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Language Program Humor: A Really Bad Ad | ||
Tags: Joke | Language Program | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5966 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 1 of 8 18 October 2009 at 4:52am | IP Logged | ||
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After I had finished my language study today, I decided to put my books away and relax with some light reading unrelated to language-learning. Sadly, though, it seems you can't open a magazine in America without seeing this awful advertisement for RosettaStone. It goes like this: "He was a hardworking farm boy. She was an Italian supermodel. He knew he would have just one chance to impress her."
If you have not seen this, there's a picture of it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pizzocalabro/3432352610/ You see there, on the page, a fine-looking young fellow superimposed onto a bleak and barren landscape, supposedly a farm. He would like to learn Italian, we are told, so he can meet a supermodel. He clutches a bright yellow box of innovative, effective, exciting, total-solution software to his sad, hopeful heart . . . he does not yet realize, in his youthful idealism, that if you really want to impress someone with your linguistic brilliance, you probably should not, when you go to meet the person, bring your software box with you. I hate this ad. I should feel for the poor farm boy, but I'm evil. I worked very hard to acquire the modest foreign language knowledge I have so far--totally without supermodels. I figured that I can't be the only one who has done this, so I did a quick Internet search to maybe find a support group for other folks in this same situation. I found a hilarious parody of the ad by Ian Frazier, from New Yorker magazine, and it made me feel much, much better. It is SO FUNNY! Read it here: Mi Chiamo Stan Hope you like it! Take a break from all that hard language work, and have a laugh! Disclaimer: I have not used RosettaStone. My gripe is not with the program, but instead with language software advertisements that make unrealistic, inflated claims about easy learning. I know that they only do this to sell the software. Doesn't it irritate you, too?! Edited by meramarina on 19 May 2010 at 4:27am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pookiebear79 Groupie United States Joined 6029 days ago 76 posts - 142 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Swedish, Italian | Message 2 of 8 18 October 2009 at 8:19am | IP Logged | ||
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I've never seen the Rosetta Stone print ad you mention, though I have seen the overblown TV commercials and late night infomercials.
However, the article you linked (I got to it fine once I removed the space,)was pretty amusing. My personal favorites:
Because, you know, those will *really* come in handy during fashion week in Milan. ;) Edit: Oh.My.Goodness...I just looked at the original ad. How cheesy! No wonder they made fun of it! Edited by pookiebear79 on 18 October 2009 at 8:22am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maaku Senior Member United States Joined 5573 days ago 359 posts - 562 votes Speaks: English* | Message 3 of 8 18 October 2009 at 10:20am | IP Logged | ||
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God I hate that ad... it represents learning a language for all the wrong reasons.
Anyone that thinks learning enough of a language to butcher a few pickup lines will impress the ladies has *a lot* to learn. The new yorker article made me laugh. Thanks for sharing. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Felixelus Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6837 days ago 237 posts - 244 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 4 of 8 18 October 2009 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Also: How could a "hard working farm boy" afford Rosetta Stone?
Brilliant reply in the New Yorker there! Thanks for that :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5966 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 8 18 October 2009 at 6:06pm | IP Logged | ||
Well, he works very, very hard! Never lived on a farm, myself, but I'd think that grueling agricultural labor must give a person plenty of time and money to dedicate to language learning. Besides, who wouldn't love our earnest, earthy young friend and his doomed Italian dreams? This ad really backfires. It's not inspiring--how could anyone take the program seriously? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5590 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 6 of 8 19 October 2009 at 1:00am | IP Logged | ||
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It is an interesting contrast when one considers the Rosetta Stone farm boy ad or their radio one (a man "impresses" his friends by ordering in French at a French restaurant and ends with "wait until we go to Chinatown to eat next week") with the ads about programs to learn English that one finds offered on Spanish language television stations. The Spanish ads focus on learning English as a way of being able to get a better job, e.g. restaurant manager rather than busboy/dishwasher, rather than "impressing the impressionable". The ads emphasize bettering one's self and family, not showing off.
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| meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5966 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 8 19 October 2009 at 1:54am | IP Logged | ||
That's a very good point, and I hadn't thought of that. It more or less sums up why I dislike this ad so much. I have not seen the Spanish ads for English learning, but you are right: if you compare the two as you're describing them, the promotions make some very unfair assumptions about language learners. That is, if you are not a native speaker of English, you need to learn the language, while if you are an English speaker, you already know what you need and would only pursue foreign language learning as a simple amusement. I don't agree with that implication at all, but unfortunately, many monolingual Anglos might do so. In fact, sometimes people reacted with hostility when I used Spanish at work with Spanish-speaking clients, and could not understand WHY I liked the language in itself, not just because it was helpful to know. That's why I was making fun of the ad in the first place: not just to get a laugh, but because I can't stand that overly casual attitude toward language learning that assumes you can do it in a few days and it's all fun and wonderful. Wow, learn French in one week and Chinese in the next? Anyone who can't do that must be be dumber than farm dirt! The ad deserved the satire it got in the New Yorker, didn't it? It was a good read, anyway! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Yukamina Senior Member Canada Joined 6263 days ago 281 posts - 332 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean, French | Message 8 of 8 20 October 2009 at 12:05am | IP Logged | ||
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That is funny! They should make language course dialogues more fun like this. Similar material minus the boring.
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