FYI Roseta Stone

[Andre Cramblit]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fairfield Contact Mohawk Contact
Ilse Ackerman, Program Manager Kanatakta, Executive Director
Endangered Language Program Kanien’kehaka Onkwawén:na Raotitiohkwa
Fairfield Language Technologies kanatakta at korkahnawake.org
iackerman at RosettaStone.com 1.450.638.0880
1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318

ROSETTA STONE CHOSEN BY MOHAWKS
TO ASSIST IN LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION

Collaboration will create interactive multimedia software for teaching
the Mohawk language.

HARRISONBURG, Va., April 20, 2004 – Fairfield Language Technologies,
developers of the award-winning Rosetta Stone“ language-learning
software, is proud to announce its collaboration with the Mohawk
community of Kahnawà:ke, near Montreal, to develop language-learning
software in Kanien’kéha, the Mohawk language.

The Kahnawà:ke-Rosetta Stone collaboration aims to restore the use of
Kanien’kéha in the community by targeting beginner learners who were not
raised speaking the language, or do not currently have access to it. The
program will be made available to the entire community, from adults to
schoolchildren.

“We spent a great deal of time researching the best software for our
Kanien’kéha language development initiatives,” said Kanatakta, Executive
Director of Kanien’kehaka Onkwawén:na Raotitiohkwa (Community Language
and Cultural Center). “In our opinion, full immersion is the best method
for learning the language. However, with human resources stretched to
the maximum, Rosetta Stone addresses the needs of the beginning learner
while still proving beneficial for the more advanced learner. Rosetta
Stone’s immersion methodology will be a great complement to our
community-wide efforts in language revitalization.”

“We are honored to join the community of Kahnawà:ke in this
revitalization effort,” said Eugene Stoltzfus, President of Fairfield
Language Technologies. “The preservation of indigenous languages has
been a priority for Rosetta Stone from the beginning. This initiative
will benefit the community of Kahnawà:ke and will create awareness of a
powerful resource for the restoration of endangered languages everywhere.”

Traditional language-learning software teaches by translation, an
ineffective method for becoming fluent in a new language. Native
American languages such as Kanien’kéha are richly different from their
European counterparts, and much meaning is lost in the attempt to equate
the language with English or French. Rosetta Stone supersedes the
translation method by associating new language directly with meaning,
using native speakers, text, and authentic, real-life images.
Kanien’kéha learners will be able to work through thousands of fluent
phrases, rapidly acquiring the ability to read, write, speak, and think
in Kanien’kéha without reference to another language.




About the Community of Kahnawà:ke
The Community of Kahnawà:ke is on the forefront of language restoration
efforts in North America. They started the first indigenous language
immersion school in Canada, in 1980, which soon became a model for
communities all over North America. In 1999, prompted by community
elders, the Kahnawà:ke Language Law was enacted, establishing
Kanien’kéha as the primary language of communication, education,
ceremony, government, and business in Kahnawà:ke. In response, the
Kahnawà:ke Executive Directors Committee, composed of nine community
organizations, initiated an ambitious five-year fundraising plan to
cover the cost of Kanien’kéha language and cultural programming, with
Rosetta Stone being the first of several initiatives to be developed.
For more information, please contact Linda Delormier at
kanienkeha at kahnawake.com or at 1.450.633.0808.

About Fairfield Language Technologies and Rosetta Stone
Fairfield Language Technologies, founded in 1991, publishes Rosetta
Stone® Language Library, an immersion-based language-learning software
on CD and Online acclaimed for its speed, ease-of-use, and
effectiveness. Rosetta Stone offers solutions to educators,
organizations, and individuals for learning 27 languages, and is used by
more than 5 million language learners in over 100 countries. Fairfield’s
pioneer partner in indigenous language preservation was the Seminole
tribe of Florida, in the production of software for the Miccosukee
language. The company is presently involved in language revitalization
efforts with other native communities. For more information, see
www.RosettaStone.com/languagerescue.

###