Tip Sheet.(learning with foreign language software)(travel to Dubai)(giving to charity via online shopping)(Product/Service Evaluation)

TECHNOLOGY

LANGUAGE ON THE GO

By Jaime Cunningham

Tosiyuki Nakamura speaks fluent Portuguese and Japanese. Recently, the 50-year-old So Paolo-based accountant began traveling more to the United States and decided to learn English, as well. But with his busy schedule, he needed a flexible program that he could fit in between business meetings. Instead of enrolling at a bricks-and-mortar school, Nakamura logged on to Englishtown (englishtown.com; $20 to $50 per month), one of the world's largest online language schools. The site offers customized lesson plans and 24-hour access to native-speaking instructors and student chat rooms, via a headset and microphone attached to Nakamura's computer. Now, he says, in halting but clear English, "I can choose the times I learn."

Nakamura isn't the only student turning to technology. In the past two decades, foreign-language learning has moved from a prep-school indulgence to a business necessity. And, as students' requirements have morphed and simplified, so, too, have the classes being offered. Instead of an emphasis on grammar translation--reading Caesar's "Gallic War" in the original, for instance--real and virtual instructors are emphasizing conversation and interactivity over book learning. "One of the big debating points is if you should teach grammar at all," says Bryan Fletcher, editor of onestopenglish.com, a news site for the English-education industry. Without rigorous grammar drills and rote memorization, learning at home becomes far easier. And recent technological advances--from streaming video to voice-recognition systems that grade a student's pronunciation skills--can help you turn your living room or office into a virtual classroom.

When choosing a program, look for one with good visual cues. Language learners benefit from seeing and mimicking the way native speakers form words. Michael Long, director of the Center for Advanced Language Study at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, also suggests students choose a program that will help them quickly catch and correct their own errors. "The basic rule of feedback is: the closer the feedback is to the performance, the more effect it has," he says. So, if you have the discipline to go it alone, here are a few other tip sheet picks of top learning tools:

Pimsleur Language Programs of Simon & Schuster Audio (simonsays.com; $19.95 to $345) uses a unique teaching method that involves graduated interval recall, a technique that helps students remember their lessons by reinforcing the information in increasing increments of time until reminders are no longer necessary. This subconscious memorization occurs through regular conversation exercises in which students learn grammar and vocabulary by orally responding to questions on the audiocassette or CD.