Direct English Live! Learning Platform launched at Global Partners Conference in Dubai this month.

Direct English Master Licensees from around the world were introduced to the future of English Language online learning platform at their 2017 Global Partners Conference in Dubai.

Powered by Learning Cloud, and supported by Netex Learning, a global leader in Online Learning Platforms, Direct English Live! was developed over two years and provides our learners and course administrators with a powerful and dynamic online learning system that combines a fully functioning Learning Management System with Centre Administration and Teaching Support.

The online and interactive learning platform includes a global online social community, mobile learning capability, data analytics and content management tools.

Cross platform and globally hosted in the cloud, Direct English Live! provides access to Direct English online courses and assessments, including the all-new 6 level Direct English Online (DEO) course. This video rich English Language course features both English only versions and others that offer bilingual support for beginners and incorporates the acclaimed Louis Alexander Direct English curriculum on which the original in-centre, taught course is built on.

Also available is the powerful practice tool, Direct English Interactive, where learners can role play and then record and playback their activities, providing them with a confidence building safe, practice zone in which they can develop intonation and pronunciation skills.

Accessed through browser or via the app for smartphones and tablets, Direct English Live! is user focused with built in messaging features for communication with tutors and access to both course and global learner communities where peers around the world swap learning experiences, life goals and the odd recipe or two!

Geared for the future, Direct English Live! benefits from the ongoing innovation from Netex, Direct English publicly listed educational technology partner, that focuses on ensuring that Direct English learners are benefiting from features and applications that are ahead of the curve. Scheduled for deployment in 2018 will be a powerful Virtual Classroom that will provide learners with both live and recorded tutorials, as well as give teachers the ability to assess learners and adapt teaching to individual needs and much, much more.

“Analysts think that over the next 3 years, Digital Learning globally is going to grow to a $200 billion dollar plus industry! If we break that down into the constituent parts of the solution within Direct English portfolio – it’s worth about $50 billion!”  added Mike Byrne, UK Country Director, Netex Learning (Dubai, December 2017)

Available only to learners that enrol at Direct English centres around the world, Direct English Live! will provide a new business channel that Direct English Master Licensees are keen to develop in their exclusive markets, with interest already expressed by corporate customers and public-sector bodies. Infinitely scalable, Direct English Live! is as much a business resource as it is a learning resource.

Source: Selfstartr

For more information on Online English Platform opportunities please contact info@directenglish.com

Over 60 Master Franchisors and Operations Managers from 20 countries attended this year’s Direct English Master Franchisees Conference held in Dubai, UAE to assist the launch on Direct English Live! product, the cutting-edge English learning solution created by Direct English, in cooperation with Netex Learning, leader in learning cloud technologies.

The two-day event took place on the 8^th and 9^th November 2017 in the highest hotel in the World, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, in the Business Bay area. The venue was the perfect location to launch a revolutionary platform that will be a cutting-edge solution for all  language schools worldwide.

The conference opened by presenting two case studies to the rest of global partners, to show different business models and opportunities in the English schools for adults and inspire partners with different ways to boost their business.

Manal Al Jurdi, Master Licensee for Direct English Kuwait, presented her success story in 14 years of operations with increasing numbers of trainees exceeding 3000 a month, achieved also with successful marketing campaigns provided by Direct English Global through billboards, radio, tv, emails and word-of-mouth.

Chika Okuyama, Area Manager for Direct English Japan, introduced her case study to the high investors audience with the 8^th Direct English Center to open this month. Part of their key strategy is the location as they tend to focus on areas within 5 mins of trains stations. Despite a competitor presence of 10,000 language schools in Japan, Direct English Japan masters the English tuition market with over 3000 students, thanks also to the flexible scheduling of lessons, monthly tuition and events and internet-centred marketing, with a major focus on female audience.

After sharing the background on the latest trends in English Online Learning, Direct English presented their latest Direct English Live! Platform

Derek Price, CEO at Linguaphone Group, parent company of Direct English added: “This represents the biggest Direct English development ever with the new Direct English Live! suite of online solutions. We are leading the market with a solid and proven method from Louis Alexander and a learner-centric user experience for students, through our unique Learning Cloud  learning platform”.

