Language Learning Software

Being multilingual is important for your business to gain world-wide exposure and helps businesses that are operating from multiple geographical locations to better understand the global market along with the consumer perspective.

If your business deals with international clients, then you can leverage language learning software to help your employees gain multilingual skills to enhance communication with your customers, which will help you get better deals and increase sales. The software allows you to customize the language training program and align it with your business requirements, helping achieve the desired results.

In this buyers guide, we will explain what a language learning software is, its common features, some considerations to help make informed purchase decisions, and upcoming technology trends in the market.

Here's what we'll cover:

• What is language learning software?
• Common features of language learning software
• What type of buyer are you?
• Benefits of language learning software
• Key considerations when selecting language learning software
• Market trends to understand

What is language learning software?

Language learning software is a tool that facilitates the learning of new languages. It is based on a learning management system that offers self-paced or instructor-based learning programs. The software makes the process of learning another language available to everyone and flexible enough to fit in a busy schedule. Its learning modules are designed to help users increase their fluency of a language as well as continue to maintain linguistic skills for the long run.

The software focuses on LSRW (learning, speaking, reading, and writing) skills and offers interactive exercises, activities, test papers, and recorded sessions to learn from.

This type of software is used by both small and large scale enterprises in the education, hospitality, travel, and corporate sector for employees to be trained in multiple languages that are critical for meeting specific business goals.

Common features of language learning software

What type of buyer are you?

The buyers’ category for language learning software can be categorized into the following.

• Educators: You need to be a subject matter expert in order to guide others, so it’s important to strengthen your skills in the language first and then start training others.
  An instructor-based language learning that offers certification is essential for you to effectively train students. You can leverage a fully-featured language software that focuses on 4-skill integration (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) to deliver lessons, conduct assessments, and analyze students’ progress.
• Corporate employees: A corporate employee is required to interact with teams within and across departments. This makes it essential for such professionals to understand the language(s) being used in a business setting, especially in the case of multicultural or multilingual workplaces.
  As a multinational corporate employee, you will need instructor-based language training with detailed lessons and assessments. This will help you work on your language skills from the basics to fluency in the target language.
• Translator/interpreter: Professional translators or interpreters are expected to be multilingual or bilingual to communicate with business clients. They specialize in one or two languages in addition to their native language.
  If you belong to this buyer category, a fully-featured instructor-based language learning software with course customization, activities, and gradebooks would be ideal. It will help you strengthen your fundamentals of the target language(s) and also analyze the progress through detailed real-time reports and gradebooks.
• Customer service representative: As a customer service representative, you will likely be talking to people from different geographical locations in your country as well as abroad. This makes it important for you to get trained in different languages to ensure correct problem identification and to deliver effective solutions.
  A language software with a speech recognition feature would be suitable for you as it will help work on your pronunciation along with the basics of reading and writing if required.
• Hospitality manager: As a global hospitality manager, you are responsible for dealing with customers that speak in different languages, while working in different geographical locations. Besides, you also need to build customer relationships, which you can do by leveraging language learning software.
  A basic self-paced language training program would work best for you to effectively communicate with the customers and cater to their needs.

Benefits of language learning software

• Learner management and progress monitoring: With a language learning software that is based on a learning management system, stakeholders can track and monitor the progress of learners. This is possible with the help of an intuitive dashboard that provides a list of registered learners along with their training progress.
• Unique learning experiences: With features such as gamification, the software facilitates fun and engaging learning experiences. There are exercises, quizzes, flashcards, and an audio library for learners to have an interactive experience, which will ensure greater efficiency.
• Customized learning modules: Language learning software offers programs that are customized to suit the business requirements such as travel or career advancement. These custom-built modules provide training at micro and macro levels on the preferred language. The levels are further broken down into sub-modules, making it easier to learn and adapt.
• Connect with co-learners: Peer learning is a powerful tool for language learning. A learner can connect with a co-learner on the same platform who is either a native speaker of the target language or is pursuing the same program. Encouraging peer learning not only provides opportunities to practice the language but also builds a community of learners with similar interests and goals.

Key considerations when purchasing language learning software

• 4-skill integration: Look for a language learning software with 4-skill integration (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). This will serve as a 360-degree learning platform and stimulate the learning process, giving an effective learning outcome.
• All-in-one module: This software integrates learning a new language along with taking assessments and generating reports, as this will help analyze your learning progress and performance. Look for a language learning software with features such as interactive activities, quizzes, and performance reports that make it easy to do everything you need in one place.
• Real-time reports: Real-time evaluation allows language learners to analyze their progress and performance. It helps you understand what strategies work best and where improvements are required each time an assessment is taken.
• Speech recognition: Learning a new language is not just about writing—it is about how well one communicates the message to the end-user. This is why it’s important to make sure your software has a speech recognition feature that helps improve the learner’s pronunciation of a foreign language and ensures fluency in communication.

Market trends to understand

Here are a few upcoming industry trends that you must be aware of:

• Language learning powered by AI: Artificial intelligence (AI) is already prevalent in the e-learning market. An AI-powered language learning software will have the ability to adapt to individual learning needs, provide instant feedback, and redefine the learning experience with detailed metrics and reports on the effectiveness of each training module. While some of the language learning software companies have made their move into this space early on, others are preparing to employ the technology over time.
• Get your virtual language teacher: With the rise of augmented reality (AR) in various industries, e-learning is also set to adapt the technology and deliver more interactive learning experiences than what exists today. AR-powered language learning software will enable learning outside the books. Learners can have their virtual teacher, use the entire world as their classroom, and even practice real-life conversations.

Note: The applications mentioned in this guide are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as an endorsement or recommendation. It has been taken from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.