Streaming Video Enhances Language Training
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English is spoken by an estimated 980 million people throughout the world and roughly 1 billion people are in the process of learning it on any given day. Many believe that having a native speaker teach the language is one of the best ways for new students to learn it. Based on this assumption, Englishlink is pioneering a new program that will allow students to take part in English training from the comfort of their own home or office.
"I designed Englishlink to replicate the way I would like to learn another language," explains Englishlink creator and manager Lesley Rogan, "Going overseas to study is expensive and generally inaccessible to most people. By using this widely available online medium, we can offer this experience to every prospective learner and reach an extremely broad audience."
Launched by Drake Training Systems Ltd., Englishlink is the first online English training program that uses pre-recorded streaming video to deliver lessons that cover all aspects of the language including speaking, pronunciation, listening, reading and writing. With lessons tailored to meet students needs from an elementary to an upper-intermediate level, teachers focus on grammar, vocabulary, functional and situational language.
"This is not simply an experience where the user clicks answers on the screen using their mouse. I have created a learning experience that allows the student to feel as though they are in a real classroom with a real teacher. It is a personal learning journey that moves at the pace of the learner, no matter what level of English they are at," Rogan says.
To keep the lessons interactive, students watch the streaming video, follow examples with an on-screen whiteboard and can send their teachers queries via e-mail at any time. They're guaranteed a quick response to these e-mails which helps capture the feeling of a live one-on-one lesson. Students are also expected to do homework and should set aside approximately one hour per lesson.
Using a broadband internet connection a number of students have already tried the U.S. based Englishlink training program. Students from as far a way a Japan, Italy, the Czech Republic and Vietnam have praised the program saying that they appreciated features such as the fact that you could see the instructors mouth move when she pronounced words, that they found the pronunciation very clear over the video connection, that they had good contact with their instructor, and that being able to see the body language of the English teacher was quite helpful.
Englishlink offers a free lesson and placement test on their website for anyone interested in sampling their teaching methods. Only a General English curriculum is currently available, but the site will be launching its Business English courses later in May.