The two days of sessions ended with a fantastic Gala dinner for both Pingu’s English and Direct English partners, both brands under the Linguaphone Group umbrella, where three awards were given to the Best Branded School (Direct English Indonesia), Top Network Growth (Direct English Japan) and No.1 Global sales (Direct English Saudi Arabia).

Best Branded School 2017: Direct English Indonesia

Top Network Growth 2017: Direct English Japan

No.1 Global Sales 2017: Direct English Saudi Arabia

For more information on School of English opportunities, please contact: info@directenglish.com

The British Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia has worked with the Linguaphone Group for the last year, and helped them successfully select and assign a new Master Franchisee for their pre-school English language program, Pingu’s English.  They are now working with the Linguaphone Group a suitable Master Franchisee for our Direct English language program for adults across Cambodia. Here Ritchie Munro, Executive Director with the British Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, shares their thoughts and advice for anyone considering investing in the Cambodian market.

What is the key role of the British Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia?

The British Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia has been established since 1995. Our core focus is to provide a forum for British business people in Cambodia to meet and develop their networks for mutual benefit, with a view to fostering good commercial and social relationships within the Cambodian business community. We do this by assisting our members in building their networks, connecting our members to each other, creating business opportunities and offering business to help them to grow their businesses.

Why should an investor consider Cambodia to develop a nationwide English training business in?

The Cambodian market has some unique traits that make it a desirable marketplace for businesses to explore investing in. It offers strong economic growth, that has seen the GDP grow by an average of 7% over the past 20 years, making it constantly rank in the top 5 fastest growing markets in the world. What’s more, the Cambodian population is also young and dynamic, with 50% of the county under the age of 25. It is also a relatively easy place to set up a business as a foreigner, with no foreign ownership restrictions, easy access-to-work permits and visas. It is also seeing rapid expansion in the education sectors, as well as in construction and the service sector.

What is the potential of a strong English language training program such as Direct English in Cambodia?

There is a great potential for a quality English program targeted at adults in Cambodia. English is a core part of the business world in South East Asia and Cambodia is ahead of the curve, regionally for its levels of English. Due to the population being so young, we are witnessing the rapid growth of the business sector and with this, massive amounts of foreign investment, businesses and brands are coming to Cambodia. Naturally this is increasing the standard of English that is required in the workplace and candidates in the job market with certified English qualifications will stand out. (Click here to download the education report on Cambodian Market)

What is your impression of the franchise market in Cambodia?

The franchise market is a large part of foreign brands coming to Cambodia. The model works well as the growth of consumerism here is leading to an increased demand for established international brands. We have seen a huge number of foreign brands arriving in the past five years, including; Nike and Adidas, Costa and Starbucks, as well as luxury car brands like Jaguar Land Rover. These are often brought in under a franchise style or joint venture agreement, as brands look for an established local operator that already understand the Cambodia market, its consumers and how to drive the brand locally.

Are you able to offer any advice to potential Nationwide Entrepreneurs interested in the exclusive franchise rights to Direct English across Cambodia?

For local companies in Cambodia and neighbouring markets, looking to secure the rights to Direct English, I would suggest that they have the facilities, faculty and networks in place or planned to bring such a well-respected brand to Cambodia, or if not, the ability to do so. To represent an international brand such Direct English it’s essential to understand the market, the demand and fully evaluating the opportunity.

For Entrepreneurs, Education and Holding Companies interested in the opportunity to franchise Direct English across Cambodia, please contact opportunities@directenglish.com or click here

Linguaphone Group and ST Unitas, South Korea’s biggest and the most advanced e-learning business group, entered into a partnership to help adults and companies in South Korea to learn English and improve their language skill level more easily, using Direct English’s unique learning system and English language training.

Because Direct English is built on a methodology proven to be one of the most effective and efficient ways to learn, this partnership is enabling ST Unitas to accelerate the expansion of their “Dangi-hakgyo” brand of academies that specialises in helping students achieve their goals as quickly as possible.

The great achievement was  possible thanks to the cooperation with BCC South Korea; the busy and proactive team showed high commitment to bring a top quality UK company expertise to South Korea to help the Korean market grow further.

