EF Corporate Language Learning Solutions
Online language learning for business and government
Trusted by the world’s leading companies
www.ef.com/corporate
Welcome to the global leader in language training EF Education First has been at the forefront of language training since 1965. Our online school and virtual classroom is trusted by over 1,500 companies and government institutions, along with 15 million students worldwide. Why? Because we have proven time and again that it generates real results. Your ROI is our main priority, so we make the tracking of progress and results in our online school simple. In fact, we are so confident that our language training will help deliver your goals that we guarantee it, and are the only provider to do so. Our team of academics works tirelessly to perfect the most efficient and effective way to learn and our proprietary task-based learning methodology ensures the knowledge is retained. Our passion for optimizing the learning process through technology means we have invested over US$70m into product development, ensuring our learners always have the most innovative and advanced solution available; from unlimited 24/7 access to teacherled conversation classes in “the cloud” to our investment into mobile learning solutions with Apple, every aspect of our school is focused on optimizing results. With a worldwide network of 400 offices and schools in over 50 countries, EF has dedicated project management, local service and support teams in place all over the world, ready to meet your specific needs. This, coupled with over 45 years of experience, means we provide unmatched service levels to our clients, and trouble-free rollout of your language program. At EF, we are ready to help you develop and deliver your organization’s language learning initiatives and to ensure not only that your business communicates effectively, but that language never becomes the barrier to your organizational growth.
Christoph Wilfert President, EF Corporate Language Learning Solutions
Content Why does language training really matter?.................. 3 Why online learning? ................................................. 4 The world’s no.1 online business English school ........ 5 Unmatched course content.................................. 6 World-class innovation for a future-proof solution..... 7 Teacher-led learning to optimize results................. 7 Unbeatable quality of service...................................... 8 EF’s online school generates proven results............... 9 The most trusted choice in language training ........... 10 Full training provider ................................................ 11
EF’s Online School
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EF generates proven results
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Why does language training really matter? Although a terribly overused phrase, it is nevertheless true that our world is getting smaller every day. We live on a planet that is already borderless when it comes to trade, economic interdependence and travel. As a result we already interact, meet, do business and need to communicate with people and organizations like never before. And with a world population growing at around 1 billion per decade and now standing at 7 billion, the need for clear, consistent and unambiguous business communication is only getting bigger. Common understanding and clear borderless communication have become the bridge for international business and competitive economies. The de-facto language for international communication, which is English, underpins all of this. For those embracing it, the rewards can be huge: • More top-line business with new international customers • Better service and increased competitive advantage • Lower bottom-line costs due to improved collaboration and communication
Award-winning online school
HR Executive Online
W³ Awards
Comenius EduMedia
Red Herring 100 Asia
Top HR Product Winner 2010
Gold Winner: General Website Categories – Education
2010 Teaching and Learning Management System
Top 100 Tech Startup
WINNER WINNER
e-learnin e-le e -learnin l le lea g awar award awards a wards wa war ards a rds dss 2e-lea 2010 201 0 ng
IMA (Interactive Media Awards) Outstanding Achievement Award (Education)
WINNER
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
E-Learning Award Silver Winner: Best Online or Distance Learning Program – Education
2010 WebAward
Davey Awards
Outstanding Achievement in Web Development
2010 Silver Winner
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Why online learning? In today’s fast-paced internet-world we have all come to expect 24/7, on-demand service availability to fit around our busy schedules; and training is no different. However, it is one thing to simply provide training content on the internet, but it is an entirely different matter to blend the media-rich capabilities of the internet with academic best-practice and teacher-led activities. The technological advances of recent years, combined with EF’s lead in world-class education innovation, have enabled just that; we can now offer live virtual classrooms led by native-speaking English teachers available at any hour on any day; high-definition, engaging multi-media content; sophisticated speech recognition; mobile ‘anywhere’ access and much more, all available in “the cloud”.
For students it is all about: • Convenience: Online training should mean ‘on-demand’; learners can organize their language training to fit into their busy schedules rather than having to fit fixed classroom sessions into their diaries. • Flexibility: It allows each person to learn at their own pace and in their own way. This means faster learners are not held back by slower learners.
It is therefore no wonder that the popularity of online learning is growing rapidly. In 2009, English language self-paced online learning revenues accounted for 51% of all language-related content revenues; by 2014, this is set to rise to 68%*. The benefits over traditional physical classroom training are many for both students and organizations:
And for organizations it is all about: • Consistency: With online learning, organizations can ensure that employees worldwide are getting access to the same consistent, high standard of training, allowing common measurement across international boundaries. • Scalability: On-demand delivery means effortlessly scalable
training capacity that grows in line with your needs, wherever in the world they may be. • Cost effectiveness: Online training is dramatically more costeffective than traditional physical classroom methods – there is no need for printed course materials, classroom facilities, travel, accommodation or other overheads.
