Emily Paine Carter

Recent columns

• Readers write of run-ins with political bigwigs
• Recording holds clues from 6 decades ago
• Rubbed shoulders with any big names?
• Column archive

Whether you're a farm boy hoping to engage with an Italian supermodel, or a grandparent eager to e-mail your too-far-away family, the Salem Public Library has new, cool programs for you. And they are free!

Have you seen Rosetta Stone's ads? "A hardworking farm boy" has only one chance to impress an Italian supermodel. So, clutching a language-software box, he doffs his cap and heads for his farmhouse computer.

Now you, too, can learn a new language -- or refresh your high school memory of one -- in the privacy of your own "barn."

Thanks to the Salem Library's $6,000 subscription to Rosetta Stone interactive software, anyone with a Roanoke Valley Library card can learn any of 30 languages. Talk about your passport to the world.

"That was a special introductory price," said Salem Library Director Janis Augustine. Nancy Collins, reference and electronic services librarian, added that Salem is the first public library in the Roanoke area with the program -- one that would otherwise cost a person several hundred dollars per language.

"It's a phenomenal language-learning database," Collins said. Rosetta Stone's ads cite its popularity with the U.S. State Department, NASA and many Fortune 500 executives.

Locally, it is being used by Salem police and students, said both Augustine and Collins. Folks sound happy with it, and Spanish is a popular choice, the librarians said.

Collins showed me the ease of setting up an account and using the program. The "Dynamic Immersion" method combines pictures and words for "very visual" lessons, she said. It's not text-heavy -- and no grammar drills.

To register, she said, you'll need your library card number. Go to www.salemlibrary.info, then click on "Research Resources" and Rosetta Stone. (It's featured on the home page, but won't always be.) You must use the library site each time; "Rosetta" cannot be bookmarked.

Download Adobe Shockwave for free (a link is given), so you can hear and use your microphone.

Technical problems? "Don't call the library; the company wants to handle any troubleshooting -- and it's a [Harrisonburg] Virginia company," Collins noted.

So, you can learn a language at home, on a trip, etc. But, she said, not in the library, please: Other patrons need the quiet.

• About the computer classes: At the end of April Collins will start another six-week round of "very basic" classes -- her fourth since the fall.

She's glad to offer the popular classes, thanks to Salem's purchase of more library computers.

Although the class does not have age restrictions, the target audience is senior citizens. "Most have been given computers by their kids or grandkids for e-mailing and the Internet, but it's not necessary to have your own -- you can use our wireless network." Even though she is teaching technology and important consumer safety issues (scams, security, viruses), she keeps the classes fun.

Computer class times are limited in the summer by the use of the community computer room for children's programs. For more information, call Nancy Collins, Salem Public Library, 375-3089. www.salemlibrary.info.