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How can busy professionals make time for language learning? Posted by on Feb 15, 2017 in Archived Posts

It is widely recognized that the US needs much better language skills to succeed in international fields like business, security, diplomacy, and politics. That’s not all—language is finding its way into nearly every major industry: health care, hospitality, law enforcement, customer service, finance, journalism, and beyond.

When individuals or organizations in these fields need better language capabilities to address professional needs, they likely want to acquire the skills as quickly as possible. Suddenly timing, flexibility, and quality of instruction are critical. Removing a busy professional from his or her office and sending them to a language course is often untenable, in terms of cost, time, and disruption to their work.

language learning for busy professionals

So, how can busy professionals make time to learn a language?

Technology allows us to train languages much faster and more flexibly. Consider this: finding your way around was revolutionized almost overnight by GPS and mobile devices. That same degree of change is now available to language learning and teaching. At Transparent Language, we’ve made that our mission.

We strive to make the most of your 25-30 minutes a day. With the features and flexibility of Transparent Language Online, even the busiest of workers can work a language into their schedule and meet their individual needs:

  • Learn anytime, anywhere: Transparent Language Online works on any internet-connected computer, tablet, or phone, whether online or offline. As long as you’ve downloaded the content ahead of time, you can learn offline and sync your progress the next time you’re connected—perfect for the businessman or woman who spends a lot of time on planes or the journalist who finds him or herself in areas with questionable Wi-Fi.

    We offer business-specific content in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

  • Leverage your native language: Nearly all of the material in Transparent Language Online is taught by pairing the native language with the target language (including ESL pairings for speakers of 20+ other languages). While immersion has its obvious benefits, we’ve found it more time efficient to teach in pairs so you’re doing less guesswork.
  • Start with the basics: We don’t just toss you in to a brand new language—we start with the alphabet. Learning the names and sounds of each letter is a critical skill upon which you can build. Once you’ve got the basics down, you’ll be able to start acquiring vocabulary and grammar skills much faster.
  • Create your own content: Vocab list and lesson authoring tools enable you (or your language training staff) to create unique content that meets your specific needs. These built-in tools allow you to add content, recording audio, and select your favorite learning activities.
  • Learn in small chunks: Our self-guided content is broken up into individual vocabulary lists or lessons that can be completed in one sitting and in any order, so whenever a free moment opens up, you’ll be able to fit in one new list or lesson. Language is more than just vocabulary, of course, but the more words you know, the easier everything else gets.  Check out this video to learn about the benefits of our methodology, as explained by our CEO:

  • Don’t repeat yourself: Transparent Language Online employs an adaptive algorithm that remembers what you know and what you don’t. The learning experience is personalized to ensure you’re not wasting time practicing things you already know.
  • Improve the skills you need most: Feel confident about listening but not about speaking and pronunciation? Or perhaps you’re more concerned about writing emails in the language than you are about speaking at all. Our Practice Activities let you target your weakest skills without stepping through an entire course. Simply choose the content that most interests you (or refresh words and phrases you’ve already learned) and select a skill to practice.

    Transparent Language Online works both on and offline, so you can literally learn anywhere.

  • Get reminders: Sometimes, even when you’re busy, you just need a little push. In Transparent Language Online, you can sign up for daily reminder emails. Each day, we’ll slip a friendly email into your inbox with a word or phrase you’re at risk of forgetting.
  • Maintain what you’ve learned: Without practice, newly acquired language skills quickly disappear. Transparent Language Online’s Learned Vocab refresh system is designed to keep that from happening. The refresh algorithm keeps track of when a learned word or phrase is at risk of being forgotten. The best part? Busy users don’t need to track anything. The program handles all of the Fresh and Stale words and phrases, allowing you to focus on what’s really important – mastering more of their new language.
  • Don’t go it alone: Need extra support? We also have personal or group instructors available for hire via Transparent Connect.

Transparent Language Online is more than just an online course—it’s a professional platform that allows you to learn on your terms, without time, place, or tech restraints. Organizations or corporations looking to train their employees can choose from more than 100 languages (including Business courses in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese). See if we offer what you need and take a commitment-free spin.

Keep learning a language with us!

Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.

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About the Author: Transparent Language

Transparent Language is a leading provider of best-practice language learning software for consumers, government agencies, educational institutions, and businesses. We want everyone to love learning language as much as we do, so we provide a large offering of free resources and social media communities to help you do just that!


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