Soloingles.com en The Guardian (England)
THE MAN WITH THE AMERICAS ON HIS MOBILE
Thursday January 15th 2009. Tony Gonclaves reports
Uruguay may not be the most obvious source of English language tuition, but an Argentinian entrepreneur is convinced that the South American country provides the launch pad for his new venture to teach the language via mobile phone to the rest of the continent, and beyond.
Uruguay can already claim to have one of South America’s most highly active English-language learning populations and now it is set to pioneer the latest mobile-phone technology in its pursuit of communication skills. Soloingles.com is an English language teaching website that already offers online courses, a translation service and an education social networking site. Its most recent product is an English learning service via mobile phone.“Everything is possible thanks to the technology,” says Rodolfo Llanos, co-founder of Soloingles, and an entrepreneur who began his involvement with English language teaching because of the Argentinian financial crisis of 2002.
Llanos, 39, who is originally from Argentina, had lost his job in management as a result of the recession. With starting capital of just $500 he set up an internet-based distance-learning platform in neighbouring Uruguay.
Llanos spotted a niche market for his product in Uruguay and six years on Soloingles now has clients in Mexico and Spain, and is making a modest profit of $2,000 a month.
“I was unemployed and started looking for a practical and economical way to teach English. So we went into an internet cafe and started teaching through Net Meeting, a free video conferencing program. First, we targeted young students and hired a teacher to teach one-to-one lessons. But then we realised that the best market was corporate English: people in management positions who don’t usually have time to attend traditional classes in schools.”
Llanos is now using a similar model to deliver short English-language lessons to users of Uruguay’s Claro mobile phone network. The lessons are promoted to mobile users by text messages and once they sign up, by simply sending a reply text, they are guided to the Soloingles website where they can request a one-minute lessons to be sent to their mobile as a free trial. Once logged on to the website, students can also watch videos, read articles, do grammar exercises and work on their listening skills.
The aim is to offer practical but short lessons that will appeal to busy people who are on the move, and the content is entirely automated. Soloingles’ team of teachers update the site with new practice material but they do not guide learners.
Each lesson costs about 50 cents, a price that Llanos believes will make the service affordable for a large share of Uruguay’s mobile phone users.
At the moment this service is being offered in Uruguay only, but it will soon be available in Argentina, followed by Costa Rica, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia. “We are on the final stages of negotiations with the mobile operators,” says Llanos.
The company works with three shifts of six teachers, but staff numbers are set to increase by 30% as the new Lessons Through Mobiles system gets established. The company has also incorporated group lessons to increase profitability.
Llanos has plans for Soloingles’s other products, in particular its portable translator. He says this product is ideal for those who travel for business and need to attend meetings in English, but don’t have time to improve their language skills.
“The system is simple. An interpreter is hired, and at the beginning of a meeting the client connects to the interpreter via the internet,” he explains. “It is practical and economical. To get an interpreter in New York for less than $100 an hour is impossible. With this system you will be paying $30 an hour,” Llanos says.
The next step is to harness more sophisticated mobile phones. “We want to use third-generation mobile phones to connect clients and interpreters via video as well as audio,” he says.
Llanos is also preparing Soloingles’s entrance in the US market. “There is a great demand for Spanish lessons in the US and we are coming in with a competitive offer with easy access.”
He is also considering developing business for the European market. His idea is to provide language support for tourists who are travelling to South America.
Despite high expectations, Llanos is aware of the daunting task ahead. The internet and technology are still considered expensive in South America, he says, and Uruguay has more work to do to establish its credentials as an English language teaching provider among its neighbours.
But Llanos is undaunted. He is confident that Soloingles will attract up to 100,000 users in Uruguay and he has set himself the goal of turning a company that started in a humble internet cafe into a brand that will be present in 22 countries by the end of 2009.
Enlace con la Nota Original: http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=895&catID=18
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Etiquetas: clases de ingles, idioma ingles, Rodolfo Llanos, Soloingles.com
Enero 17, 2009 el 7:15 am
Muy buena Rodolfo. No solo deja bien parada a tu empresa sino que también hace mucho por Uruguay como plataforma de outsourcing.
Gran abrazo, y si, vamos por la plata y la gloria!
Enero 17, 2009 el 7:15 am
Felicitaciones Rodo!!!
