13 | SME Business Elite Supplement 2020 95 | Q1 2021 Oct20602 Learning Languages & Building a Brighter Future Busuu is an online learning service, teaching a myriad of languages to a worldwide audience through an awardwinning platform. With its start in helping to save an endangered language and its continued trail-blazing in the industry, it’s easy to see what has made Busuu such an influential global force, securing it the title of Best in Language Learning Courses, 2020 just last year. The company began in 2008, when it was founded by Bernhard Niesner and Adrian Hilti with the idea of building a supportive and effective language learning community. Thanks to this, the passion and heart put into the company’s start has continued to be a core pillar of its operational model to this day. Its growth was fast; even in its initial years, users and partners alike couldn’t help but see the potential in this company and the ambition that fuelled it until it became an internationally recognised brand. The culmination of this was in 2015 when Busuu formed one of its most lucrative partnerships. McGraw- Hill Education, one of the most well-respected education companies operating on the world’s stage, reached out to it to create an official certification for Busuu users. Lauded as the world’s largest community for language learning, its services are a range of diverse and in-depth courses that teach its users foreign language skills. With an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users of all technological skill levels and experience to use, Busuu’s courses come widely recommended in educational, corporate, and private markets. Currently, it provides 12 different languages and a variety of courses within each language, serving a vast community of over 100 million learners that reach every corner of the world. Its users can sign up for free to start learning immediately, and it also offers a premium membership that allows customers access to even more of its exemplary and welldesigned features, such as advanced grammar lessons, offline mode, McGraw-Hill Education certification courses, and its adaptive vocabulary trainer. It is powered by AI technology through its online platform and the app available through iOSIoS and Android. Further to this, over the years, its striving for excellence within language learning and serving the international community has earned it critical acclaim. It has been dubbed ‘Editors Choice’ on Google Play, given an ‘Innovation 2020’ award by the British Council’s and ELTons, and awarded the title ‘App of the Year’ by the App Store – brought about both by the sophistication of how its product operates and the content found within. In addition, it acquired an online tutoring platform called Verbling very recently, a move that has allowed it to further bolster its services with online language tutoring from expert instructors. In terms of Busuu itself, the name has its origins in Cameroon. Busuu is the name of the native language of the nation, a tongue that has seen a steady decline in use over the years, to the point where it was considered in critical danger of extinction – here meaning it was only being spoken by a few of the society’s elders. In response to this, the company put together an expedition with the mission of visiting Cameroon every couple of years, meeting the community of Busuu speakers and learning from them as well as facilitating learning within the community. Over time, the collaboration between Busuu and the people of Cameroon began to bring back hope of saving the language. Today, customers using Busuu’s services can learn this language through its specialist courses. This specifically developed and now widely respected system allows learners to measure their learning and further develop their mastery over their chosen language, with tests on core topics in A1, A2, B1 or B2. These tiers are in line with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) when it comes to learning. Upon the achievement of a successful pass grade, students receive an official certificate awarded to them by McGraw Hill Education. In tandem with this, as well as individual private users, Busuu is also available for organisations such as schools, universities, and companies. This service, which debuted in May 2016, lets organisations provide Busuu premium for students and employees, as well as allowing the client to oversee each learner’s learning progress by use of an online dashboard. Company: Busuu Contact: Berhard Niesner Website: https://www.busuu.com/
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