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What does total immersion mean for language learners?
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Total immersion
During the past 30 years, language instructors have seen a change in popular language-learning strategies.
The old methods discouraged students from speaking the second language until they understood it in the written form. The old methods encouraged memorizing vocabulary, drills, and grammar skills. Today, the world has changed dramatically. People are interested in speaking their second language more than in reading it.
According to Duane Sider, Director of Communications for Rosetta Stone, a computer-based language learning system, in order to learn a second language it is essential to create a natural learning environment. He insists that people have innate language skills, and it is easy to rediscover how well our brains are wired to learn a second language.
“We learn to speak our native language before we learn to read it,” he says.
Rosetta Stone software employs multiethnic graphics which match up to words, phrases and sentences in any of the 31 languages that Rosetta Stone markets. There are no vocabulary lists or translations. It is distinguished from other language programs, such as Transparent Learning, by its “one program for all people” aspect. It is not translation based. Anyone can sit down with Rosetta Stone, no matter what his language, and learn a new language within three months.
The total immersion experience of the software is similar to what a student would get from living in the country where the language he wants to learn is the native tongue. Rosetta Stone also uses speech recognition software to improve pronunciation of the user’s second language. Michael Phelps, the Olympic gold medalist, used the product to learn Mandarin before he flew to Beijing
As jobs become scarcer, one way of ensuring employment is to become conversational in a second language. Communication is the new key word for all language learners. Total immersion is the way to get the message across.
