10 ideas for creating a language training product, including the pros and cons.

In today’s global economy, language skills are more important than ever for businesses to succeed. But with so many different approaches to language training available, it can be difficult to determine the best fit for your customer. From online self-paced courses to immersive language retreats, each method has its own pros and cons. In this article, we’ll explore the different options available for corporate language training and help you determine which mixture of approaches works best.

1. Online, self-paced, interactive courses. This are built in an online learning platform with media (audio or articles), and a limited range of activities like multiple choice, drag and drop or fill the gap exercises. A common approach is to use an open-source platform like Moodle in combination with H5P exercises.
   • Pros: convenience and flexibility, can be completed at any time and from anywhere, interactive elements provide structured learning, generates user data, good for language presentation and practice tasks, easy to develop, inexpensive for clients.
   • Cons: limited exercise types, limited communication with trainers and peers, less effective for language production tasks.
2. In-person or online classes with a professional language trainer. This is the classic business English training approach that may clients prefer. You can offer in-company or online classes.
   • Pros: personalized attention and feedback from an expert, more adaptable to client need, opportunity to activate language skills by practicing speaking and listening, good for language production and task-based learning.
   • Cons: requires coordination of schedules and locations, generally a lot more expensive for the client, not always the best use of classroom time.
3. Blended Learning Language Training. This approach combines the best of both worlds by allowing learners to take advantage of both self-paced, online preparation and live training sessions. It is also possible to flip the classroom and focus lessons on language production and more higher level thinking.
   • Pros:, accommodates different learning styles and schedules, more cost effective for your clients, reliable data for progress reporting, increases in student engagement and personalization of content, optimizes the use of classroom time for communication, structured learning.
   • Cons: technical difficulties, online pre-work requires high levels of self-motivation, careful planning needed for the seamless delivery of content, no feasible unless you have enough students to justify the creation of blended program, and you can recycle the course of other clients.
4. Language exchange or mentoring programs. An internal language exchange or mentoring program can be a wonderful way for students to learn from each other. Online language exchanges can be set up by teachers in collaboration with other trainers in other countries
   • Pros: real-life practice, opportunity to learn about culture and customs, learn from your coworkers or peers.
   • Cons: requires coordination of schedules and finding a suitable language partner, may not be feasible for specific learning needs, needs a lot of initiative from the learners themselves, difficult to organise and moderate.
5. Immersive language retreats or study abroad programs
   • Pros: Intensive language practice, cultural immersion, unique experience.
   • Cons: Requires significant time away from work, high cost, limited in terms of long-term language development. can only be promoted with external partners.
6. Mobile apps for language learning. This is for learners who love mobile devices and want to learn everywhere. Normally, online training takes place on work on computers during office hours, but there is a growing number of people who need more flexible ways to learn outside of the office.
   • Pros: accessible, can be used on-the-go, provides user data for progress reporting.
   • Cons: limited interaction with trainers or peers, may not be as effective for developing speaking and listening skills, in most cases it is very expensive to develop an app, so third-party apps may be preferable.
7. Adaptive language learning software with modern AI-powered chatbots or speech recognition. This is the Edtech solution of the future, and will be pushed forward by the rapid growth of generative language models like Chat GPT.
   • Pros: Personalized feedback and practice, can simulate real-life conversations.
   • Cons: no interaction with real people, may not be as engaging as in-person classes, lack of the human element of communication. It requires a very significant investment to develop adaptive platforms and apps, so third-party solutions are preferable.
8. Podcasts or videos for language learning. This is ideal for learners who have initiative, but it is necessary to guide students and compile lists for further study.
   • Pros: Can be accessed and listened to anywhere, can improve listening comprehension and pronunciation, exposes learners to authentic language. Lots of free content available in the internet, good third party solutions to enhance your courses.
   • Cons: No interaction with trainers or peers, not effective for developing speaking skills unless they are integrated into live sessions, creating follow up tasks can be time consuming, unless you are using a service that includes interactive exercises.
9. Gamified language learning platforms. These are platforms with a more extensive use of functionality like games, badges, leaderboards, both structural and content gamification.
   • Pros: more fun and engaging, motivates learners, provides user data for reporting
   • Cons: not as effective for developing speaking and listening skills, may not be appropriate for business, may not be suitable for all audiences and age groups. They are more expensive to develop, so third-party platforms might be preferable.
10. Customized language coaching tailored to specific industries or job roles (English for Special Purposes). The idea is to teach students the English that they will immediately be able to use at work the next day.
    • Pros: relevant and practical, can improve communication and job performance, learners’ community of practice, very effective and can improve overall work productivity, can be delivered as blended learning effectively.
    • Cons: requires more time and effort to develop customized content, not feasible for smaller clients, content may not be reusable in other contexts, very expensive for the client.

Overall, the best approach to creating a corporate language training program will depend on the specific needs and constraints of the company and employees. A combination of different methods may be most effective in achieving the desired learning outcomes. Some options will only work for a very large economy of scale, but there are often cheaper open-source solutions, or external third-party companies that offer high quality platforms and services which you can integrate into your offering.

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