Language schools to join forces

BANGKOK: -- Linguaphone and Direct English, two famous brands in the education industry, will merge to lead the “Assisted Learning” concept market and create a complete language-training system.

The master franchisee of Direct English in Thailand and Indochina plans to penetrate a new segment in the Thai market, with a Linguaphone course being added for working people. This will result in an extension of franchise-marketing opportunities.

Linguaphone executive Derek Price said the merger of the Linguaphone Group, the world’s biggest self-study language-learning publisher and distributor, and the UK’s Direct English, the world’s biggest education publisher, would make the company prominent in the language-training market.

Linguaphone has been the leader in the self-study language learning market for more than 100 years, with more than 100 courses in 32 languages in upwards of 60 countries worldwide.

Direct English has language-training centres in more than 16 countries, and Linguaphone will combine this potential with its existing learning aids.

“‘Assisted Learning’ is a concept under which students obtain more complete language training as they practise through efficient learning aids based on Linguaphone’s well-developed courses, together with teachers’ assistance in classes,” said Price.

Kesery Kanjanavanit of Nation Edutainment Co Ltd, the master franchisee for Direct English in Thailand and Indochina, said the co-branding of Direct English and Linguaphone would result in a strong potential for language-training courses.

Linguaphone is a renowned language learning-materials publisher and distributor, producing textbooks in German, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Thai.

Its more popular courses include L21, PDQ Range, In Action Range, Daily Series and Business English.

--The Nation 2005-12-01

I would not worry too much.

Thai schools, even government ones have had language labs for over 10 years............

The students still need a good teacher face to face if they are really going to learn to speak.

Any linguaphone for Thai language available?

Yeah I've got it (bit old now).

PM me if you'd like further info.

Linguaphone has been around for a long time in many countries. They still require good teachers in all of these countries.

While I am not an English teacher I am a qualified teacher currently doing something else as it pays far more.

I think learning English in Thailand will always require native English teachers as it does in the Middle East. Technical teaching also has had numerous methods employed in many countries, but where people are basically lazy and "everyone is suppossed to pass" you will never get a core of competent people. All to do with culture I think.

Please do not take offence to the last comment. I love Thailand and work in the Middle East so they are just observations :whistling