EF’s iPad school app
* Ambient Insight, The worldwide market for English language education self-paced e-learning content: Forecast and analysis 2009-2014, Adkins, June 2010
Peter Cop Application Specialist, Philips “The biggest advantage with EF’s online school is that you can study anywhere and speak with people from the rest of the world.”
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The world’s no.1 online business English school With over 45 years of language training experience, EF understands what works and what does not. We know that delivering really effective online language training means bringing together the three key disciplines of: Academics & best practice learning methods
Applied software and technology innovation
Unmatched service excellence
Uniquely, EF does just this with the perfect mix of precision testing, expert teachers, innovative language lab technology, comprehensive reporting and study advisors
to ensure ongoing progress. The result: the world’s leading online business English school, engineered to deliver the best return on your training investment.
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Unmatched course content –– 2,000 hours of content including 500 hours of pure business content –– Industry-specific courses so students learn the vocabulary most relevant to their company’s needs –– Future-proof content updated every two weeks, ensuring a fresh user experience every time –– Lessons built around a task-based methodology, proven to be the most effective way to learn.
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World class innovation –– Over US$70m investment into product and learning R&D –– Customized iPhone and iPad apps for learning ‘on the go’ –– 500 high definition movies to aid comprehension –– State-of-the-art progress reporting center for transparent ROI.
EF’s online school offers a unique combination of features and functionality that other providers simply can’t match, and is the only school in the marketplace to offer:
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Teacher-led learning –– Unlimited access to teacher-led group conversation classes – 24/7, for truly interactive learning –– Private 1:1 teacher-led classes in many languages for faster progression –– Oral and written evaluations for help where students need it most.
Industry-specific content (Aviation)
EF’s online school demo
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The world’s no.1 online business English school
Unmatched course content for a tailored learning experience A
The beauty of EF’s online school is that it is completely customizable to each learner’s individual preferences for both the way they want to learn and the priorities regarding what they want to learn. Learners can focus on the skills they need to improve the most and select the tools they find the most helpful from a wide range.
Productivity tools to learn faster: EF’s online school includes an extensive palette of self-study tools to strengthen learner skills in an effective and engaging way. Popular tools include: the pronunciation lab, the grammar guide and the flashcards.
Variety: Our school offers the widest range of interactive learning activities; over 10,000 learning modules with 25 different activity types across 16 levels provide a diverse study experience. Learners really engage with the content and are motivated to learn, giving you the best results possible.
Content-rich movies: Story-led, high-definition movie clips aid learner comprehension and listening skills an essential component for effective communication.
Karl-Ludwig Leppla Purchasing Director, Schneider Electric “EF’s online courses are structured logically and are very well laid out. It’s great that I can study as much as my time permits and do not have to follow a timetable. It’s also good that I can check my performance regularly. I would definitely recommend EF’s online training.”
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Industry-specific English: Specific industry courses are available which focus on key terminology within major industry groups including: Banking & Finance, Military, Aviation, Medical and Hospitality.
Business skills courses: EF’s Business English skills courses are a series of modules available to all learners. They are aimed at improving the business language skills professionals need on a day-to-day basis. Courses include those on: Leadership & Management, Business Writing, Meetings, Negotiations and Presentations.
Darrell Minards Head of Learning & Development, Xerox Europe “EF was very unusual in coming forward with value-added proposals and ideas that would encourage and benefit our users in ways that we hadn’t even thought about. We ended up picking EF as our language training supplier for the whole of Europe.”
World-class innovation for a future-proof solution B
Our academic credentials and technological innovation mean that we are constantly looking for new and improved ways of optimizing the end-user experience. Whether it is encapsulating our unique task-based learning process in software, delivering new and compelling HD-content, or providing mobile tablet accessibility, our development teams have a clear objective of maximizing the ROI for your company. This is what makes EF’s online school the best in the world. Progress reporting: EF’s state-of-theart reporting tool allows learners to monitor their own progress against key performance indicators. It also allows Training teams to adapt services and communications to maximize student progress and pass rates.
Advanced Speech Recognition (ASR): EF’s core objective is to give learners the self-confidence to speak English in any type of real-life situation. ASR technology hones in on speech patterns and improves pronunciation fast.
