The Web Way to Learn a Language
The young woman seated next to us at the restaurant had an exotic （异国的） air; her looks and style, we thought, made it likely that she was not American born. But then she spoken in perfect American English, even ending her sentences in a way many young Californians do. As it turns out, however, she wasn’t from these parts after all; she was born in Iran and spoken only Persian until her arrival here two years ago. How, we wondered, had she learned English so well? “I used Rosetta Stone,” she said. The yellow box sold at shops in an example of PC-based language learning, but it certainly isn’t the only one.
With the growth of broadband networks, companies have introduced a wide range of Internet-based language learning products, both free and fee-based, that allow students to interact in real time with teachers in other countries, gain access to their lesson plans wherever they are in the world, and communicate with virtual pen pals. Learning a language sometimes seems as difficult as dieting. The solution is to figure out how to stay interested after the novelty wears off. Online language programs have introduced crossword puzzles, interactive videos and other games to reward users for making progress.
How do you choose which program to use? “Sites with human contact work best,” a language professor in Australia said, “It shows the advantage of humans compared to computers.”
One of Rosetta Stone’s main competitors, Tell Me More ( tellmemore. com ) believes it has an advantage because its software not only teaches words and phrases, but includes videos showing students how to shape their mouths to create different sounds. The British Broadcasting Corporation ( bbc. com ) offers varying levels of instruction for 36 languages, with features including audio and video playback and translation. Besides, simpler versions of these programs may be used on smart phones and other digital devices.
All these represent a new trend in the web way of learning languages. Make use of one or more of these new programs and you will learn languages more effectively.