The Chief Tester: Ave! Languages are a click away

By Nadine Tester

When I first chose to attend Rider, the only downfall was that it did not offer Latin as one of its languages.

I know what you’re thinking: Latin is a dead language and is only useful for pre-meds. Although this may be true, I spent five years of my life learning Latin and ancient Greek, and I was somewhat disappointed that I now had to learn a more vernacular language. Spanish may be useful, but I never had to learn any boring conversation starters in Latin.

When I learned that Rider had recently purchased the Rosetta Stone software, I was intrigued because I now had a chance to learn my favorite language, on my own time.

Although many students would think the Rosetta Stone is just another form of work on top of classes, clubs and intramurals, for some it’s a good opportunity to brush up on skills you had in high school.

I tried the Rosetta Stone program and it’s split into a number of 10- to 15-minute exercises done on the computer. Even if only one gets completed a day, I feel it’s still a chance that students should take advantage of.

Rosetta Stone isn’t run-of-the-mill software either. The government, along with many professional companies, use Rosetta Stone to train employees to learn to speak a different language in a short period of time.

Although some of the exercises require a microphone or special downloads, the benefits are priceless. Being bilingual, or even knowing a little bit of a language, can be very useful when applying for a job or when looking for a promotion.

There’s a good possibility I’m coming across as a huge nerd right now: I want to re-learn how to speak Latin, for fun. This may be true, but I feel this program is an invaluable addition that students can access, whenever they want, from their home computers, with just their Easypass account.

I may not get far in the workforce knowing how to say, “The Greeks have invaded Italy,” but the program could be used to get an edge over your competitors or just to do something you love.

Rosetta Stone really should be taken advantage of mainly because it is free, and good things, especially at Rider, rarely come free.

Gratiam habeo.

To learn more about Rosetta Stone visit www.rider.edu/rosettastone.com.