CEO at the British Chamber of Commerce Korea, Sean Blakeley, said: “We worked with Linguaphone Group to find them a new partner in the Korean market. Throughout the engagement we had with Linguaphone Group, we found them to be passionate about education, supremely professional in their approach to business and both responsive and personable in their interactions with ourselves and Korean companies. Korean investors were attracted to the best-in-class programme which Linguaphone Group offers, the strong reputation of the company and the heritage with which it is associated. These are qualities that resonate globally. Our team did a great job to bring the expertise of the two companies together for a profitable and successful English language training partnership in the near future”.

ST Unitas’s mission is to democratise English learning across South Korea, which the easy accessibility of Direct English helps to achieve. The company is founded on the belief that the gap between the haves and the have-nots can be reduced through quality education, which can change people’s lives.

This belief and purpose is reflected in the company’s name: ST is short for “Sling sTone” from the story of David and the Goliath, a small stone that made all the difference.

ST Unitas now employs over 1,000 employees serving thousands of satisfied clients.

Lee Jung Jin, Co-president of ST Unitas, Master Licence Direct English, South Korea

Lee Jung Jin, Co-president of ST Unitas, said “I am so glad to make a partnership with Linguaphone Group. With its world-class content combined with our expertise in onsite education operations, we will definitely yield high-quality conversation English content, and satisfy our clients’ linguistic and cultural learning needs, unlike our competitors offering grammar based programs.”

Korea has enjoyed remarkable economic growth over the past decades and emerged as a leader in many fields worldwide thanks to the abundance of its rich human resources.

The rapid recovery of this small country from the devastation of war to become an economic powerhouse in the world that has been benchmarked by many other countries is an amazing story.

Korea has produced much talent by investing a large chunk of its budget in education and by attempting to maximize efficiency by using a “cramming” method to teach students. But while its educational program has proven to be effective, today’s educational issues reveal many drawbacks in the system.

As the Korea Herald states, “Although a hundred million won is spent to educate one student from kindergarten to high school (Kangnam standard), Korean students are well below average in TOEFL scores among OECD countries”. ST Unitas has the vision to bring excellence in English teaching to the country through Direct English and successfully implement proven teaching method worldwide with over 115 years of language training Linguaphone Group’s expertise.”

Ends.

For enquiries:

Dangi-hakgyo Direct English ST UNITAS

T. 070 5038 5363   m. 010 9500 1526   f. 02 6442 9332

Autoway Tower, Yeongdongdaero 417, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

http://directenglish.dangi.co.kr/
For Franchising Enquiries:

Opportunities@linguaphonegroup.com

For Marketing and Press Enquiries:

Head of Marketing (Brand and Digital)

Linguaphone Group

Debora Mondella

Debora.mondella@linguaphonegroup.com

Sources:

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/09/181_186931.html

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20070214000031

One of the world’s most successful English School franchises, Direct English, opened officially in Bulgaria this month bringing its highly effective teaching methods to adults wanting to learn English. It also brings exciting business opportunities to other schools wishing to expand the successful franchise across the country.

Direct English Master Licensee, Jordan Andonov, hosted a grand event attended by the Ambassador of the British Embassy in Bulgaria, her Excellency Emma Hopkins, Ministries of Parliament, and senior executives from schools and the private sector.

Direct English is a world-leading training system from UK-based Linguaphone Group. It is designed around the student, moving at their own pace and fitting around their work and lifestyle to make it easier for them to learn English.

Business Development at the Linguaphone Group, Ms. Lucy Mills, went on to say that Direct English has a vital role to play in introducing adults of all ages to an essential life skill in a proven and accessible way.

The UK Ambassador of the British Embassy added ”I am thrilled that the 115 years of English language training experience that is distilled into Direct English is now available to this country. I think all students attending this unique school will emerge as high quality students of spoken English and I wish Direct English Bulgaria and their students every success.”

