English The LIQVID Way Date:   Thursday , July 09, 2009 ‘If you know English, you could conquer the world’ - This is the new market mantra around the globe nowadays. Well, it’s not so easy to acquire quality English skills unless there is proper guidance and training. Liqvid, a Noida based elearning solutions company, is all set to mark its own way in the history of English education with its innovative English learning products with effective use of technology, which is personalized and scalable. Liqvid is a venture launched by the founders of egurucool, one of India’s prime eLearning brands. Liqvid is also known for its learning content development work in domains such as IT, Telecom, Publishing, and English Language Training (ELT). “With Fortune 500 Clients and top Training Institutions (for its English learning product) across the world as its partners, Liqvid is the fastest growing integrated eLearning content solutions company from India,” states CEO, Vivek Agarwal. The ‘English’ Opportunity The founders of the company were aware of the phenomenal opportunity awaiting them in the space of English education in India, due to a major dearth of good teachers/trainers. According to UGC there are over 92 lakh students pursuing various courses across several universities and colleges in the country. “This is the opportunity,” says Agarwal. A large number of students enrolled at these higher education institutions are immensely challenged in English language and soft skills. The traditional method of teaching English emphasizes only on grammar, memorizing words and translations. Explicates the CEO, “It does not foster effective speaking skills. To speak English fluently, one needs specially designed courses, coupled with effective methodology that not only teaches one to speak correctly but also focuses on improving one’s diction and accent. You need technology to make it happen.” That’s why, since its inception, Liqvid focused on delivering education with an extensive use of technology as this enables learning and provides endless possibilities to deliver, deploy, and manage content. “The technology solutions team at Liqvid is well equipped to develop such learning solutions that are unique,” informs the Chief Executive. English Edge English Edge is such an English learning programme developed by Liqvid that is based on a blended learning format and features an optimal combination of self-guided computer -based training with instructor-led classroom sessions. “It’s highly interactive with audio-visual elements and the innovative use of multi-media gives learning an edge over the conventional methods. The programme also helps in self-paced learning, self-assessment and in Evaluation. With a headphone on his ears and the English Edge software on the PC, a user can perfect his/her pronunciation by practicing on interesting pronunciation exercises,” elucidates Agarwal. Needless to say, it’s a challenge to develop quality content. “However, the company has several layers of building the English programme,”informs Agarwal. Firstly the company gets English content from experts. It also has a tie up with BBC Active. “It’s recognized as a valued, trusted and authoritative brand in many English Language Teaching markets,” he adds. Then comes the curriculum, where the specialists decide what is to be taught and to whom. The next layer is of instructional designers who decide how best to teach the language in a technology- enabled manner. Well, what is interesting is that the company has developed customized English curriculum. For instance, the people who work in IT sector may need a different kind of English from those who work in other segments. Therefore the company has developed customised domain-specific English learning programmes for Travel, IT, BPO, Finance and several other segments. Though there are lots of English language products available, Liqvid’s offerings are highly technology- enabled. “And that’s where we stand out in the crowd,” says Agarwal. Today the company has about 20 institutional customers and is on a lookout for more partners. “With well- crafted strategy of “customized approach”, Liqvid is all set to achieve the user- base of over 4 million within the next five years,” he concludes.