NSU’s Health Professions Division Library now offers all NSU students and faculty free subscriptions to the language learning software Rosetta Stone, which was previously available only to HPD students and faculty.
The HPD Library originally obtained a subscription to Rosetta Stone for the HPD faculty and students to help them prepare for their various medical mission trips to other countries, until the vendor EBSCO offered NSU a deal on university-wide access, said Todd Puccio, HPD’s director of technical services and librarian.
“Fortunately, it was that time of the year when HPD Library had the budget monies available, and we were very happy to be able to extend access NSU-wide,” Puccio said. “As long as we can prove extensive use of this product, we hope to be able to justify keeping it in our budget.”
Currently, EBSCO only offers Rosetta Stone level one, but, hopefully, they will offer more in the future, said Puccio.
“The program is pretty neat, as it tries to be more immersive and has you go through the exercises identifying and pronouncing terms and phrases,” he said.
The subscription is available to download on desktops and laptops and also has an iPad and Android app.
“The mobile apps are a little tricky to set up, but once you know how to work it, they are lots of fun and very convenient,” Puccio said.
Puccio said he has already started using the program and is thrilled with the results.
“I’m learning Japanese right now, and I’ve learned at least three words in the first five minutes and haven’t forgotten them yet,” he said. “Next, I’m going to try Latin, which will be helpful for our medical terminology and for talking with my parish priest.”
Puccio also believes the program will be good for students.
“It is a wonderful resource for our students, staff and faculty — the NSU Libraries reference staff at HPD and Alvin Sherman Library will be happy to help any student, staff or faculty member use this product,” said Puccio.
Rosetta Stone languages include Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, Russian and many more. To access the program, visit nova.campusguides.com/c.php?g=111856&p=729725 or Google “Rosetta Stone at NSU.” A SharkCard and password are required to login and begin.
For more information, contact Puccio at 954-262-3114 or puccio@nsu.nova.edu.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of rosettastone.com