Un abrazo
Cecilia
Enero 17, 2009 el 7:17 am
Wooooww … congratulations Rodooo!!!!
vamos vamos que vamos por mas!!!!!
un beso te veo el lunesss
Mik
Enero 17, 2009 el 7:19 am
La verdad que me saco el sombrero (si lo tuviera), sos un capo! Yo no puedo convencer a mis hijos para que estudien y vos tenes este tipo de notas, sos un master. Seguí así, es imposible cosechar algo que valga la pena sin sembrar groso.
Un abrazo
Sergio
Enero 17, 2009 el 8:11 am
unos grosos!!
Que sigan los exitos!
SaR
Enero 17, 2009 el 8:55 am
I read the Guardian article on soloingles, and I think the guy has something going. My aunt and two cousins are British and visit Argentina every year. They always complain that very few people speak real English and that they are sometimes at a loss trying to understand what people say to them or what they read in a menu. So I guess the phone translation and interpretation would be really useful to foreigners. My relatives always travel with their mobile phones, which they use not only to contact me but also their jobs in the UK, so they would be able to make use of the services of the foreign telephone companies too. You just have to advertise in sites which travelers use frequently. I always check info in TripAdvisor before I travel, and foreigners everywhere complain about lack of knowledge of English in hotels and restaurants.
Good job, Carla! Keep going!
Enero 17, 2009 el 9:35 am
Rodolfo excelente nota, felicitaciones.
No hemos tenido la oportunidad de conversar y la verdad es que encuentro muy interesante tu actividad.
Que tengas un gran 2009 un abrazo
Andrés
Enero 17, 2009 el 11:59 am
Me pone contentisimo esta nota, es un gran reconocimiento por parte de un medio tan importante a tanto trabajo realizado.
Hay que seguir asi.
Suerte!
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:21 pm
Soloingles sigue sorprendiendome….
y si me soprende en el fondo sera porque se bien poco de la solucion .Sin embargo has sabido concluir acuerdos esenciales aunque los telco son muy golosos ..: uno sale ganando con las lecciones mobile..?
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:22 pm
CONGRATSSSSS
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:23 pm
Muy bueno!!!!
Felicitaciones
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:24 pm
Que grande Rodo Felicitaciones!!!
Muy buena nota.
Un abrazo.
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:26 pm
“Golazo Rodolfo! Felicitaciones”
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:27 pm
“Muy bueno Rodo, felicitaciones! Espero que tengas un 2009 excelente! Un abrazo!”
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:30 pm
Enhorabuena Rodo!!!
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:36 pm
Felicitaciones, Rodolfo! Lei la nota completa… que buen reconocimiento a tu esfuerzo. Es un empujon extra para comenzar el 2009.
Lo mejor para vos, sos un gran referente de un emprededor de carne y hueso.
Abrazo grande,
D.
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:37 pm
Rolo querido !!!! Felicitaciones !!!!!!! que barbaro como se va dando todo. Estoy orgulloso de vos.
abrazo y nos vemos en cualquier momento,
Dani
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:42 pm
WOW! ahora te hace falta un escrito en “el miami herald” =) te felicito por todo tu exito!
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:44 pm
Apenas recibí tu link por emaill lo pinche en Friendfeed!
Enero 17, 2009 el 2:45 pm
Bien ahi, Rodo!
Enero 17, 2009 el 3:50 pm
Felicitaciones!!!!
Enero 18, 2009 el 5:11 pm
[...] empresa de Rodolfo Llanos, Soloingles.com, ha trascendido las fronteras latinas de mano de un articula en el prestigioso The [...]
Enero 19, 2009 el 8:44 am
Excelente!!! Felicitaciones!!!
Enero 19, 2009 el 9:02 am
Rodolfo es un grande. Emprendedor lleno de energía y con un empuje como pocos, se merece todos los logros que alcanzó y los muchos más que están por venir.
Congrats on your success!!!
Enero 19, 2009 el 9:09 am
felicitaciones rodo!!!!
increible (aunque no tanto, habiendote conocido un poco) y merecido
Enero 19, 2009 el 9:23 am
Congrats!!!
Enero 19, 2009 el 12:48 pm
Felicitaciones!!! Ya no te para nadie.
Enero 20, 2009 el 11:01 am
Wow!!! Felicitaciones!!!
Enero 20, 2009 el 11:03 am
que buena nota! felicitaciones!
Mayo 1, 2009 el 8:37 am
Wonderfull…
Mayo 7, 2009 el 4:47 am
Interesting article, nice design, i have bookmarked it for the future referrence
Mayo 10, 2009 el 2:00 pm
I like your post. Good stuff. Keep them coming
…
Mayo 13, 2009 el 8:59 am
I really liked this post. Can I copy it to my site? Thank you in advance.