Accessibility: Our school is open 24/7, 365 days a year, so learners can log on whenever they have a free moment. Content from the school can even be downloaded onto a laptop, iPhone or iPad and accessed offline – perfect for employees that travel a lot. Scalability: Specifically designed to be easily implemented across different locales, functions and industry sectors, EF’s online school can be seamlessly integrated into organizations of any size and across all geographies. It represents a unified cross-cultural, company-wide standard for training. Future-proof: All the resources in the online school are updated every two weeks and are continuously refined and improved by our full-time product development teams and academic experts. This means you always have access to the most cuttingedge training solution around.
Upper Advanced Advanced Upper Intermediate Intermediate Elementary Beginner Level 3 Level 2 Level 1
Progress report screen
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Level 6 Level 5 Level 4
Level 9 Level 8 Level 7
Level 12 Level 11 Level 10
Level 16
Level 15 Level 14 Level 13
EF language levels – aligned to the Common European Framework
Study tools screen
Teacher-led learning to optimize results
At EF we put a huge emphasis on the importance of teachers as part of our online training. The benefits of teacher-led training are significant: 1. Better learning: Genuine questions guide teachers and students, who continually refine and improve the learning process. 2. Optimum results: Teacher-led training offers better results as students get individual attention, motivation and encouragement. 3. Teachers are in control and students are the focus: Teachers can steer the lessons to cover areas where the students need particular assistance or have a particular interest. 4. Flexible and adaptable: Rather than following a set path, teacher-led learning can mold to student requirements. For this reason we use our cutting-edge technology to bring our teachers to our students whenever and wherever they wish to learn.
We do this through: • Conversation classes: Learners can attend unlimited teacherled virtual conversation classes every hour, on the hour, 365 days per year. These classes are open to EF learners across the globe, meaning learners can interact with their peers internationally. • Writing classes: In EF’s online school, learners participate in writing classes online and get their assignments back with comments from a native-speaking teacher within 48 hours of submission. • Tutoring/Coaching: All EF learners receive regular phone coaching sessions to make sure they remain on track with the company’s learning objectives and progress as quickly as possible.
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Unbeatable quality of service
Monitoring results EF uses the most scientifically advanced testing technology to provide you with a thorough assessment of your employees’ language competency levels before, during and after your training program; giving you quantifiable results and a measurable ROI. We will even analyze the results and proactively suggest areas where improvements could be made as part of our quality assurance program.
Local support from a global company EF is a truly global company; with a worldwide network of 400 offices and schools in over 50 countries, EF has dedicated project management, local service and support teams in place all over the world to ensure your project’s success.
‘Project lifetime’ service Unlike other providers, EF is not just a software supplier. Our dedicated Client Team supports you every step of the way; from project design through to implementation, evaluating results and even suggesting ways to optimize success throughout the life of your contract. We provide guidance on best practice and share tools to motivate learners.
Personal attention With EF you will have one single point of contact; we do not outsource any part of our solution so we can ensure end-toend quality and rapid responsiveness. We are committed to reducing your administration effort and making the training process as effortless and smooth-running as possible.
93%
of our customers describe our service delivery and project management as proactive
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90%
of our customers are impressed with how we handle their project
EF’s online school generates proven results We understand that training is of little value to your company unless the results are tangible and have a demonstrable effect on your bottom line. For example, we can demonstrate that our online school generates the following results: Progress: Learners that study for just 2 hours per week in our online school, on average, improve their English competency by one level every 25 weeks. Productivity: Our learners report that their improved English skills save them, on average, 2 hours per week. Return On Investment: Based on an average salary of US$25 per hour, the productivity-saving of 2 hours/ week translates into an annual saving per employee of US$2,250, a remarkable ROI.1 Immediate Return: 93% of our learners feel they can apply their learning to their
job immediately, adding value to your business straight away. Efficiency: 86% say their improved English skills help them to better meet their job goals. Confidence: 87% report that English language training increases their confidence in their role, so they are more likely to take on additional responsibilities. Competitive advantage: Our clients report improved communication and teamwork, better customer service and sales, along with increased staff motivation and engagement – all of which goes towards improving your company’s competitive advantage.
Our methodology leads to your success The outstanding results generated by our training solutions are largely thanks to the task-based learning methodology we adopt; lessons are built around practical tasks and students cannot move onto the next task until their performance has been tested and evaluated on the task at hand. This aids speed of progression and optimizes know ledge retention. Collaboration with Cambridge University Our passion for pedagogical research has led us to establish a research unit in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. Our distinguished team of scientists and linguists are jointly conducting research at the cutting edge of technology to fundamentally improve the way students learn English.
