Voorheesville Offers Rosetta Stone Language Program

Starting during the 2009-2010 school year, Voorheesville High School integrated the Rosetta Stone language learning system into its curriculum. Students looking to learn a language not offered by the school can now go through the program, which many users find to be more beneficial than traditional classes or learning a language on one’s own. Rosetta Stone lets its students learn languages the natural way one would learn a language, instead of a forced memorization. It also shows pictures and videos of native speakers, which allow students to be immersed into the language the way a child would instinctively learn their first language.

Students independently learn the language of their choice and get to learn it during their free class periods. Alli Dillenbeck, a senior at Voorheesville, is using Rosetta Stone to learn Italian. “The school didn’t offer a class on Italian,” Alli said, “so when I found out about the program, I jumped at the offer and I’m learning a lot more than I would in a standard language class.” When asked about her progress she said, “I think it’s the right program for me. Sitting in a classroom listening to someone tell me vocabulary words wasn’t helping when I was learning Spanish. Also, I really wanted to learn Italian, so there’s motivation that I wouldn’t have had before.”

But there are some setbacks to learning independently, Garrett Wineinger, senior, is using the program to learn Italian as well. He said, when asked about his progress, “It’s a good program, but I would have to say it’s difficult because I only have time to do it every other day.” The problem with not having a set class to go to every day makes the learning process slower than a traditional class, which would be every day. Zack Keller, a senior using Rosetta Stone to learn Dutch said, “I like how it is going for me, but without a teacher there to help with specific questions, it’s hard to tell whether or not I’m actually doing it right. It’s just a mystery for now because I am not speaking to anyone with experience.”

Many found that it was not advertised as much as they would expect. “I think it was mentioned once during an assembly in the beginning of the year,” said Jack Seay when asked if he had heard about the program. Reid Macdonald, another senior, said that he had not heard about Rosetta Stone being offered until halfway through the first semester. “If I had known, I probably would have looked into it more,” said Macdonald. With the program being new to the school, many students would have expected to see it as an elective on their selection sheet last year when they were picking classes.

Rosetta Stone, when used through the school, is free of charge and is used at home and at school. There are many available languages to learn. Students utilize Ms. Devenpeck’s classroom when they have free periods that coincide with her schedule. She herself is also using the program to learn Swedish.