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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Hi All,</span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>It’s me – sorry it’s taken so long to chime in. I've
appreciated the discussion sparked by the Navajo project, and you all have
touched on a lot of the issues in language revitalization and
technology that we confront at Rosetta Stone. I thought it might be
interesting for you to hear how our approach has been shaped by these
concerns.... </span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black'>T</span></font><font
size=2 color=black><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>he colleagues and
discussions on this list have been really helpful in guiding our
philosophy over the years, and I expect I'll continue to learn from this
exchange as well....</span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Jess and Phil made good points about the <strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman">cookie-cutter approach</font></b></strong>. In our
case, we've chosen to do something of a hybrid between cookie cutter and
starting from scratch. –We provide a template that’s flexible, and each
language team can take advantage of already-developed elements of the
curriculum where they <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">do</font></i></em>
apply, subtract the elements that <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">don't</font></i></em>
apply, and add the elements that are missing. ...Recognizing that not
starting from scratch means it won't be as perfectly suited to the language as
it could be, while starting completely from scratch may render a project
unviable economically or otherwise.</span></font><font color=black><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Re: Phil and Jess's musings as to whether the <strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman">method</font></b></strong> supports the intricacies and idiosyncrasies
of certain languages... The method works for any vocabulary, syntax,
or grammar that you can learn inductively by the juxtaposition of a visual
context and context of known language.... We were all pretty successful
at learning our first language by that method alone, if you think about it, and
that was with a lot of chaotic input, while this is arranged in building block
order…. Where this method is least suited is where there are very
intricate rule exceptions that don’t lend themselves to contrasting examples. However,
so far we haven't run into a language that hasn’t been able to use it to teach coursefuls
of worthwhile content....</span></font><font color=black><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Rosalyn LaPier and others made an important point about <strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman">training</font></b></strong>. Training our
partners in developing the curriculum, using our development tools, recording
the audio, doing voiceovers, etc. is one of the no-brainers. : ) The development
of content belongs to the indigenous language team, and we don’t have either the
language expertise or the resources to do that work ourselves.</span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Rosalyn and Keola's points about technology's place in the <strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman">overall</font></b></strong> <strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman">strategy</font></b></strong> of a revitalization program
are really important, too—the last thing we want to happen is to devote the
huge effort it takes to develop a new software product and have it end up on a
shelf – or to displace other valuable efforts! So that's been an
important part of the project application process—being assured that a
community is set up to adopt and benefit from a software 'solution',
should it be created.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><strong><b><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Intellectual property, </span></font></b></strong><font size=2
color=black><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>per James. We
haven't run into any fuzzy areas yet on this one. The custom language content
(text, photos, audio) belong to the indigenous group, the software shell to
Rosetta Stone. Our partners have consistently made considered decisions
about to whom they’ll make the software available.</span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><strong><b><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Economic profit</span></font></b></strong><font size=2
color=black><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>. As follows from
the intellectual property arrangement, Rosetta Stone doesn't sell or profit
from the sale of any endangered language products. Whether
to sell the product is up to the indigenous community.</span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Rosetta Stone charges for the development of an endangered
language product. This covers the direct costs but not much of the
considerable opportunity cost of not putting those resources into making
mainstream commercial products that can sell.</span></font><font color=black><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>The development cost means that some potential partners
can't afford to do a project. We launched the subsidized program with
that in mind, to make it more affordable.</span></font><font color=black><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:black'>Where <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">funds</font></b></strong>
come from for language revitalization.... While I think governments probably
should shoulder an enormous part of the responsibility to compensate for and reverse
language loss (including by funding teaching methods training/teaching
materials creation/teaching), I'm also afraid that won't happen in
time. So we think meanwhile there's some logic behind a
language-learning business putting some of its profit from sales of mainstream language
products toward language diversity.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>Re: using <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">technology</font></b></strong>
you haven't developed yourself, per Mia. – This is interesting to me. I doubt
anyone would argue that if a community wanted to print textbooks they might
want to start with developing their own word processing and layout software to
do so. I wonder what makes other uses of software feel different that way…. I
guess our thinking on this is that we want to be an accessible choice to people
who want to take advantage of the enormous R&D effort we were able to
invest in developing a method, platform, development tool, and template that
works. Or for people who want software, but<i><span style='font-style:italic'>
</span></i>want to prioritize their resources toward the development of content
rather than technology.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>To Don’s post, I think we’re aspiring to be critical practitioners?
That’s somewhere between not being ignorant but also not being paralyzed by the
imperfectness of all of this…. : )<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
color:black'>ilse<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=hl><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Ilse
Ackerman<br>
</span></font></b></span><span class=hl><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Editor-in-chief</span></font></span><font
color=black><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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