1. Average US salary US$46,000 (45 weeks p.a., 40 hours per week)
Dr. Enio Ohmaye EF Chief Technology Officer, Former Senior Scientist at Apple “Technology at EF is first and foremost used to enhance training efficiency. The latest technology allows us to quickly implement and deliver language training at a speed and efficiency that cannot be replicated by conventional teaching methods. We’ve broken down the traditional constraints of a physical classroom and made the process of learning even faster. When technology and education collide, our students benefit.”
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The most trusted choice in language training Trusted by major multinationals and governments for over 45 years, EF has an impressive pedigree in the language training arena. Our solutions are synonymous with personal and corporate success – many of our clients are in the Fortune 500 and the FTSE 100, many of our learners are the highest level executives. The reason for this is simple; EF offers the highest quality solution in the marketplace.
Beijing 2008 Olympics
AB InBev
Xerox
Preparing China to host the olympic games
improving productivity through better English skills
Helping Xerox take control of its language training program
The Beijing Olympic Committee (BOCOG) AB InBev leverages the collective strength had the enormous task of transforming of approximately 116,000 people based in China’s capital city to host one of the big- 23 countries across the world. “Conducting gest and most highly anticipated Olympic business on a global scale means that our events in history. To help introduce mod- organization needs to have strong English ern China to the world, BOCOG selected communication skills.” says Isabella Zhang, the experts in English training, EF, as Director of Training at AB InBev China. The the Olympics’ Official Language Training solution selected to meet AB InBev’s language Supplier. In this role, EF dedicated signifi- training needs was EF’s Online School. “We cant resources and helped thousands of have been impressed by the learning results, judges, BOCOG staff, competition officials, and find EF’s Online School a cost-effective, interpreters and translaefficient way to train our tors receive training in staff,” says Isabella Zhang. English. EF won the ‘gold’ “Improving their English has helping China greet the certainly helped our employworld in English! ees to be more productive.”
75%
of our customers expand the scope of their language training with us year-on-year, as they are so impressed with the results we deliver
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Xerox, the global leader in document management, faced issues from having multiple providers of language training with different methodologies and prices, no cost control, and no single standard for competency. Following a rigorous RFP process, Xerox chose EF as a partner. EF helped Xerox take complete control of language training, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing operating costs. The Business English Language training program has created a single standard of excellence for language training in 16 Xerox countries, and now Xerox only trains people with a business need, up to the level required for their role.
Full training provider EF is unique in the language training marketplace as we are the only full training solution provider. We can use a mixture of training products to match the range of staff you want to train, the urgency of their needs and the languages they need to learn. If you are unsure of who needs what level of training, that is not a problem at all; we have several tools to help you assess your company’s language learning needs and we can then use our extensive experience to propose the best combination of training to meet your specific requirements.
Sample client language needs Spanish 2% German 3%
French 2% Other 3%
English 90%
Online Language Training
In-company Training
Intensive Courses Abroad
Online language courses for companies
Customized language training on-site in your company
Total immersion at EF’s Executive Language Institutes
EF’s online school is the world’s largest with over 15 million students. It offers live teacherled and interactive training that is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each course plan is customized for the student’s needs, level and study pace. 24-hour access to teachers allows employees to fit learning into their schedules. One-to-one coaching sessions and monthly reports ensure students stay on track with their studies. Key Benefit: The most effective way to train large numbers of people with varied abilities.
EF teachers can come to your company to teach on-site. Experienced teachers address individual weaknesses by integrating EF’s powerful interactive learning technologies into the course plan. Whether students study once per month, once per week or once per day, EF customizes the content and study program for each student. Choose between different courses such as Executive (1-to-1), Premium (2-4 students) or Group (5-8 students). Key Benefit: An efficient way to train medium-sized groups of similar abilities.
Living a language 24 hours a day ensures spectacular results. EF offers immersion courses in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Mandarin. Every Executive Institute campus boasts executive-quality educational facilities in worldclass cities. Send your executives away for a crash course, or send an entire department away to learn together in a group setting. EF guarantees immediate results. Key Benefit: The perfect way to train small numbers of people with urgent needs.
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EF Corporate Language Learning Solutions
Online language learning for business and government
Language learning solutions for companies, public sector and professionals
EF offers business language training for all needs — in our schools abroad, in your office and anywhere, anytime online. For more information please visit www.ef.com/corporate
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