The Hyderabad-based the Language Company has announced an inter-school competition in Hyderabad, with entry open until June 22, and culminating in a grand awards ceremony on June 24. Representative individuals or teams of class V-XII students from schools in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, will be given the opportunity to present their answers to the question: “Why are foreign languages important for my future?” Submissions will be encouraged in both short essay and short video formats. The submissions will be judged by a special committee and the winning entries in the two categories will be awarded a Western Success Deluxe licence of the company’s language software for every student in the winning schools.
The Language Company has been doing business in India since early 2011 under the registered name All Languages Company Pvt. Ltd. Its flagship product is based on the company’s ‘Tell Me More’ software which already has over 7 million users globally and has won “dozens of awards” throughout Europe and the US. “With over 2,000 hours of rich multimedia content per language, ten levels from beginner to fluency, and patented speech recognition for interactive dialogue, it is arguably the best computer-based language learning software currently available worldwide,” says Adam Gordon Hopewell, the promoter-chief executive of the company.
According to Hopewell, former vice president of Abu Dhabi University and country manager (China) for EF Education, the company offers its online and computer-based language learning software to schools on either a per student or per terminal subscription model. This software enables learners to become proficient in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, or Dutch at prices ranging from Rs.1,000-3,800 per year per student.