Online Language Learning and Global Business Opportunities

My research into an online language learning system to review my French language skills has led me to a new global business opportunity.  The online system allows subscribers to learn as many as nine languages during the period of their subscription (normaly six months or one year at a time).  One subscription is for an entire family and all of the course materials are online.  They are even interactive and you can record your voice and match it to native speakers.

The online system has been available for about five years and a different online English program is being released for use in China on November 1, 2009.

For the past six years I have been teaching English language learners (ELLs) in public schools in Illinois.  The English program could be of great benefit for almost 100% of the parents of these students.  While many of my former students did not have computers at home, some did and more purchased computers when it became clear that a computer with Internet access would help the students do better in school.

The even better news about the English language programs are that they can help students move ahead in their English skills and in their other academic subjects while allowing their parents to become more fluent in English to bring in more income for their families.

As you will see on my new website, http://www.drm-language.com, there are even programs to build business English and to prepare for the U.S. Citizenship exam and for college entrance exams.

I was excited about having a year's subscription to build up my French fluency and to review my Spanish grammar.  If I end up working with more people from the other six countries that have language courses in this online system, I can begin picking up even more languages.

I like the idea of having something affordable to share with non-native English speakers who are struggling to learn English.  I use audiobooks and eAudiobooks a lot with them and these online courses can focus on building essential vocabulary and basic grammar.  All of the courses focus on practical communication in the various languages.

What's more, I spoke today with Dr. Ivan Dulik who began with this program almost five years ago and who has spoken to about 1,200 people about the program.  Of the 1,200, about 300 decided to enroll in the program and of the 300, about 80 decided to focus on sharing the program.  The program offers free websites to subscribers.  When someone subscribes to the program by using a website of a subscriber, the subscriber earns a commission for each new subscription.  Of the 80 people who decided to share, 35 became really focused on sharing the business and, over five years, have generated almost one million US dollars for Dr. Dulik--see the link for "Two EN101 Success Stories" and remember that the date on Dr. Dulik's story is from 2007.

I don't expect to generate one million dollars anytime soon--though I wouldn't turn it down.  What I do see is that it is a worthwhile, affordable program that lots of people I know in the USA and outside the USA can benefit from.  As they learn, they can also help their families by sharing the program and earning commissions from the people who also decide to learn English.

English language learning is a major global market at this point and I don't know of any program that includes all the values and benefits of this new one at a very affordable price.

Second Language Learning--English, French, Italian, Spanish, More

Today I was asked how fluent I am in French.  It is my least used language at the moment.  I did study French for five years and was fluent in it in 1969 when I entered the U.S. Army.  I have used French in a limited way since then and could bring it back to fluency with a bit of study.

English is my native (first) language.  I am currently most fluent in Spanish, then comes Italian (I lived in Italy for 3.5 years) and, finally (for now) French.  It is amazing how much learning multiple languages helps in focusing the learning in all of the languages.  The real key is immersion--actually speaking the language in normal day-to-day activities.  One way to identify emerging fluency is when we are aware of dreaming in a second language.  Second language learning (SLL) is the term used for all languages after acquiring the first language. 

For me, most of my second languages have a Latin base.  That's helpful.  I'm very happy to have English as my first language--it's incredibly difficult to learn as a second language.  I enjoy language learning and am now certified as a Teacher of English as a Second Language in Illinois.  I had lots of hours in English in college and what I needed to learn to teach English as a second language is very different from the coursework I took in English while at the university.

How fluent am I in French?  I can probably get around in a taxi in France and I can be lots better with a brief refresher course in the language.  I'm exploring an opportunity to brush up on several languages.  I'll revisit this post with the links once I have them.

English Language Learning and Second Language Learning

English language learning and second language learning are big business.  The demand for English world-wide continues to grow.  Unfortunately, many of the people learning English around the world do not have the practice-time with native English speakers and either are too embarassed to communicate orally in English or literally do not have enough knowledge of spoken English to engage effectively in conversations in English.

Second language learners in the USA frequently have similar challenges when attempting to communicate in another language--Spanish, Italian, French, and many others.