Libra Interactive’s SpeakToday: Learn Accent Free English, Online Date:   Wednesday , June 02, 2010 When we see a maid learning to interact in English with her customers on TV or a housewife turning to classes to flaunt her English speaking skills in the neighborhood, it reflects the growing importance of the language in the society. The language has become a top priority to get recruited in the ITeS sector, which hires a huge chunk of people every year. How many times have you heard companies rejecting candidates saying, “Sorry, accent and communication skills need to be improved?” Infact, as per a study, if an ITeS center is set up in a tier-3 or tier-4 city, the English school enrollment in the area rises. Sunjay Aryan, MD and CEO of Libra Interactive, an e-learning content development company, saw an opportunity in this language popularity. “On an average, in an hour’s spoken English class the trainer teaches for 30 minutes. The other 30 minutes are devoted to interact with students and encouraging them to speak in English. This gives each student just three minutes on an average of spoken English practice in a class of ten,” he says and promptly introduces Libra’s flagship product, SpeakToday, an online spoken English and accent training solution. What differentiates SpeakToday from various other spoken English courses is its understanding of the human trait. “People are always less comfortable to admit mistakes in public or in a group, and to solve it SpeakToday has a personal approach. Anyone who uses it will interact with animated characters online, putting them in different interactive environments. This keeps the user at ease and also allows him or her to take full advantage of the learning scenario,” Aryan says. Today, after attaining a user base of 3,000 people within a span of four months, the online training program has gained a good momentum. Assuring scope for level-wise improvement the standard version, which is a 90 hours course, has 30 modules; and unless the learner masters each module, he cannot step into the next level. For this purpose, the company has devised an efficiency measurement process, through which the learner will be given marks based on accent improvement, communication ease, and different other criteria, as he interacts with the characters. “One can see that SpeakToday allows us to exactly rate ourselves, and compared to the classroom courses where there will be more of theory, SpeakToday gives you more of practical session,” says Suvitha, an HR Manager. The good response that Libra has achieved through SpeakToday, which is still in its nascent stage, makes Aryan marvel his own decision. His previous stints as an independent consultant in different US based e-learning companies helped him form the final shape of his venture in 2007. With 90 employees, the Bangalore based company has maintained its momentum in the market, and now Aryan is on the threshold of furthering expansion in California. While the MD is busy setting footprints in the global market, the Associate Vice President, Anees Ahamed is eyeing the market, where the core of India lies - its villages. He has already devised options, whereby people can avail it in villages at a concession. Ahamed opened up opportunities for people to be franchisee in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and avail the product at discounted prices. “Any educational institution, a spoken English training center, a communications skills development center, computer training center, or any institutions that offers spoken English training in any form can become a SpeakToday Smart Center,” he reveals. Infact, to make the product available to anyone living in any corner of the country, Libra Interactive has placed a deal with Cyber Café Association of India (CCAOI), which will turn every cyber café into an English training center too. Soon, he aims to abolish the English communication dread from the hearts of everyone in this country, enriching their skills through SpeakToday.