I got my New York Public Library card in the mail today.
Anyone who lives in New York state is eligible for a card, so I now have access to the library’s impressive collection of online resources.
I spent the morning refreshing my Spanish at the NYPL’s Online Language Learning Center. It uses the Rosetta Stone software, which now has a place on my desert island list of media resources, along with the White Album and the entire first season of The Dog Whisperer.
If you haven’t used or seen Rosetta Stone, it is Language learning software with the remarkable ability to hack your brain and force it to actually understand and remember all of those verb conjugations you had to memorize back in college. 
The lessons are reinforced with audio, video, writing and images, so it imitates an immersion experience more than a typical grammar-based language course. There’s even a module that has you speak into a microphone and shows you a waveform comparing your speech with someone who doesn’t suck.
I haven’t explored the other web resources, but I’m tickled at getting access to this one. The software is in the $300 range, and Cornell doesn’t have a license, so I feel like I’ve gotten my taxes worth this year. Thanks NYPL!
I am a long-time fangirl of all things NYPL, but didn’t know this existed until just now! Keep us appraised of any other delightful finds, yea?
I found Rosetta Stone through Los Angeles Public Library! Voy a reforzar el espanol tambien. Thanks for sending me on the search Erica.
There is another program out there called Tell me More. It is supposed to be better than Rosetta Stone. Does anyone know where I can get access to Tellme More? I know some libraries have started to carry it but I am not sure if a library in my area does.
Rosetta Stone is also availble through the Tompkins County Public Library database site (for people in the Ithaca area who already have a TCPL card). I don’t know if they have as many languages available through the TCPL site as the NYPL site, but I’ve been using it for Italian, Spanish and Polish. I agree that it is a great program.