Video game:The Rosetta Stone Language Library: French I

Allen Stoltzfus had the idea to use computer technology to simulate learning language through immersion. With the help of his brother and brother-in-law, Stoltzfus founded Fairfield Language Technologies�now Rosetta Stone, Inc.�in 1992, and published the first Rosetta Stone software the same year on CD-ROM. Named after the historical artifact, which is housed in the British Museum and helped unlock modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs, this educational, language-learning software provides assistance in learning 34 languages as of 2013. As the leading language-learning software in the world, Rosetta Stone utilizes what the developers call a Dynamic Immersion approach, in which users are exposed to contextualized pictures, sounds, and text, but with no direct translation. This technique aims to teach vocabulary and grammar through repetition as a child might learn their first and natural language. Available on both Windows and Mac OS X, this computer-assisted language learning (CALL) software is arranged into levels, units, and lessons. Each language consists of five levels, with four units per level and four core lessons per unit that each span approximately 30 minutes in length. Users learn pronunciation, writing, vocabulary, grammar, reading, speaking and listening in these lessons, and pass a Milestone�the equivalent of a final review or test�at the end of the unit. Users receive points for correctly answered questions and have access to the percentages of right, wrong and skipped answers in each lesson. Rosetta Stone is an award-winning software utilized not only by individual students, but also the United States Army, United States Department of State, and universities such as James Madison University, which partnered with the company in order to shape syllabi and offer the software for use in accredited coursework. Furthermore, Rosetta Stone, Inc. created The Endangered Language Program in 2004 to help communities engage in language revitalization efforts.