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Rosetta Stone Awarded $4.2 Million Army Contract

2005 September, 27

Web-based On-demand Foreign Language Training for All U.S. Army Personnel

Fairfield Language Technologies, creator of the computer-based language immersion program Rosetta Stone®, today announces a new contract with the United States Army. The agreement, worth $4.2 million for one year, makes the Rosetta Stone language learning program available to all active Army, National Guard, Reservist, and Department of Army Civilian personnel worldwide.

The contract marks a significant step forward in the Army's efforts to strengthen its language capabilities. Given present demands abroad, Rosetta Stone will be made available immediately to augment existing Army language training resources and to help Army personnel engage in basic communications in areas of deployment. Now, whether in the Middle East, the Far East, Eastern Europe or right here at home, all personnel will have immediate access to this immersion-based language program acclaimed for its power, speed and effectiveness.

Rosetta Stone's 30 language courses, including programs such as Pashto, spoken in Afghanistan; Farsi, spoken in Iran; and Arabic, spoken throughout the Middle East, will be available to personnel through the distributed online platform called Army e-Learning. The Army's e-Learning program already provides access to commercial, information technology, business and self-development education and training courses, and will now also serve as the Web-based language training platform the Army has determined it urgently needs.

"To provide U.S. Army personnel around the world with the language instruction they need, the Army sought a proven Web-based foreign language training tool that could teach speaking, listening, reading and writing for a variety of target languages utilizing an immersion methodology," says Tom Adams, Chief Executive Officer of Fairfield Language Technologies. "We're thrilled that Rosetta Stone's philosophy, design and effectiveness are providing the solution they were seeking."

A Natural Solution

Rosetta Stone distinguishes itself from other language-learning tools by helping users develop everyday proficiency naturally, the same way people learn their first language—by linking new words with real-world objects and events. Rosetta Stone's Dynamic Immersion™ method uses thousands of real-life color images to convey the meaning of the spoken and written phrases in the program. Its carefully sequenced structure, use of native speakers and ability to provide instantaneous feedback teaches new languages without ineffective memorisation, translation or tedious grammar drills.

"Rosetta Stone eliminates the frustration that many people have experienced when attempting to learn a foreign language," says Duane Sider, Director of Client Training. "Instead, they develop a sense of success early in the program and then continue to gain confidence as they progress through the software."

About Rosetta Stone

Fairfield Language Technologies publishes Rosetta Stone, the revolutionary CD-ROM and online language-learning software acclaimed for its speed, power and effectiveness. Teaching 30 languages, Rosetta Stone is used extensively in U.S. and foreign Schools, Government Agencies, global corporations, and by millions of people in over 150 countries throughout the world.

The company, a Virginia Technology Fast 50 company as ranked by Deloitte and Touche, was founded in 1992 on two core beliefs: that the natural way people learn native languages as children remains the most successful method for learning new languages; and that interactive technology can replicate and activate that immersion method powerfully for learners of any age.