knowledge of two or more languages, employment opportunities would open up not only in the United States, but also in other countries around the world too. In addition to presenting more professional opportunities, knowing other languages besides English would make international travel much more simple and enjoyable. By knowing the language of a foreign country, international travelers and vacationers would experience a wide variety of benefits. Travelers would be much less likely to get lost in unfamiliar places. Also, without the language barrier, vacationers wouldn’t get scammed as often by locals and could get the most out of their trip. (‘Learning a New Language, 2005) Finally, if Rosetta Stone or other similar language learning programs were implemented in schools across the country, there would not be such a large discrepancy in education between the United States and other countries. Take Europeans for example, because of the geography of the many, smaller countries in Europe, most young people graduate knowing at least two or three languages (World of Languages, 2011), as opposed to American students who generally learn just English. America would be much more competitive and the business world would also benefit from our generation of young graduates with more extensive knowledge of foreign languages.