In an increasingly connected and globalized world, schools, universities, libraries, corporations, and other organizations need to provide language training to their students, customers, and employees. While an individual learner might buy a program based on a friend’s recommendation or a simple ad on social media, institutions have more to consider when investing in a language-learning database.

A corporate organization may only need to train their employees in Chinese because of work they do overseas, while many public libraries look to offer a wide variety of language-learning resources to their community.

A university looking for a language program that will allow students to retain access while studying abroad has different technological needs than a non-profit organization with a small computer lab that is accessible to employees.

Carefully evaluating your organization’s specific needs ensures that you are making a smart investment. Beyond the ever-important cost factor, you should also consider:

• How many languages are offered, the length and depth of materials provided for each language, and whether or not custom content can be created
• The technological capabilities of the program, including mobile and tablet accessibility
• Which language skills are targeted, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing
• How the program helps learners retain the language in the long run
• What instructors, training managers, and other administrators need to track usage, improve learning outcomes, and manage the return on investment

Clearly there’s a lot on the line when it comes to purchasing a language-learning database, so we’ve made you a cheat sheet. Download our free white paper How to Select the Right Language-Learning Database for Your Organization for a deeper look at the kinds of questions you should be asking when searching for the best system.