Emma Hopkins, Ambassador of British Embassy during her speech at Direct English Launch in Bulgaria

Direct English school Bulgaria has been integrated within the Alexander Training Center, which already has more than fifteen years’ experience in the Bulgarian market, delivering language training to adults across the country. It was established to provide language training and other educational services to children, students, and adults.

In addition to English language tuition, it also teaches other languages such as German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and French.

Summarising Direct English’s winning points of difference, Jordan Andonov said that “it offers a training which is different from the traditional idea of the language course. The ability to select where, when and how fast and quickly you would like to be trained is an approach that has proven successful for busy people. We know that each person is unique and has its own way of studying, which is why we are delighted to teach courses adapted to individual needs.

Also the British Embassy in Sofia tweeted the event:

Yesterday @EHopkinsFCO took part in the official opening of Direct English- a successful language program launching in BG #KnowledgeIsGREAT pic.twitter.com/jnn2BbDOXi

— British Embassy (@UKinBulgaria) October 4, 2016

Ends

For all enquiries, please contact:

Direct English Bulgaria

27 Tvardishki prohod Street 1404 Sofia Bulgaria

Tel: +359 (0)88 71 444 71 Tel/Fax: + 359 (0)2 963 55 33

Email: info@directenglish.bg

Website: www.directenglish.bg

For Franchising Enquiries Worldwide, please contact opportinuties@directenglish.com

• Developed in 1997 by the internationally renowned education authority Louis Alexander, Direct English is a premium learning system taught using the global standard American English. With the heritage of the UK-based Linguaphone Group, a world-leading language training provider with over 115 years experience in over 30 countries, Direct English has  a global agreement with Cambridge English Language  Assessment which allows its Master Licensees to apply to be authorised Cambridge English Language Assessment partners and offer learners a Cambridge qualification and certification.

• Across the globe the Group already have a strong franchise network successfully delivering the English training program. With over 2 billion people currently learning English to become part of the global conversation, English language education is  a fast growing industry, with a global estimated revenue of over $50 billion.

• Students at all Direct English training centers will be able to get a formal and independent assessment of how their English language learning has progressed, thanks to a global agreement between the Linguaphone Group and Cambridge English Language Assessment. Under these arrangements, Direct English students can take the renowned BULATS test from Cambridge English Language Assessment, one of the largest testing organisations in the world. All students  completing this test will receive a certificate from Cambridge English Language Assessment.

• Want to franchise an English school for Kids? Contact our sister company Pingu’s English info@pingusenglish.com | www.pingusenglish.com

Linguaphone Group, one of the world’s most effective and well-known English language training providers, is expanding its franchised Direct English teaching business in Ireland.

Master Franchisee for Direct English in Ireland, Cork Business School, has now completed its In-country teaching, marketing and business training and confirmed the opening of new Direct English centres across the country from September 2016.

Cork School of Business is dedicated to helping students achieve their fullest potential. Its teachers are committed to dynamic teaching methods that distinguish their college from other institutions, which is why they chose Direct English.

The Franchise Training was delivered at Cork School of Business by a team from Linguaphone Group comprising the Learning Systems Manager, Emma Smith, and Senior Business Development Manager, Mark Simpson.

Direct English is a premium learning system taught using the global standard American English. Its nine-level English language training system delivers world-class English language training, to suit all abilities and purposes.

Direct English is published by the UK-based Linguaphone Group, one of the world’s leading providers with over 115 years of experience in the language training market in over 30 countries.

Linguaphone Group also has Direct English Master Franchisees across the Globe, including Asia, Europe and Middle East. They supply comprehensive marketing support for franchisees.

The demand for English language training remains very high. The English language learning industry is worth an estimated $50 billion annually, worldwide. Gross profits for a franchise teaching business in the education sector range from 60-90%.

Ends

For enquiries, please contact:

Direct English Ireland – Mrs. Nora Gallagher

6-8 MacCurtain Street, Cork City, Ireland

Tel: +353(0)214553864

Email: info@directenglishireland.ie

Website: www.directenglishireland.ie

Notes to editors

Direct English is delivered through a network of Master Franchisees in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

For more information on Direct English Master Franchise opportunities worldwide, please visit http://www.directenglish.com/licensing_master-franchise.htm or email opportunities@directenglish.com