We're all familiar with flash cards as language learning tools, but to properly supplement the Rosetta Stone language learning software's immersion teaching method, you should add a special twist. Instead of writing the English word on one side of the card and the translated word in its appropriate language--say, Irish--on the other side, instead write the Irish word on one side of the card and draw a picture illustrating the concept on the other side.
If you're not feeling very artistic--or if you'd like to try something a little different--write down a list of the words you're learning in your new language and conduct a photo scavenger hunt. Hit the streets with your digital camera, searching out visuals that illustrate the words on your list. These may be as simple as "boy" and "girl" or more complicated, like "There's a man behind the car" or "Turn to the left"--all concepts that Rosetta Stone uses to teach vocabulary and phrasing.
With most digital cameras and/or digital camera software, it's easy to weed through the photos you've taken and eliminate any undesirables. From there, just take the memory card to a big-box store or photo shop to have some cheap prints made. Write the appropriate foreign language word or words on the back of each photo to illustrate what's going on in the photo itself, and you have some lovely photo flash cards.
Part of the fun--and growing pains--of a language immersion program is interacting with others. While you could set up coffee shop chats with other language learners--and these can be effective practice sessions, especially if there are native speakers to help keep the conversation on track--why not challenge each other in new and interesting ways?
Take the photo flash card activity above. This would be a great activity to parcel out to other members of a "supportive learning group", and it's also a good way for learners of different abilities to interact and support each other. Students just starting out can find images for simple nouns and verbs, while the more advanced learners might put together multiple photos or even collages to represent more complicated sentences and concepts. Students can then exchange photo flash cards, or bring extra copies to share, so that others benefit from their work as well.
Another interactive option that can be done with groups of any size: A guerilla sticky note campaign. The group descends, at a prearranged time, on a pre-selected victim's home or office with pads of sticky notes and the appropriate foreign language dictionary in hand. The goal is to paper the victim's environment with sticky notes labeling items with their names in the destination language; so mesa and taza would get stuck on tables and teacups, respectively, for Spanish language learners. The deal is that the "victim" can't remove any of the sticky notes until he has learned the word written on the note--and there will be a quiz later; make sure someone keeps track of the words used on the labels for that specific purpose. Rotate "victims" every few days until everyone has had a turn; this is a great way to involve others and build vocabulary, both for the victims and the labelers.
Can't find anyone else learning the same language--or a native speaker--to help you out? Carry out your own labeling campaign, or simply hand a friend your dictionary and set them loose; odds are they'll have a great time trying to stump you with unusual words.