Small biz spotlight: Fluenz
Sonia Gil, founder and CEO of Fluenz, talks to Yahoo Finance about the booming digital language learning industry.
Video Transcript
- Learning a language, a new language, is very, very tough. I know I've been there before. But we have the founder and CEO of one startup that's looking to make it a bit easier for its users. And for that, we want to bring in Sonia Gil. She's the CEO and founder of Fluenz, which is a digital language learning platform.
And Sonia, it's good to see you. I know this is something that I've struggled with going back to grade school and of course through high school. So your platform, you're geared towards English language speakers who are looking to pick up another language. What separates Fluenz from some of the other options out there? Because it is a relatively crowded market.
SONIA GIL: It is very crowded, and unfortunately for many years, we've been bombarded with advertising that you can just learn it quickly, or easily, or playing a game. And that's not true. For most of us, it's really hard to learn the language. You have to really work at it. And we provide a platform that allows you to do that.
And you touched on that point. The fact that we create every single one of our programs specifically for English speakers is really what sets us apart. We don't teach Mandarin the same way that we teach Spanish or the same way that we teach French. And you'd think that that's what normally happens, but that is not the case, so English speakers, and we put in a lot of just focus on bringing in relevant content.
We want you to find it useful, so that every lesson that you do, even if you're doing only one, you can walk out on the street, and you can use what you're learning. And that hopefully keeps you going and builds up a little bit of confidence, and you can continue, because what you said is very common. People start learning a language, and then they give up.
- Some of us can't roll R's. I can remember back in high, [SPANISH]. I still can't roll my R's. Do you address that?
SONIA GIL: You're pretty close.
- Thanks. Real quick, because this is the kind of thing, a lot of us want to take on a third or fourth language. But I'm going to-- regarding Spanish, I noticed, and I'm not passing any judgments here, but in the press notes we got about you, they referred at one point as Latinx, and then of course, if you've learned Spanish, there's the feminine and then the masculine articles that you have to use. How difficult is it with your different language platforms to keep up with the cultural changes which are taking place?
SONIA GIL: It's difficult. Let's say that. We always-- we address cultural changes. We talk about it. But the reality is that the language is what it is. The Spanish language has gender within it. Every single noun has an article attached to it that is either feminine or masculine. And there is no way around it.
So there's always a fun discussion going on with everything that we're living now. But the fact of the matter is that the language is what it is, and to be able to speak it properly, you have to go with it.
- So Sonia, you have the classes that people can take online. I know you also have immersion courses, which, of course, you had to suspend during the pandemic. But I understand that you're starting to reopen some of those now. Talk to us just about what the last year and a half has been like and also what you're seeing just in terms of demand, how willing people are to travel and really experience some of these immersion courses right now.
SONIA GIL: Thankfully, very willing. And I'm happy to be coming to you from a hotel room, which means that we're back in the game. We were closed for an entire year, and that was very tough. We also have to thank the pandemic, which made us really rethink our whole model, and we were able to come up with an online immersion as well. So now we have both things ongoing.
But for our in-person immersion, they are targeted to adults, mostly. It's a luxury experience, so everything is curated from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave, not just your learning experience, which is very targeted, efficient, and pleasant, but also the hospitality part of it, which is very new in the immersion world.
It's not something that usually is taken into account, so everywhere from every meal, every experience that you'll have in the country, museums, talks. We go to the best restaurants that there are. So it's a little bit of both a cultural, a vacation, but also a learning experience.
- I'm hoping you open up in Madrid. I want to go back. I need some [SPANISH].
SONIA GIL: We are opening up in Barcelona, Spain in November, so maybe there.
- I think my bosses need to-- you know, we need to try this, a six day immersion in Barcelona, or I'll volunteer. It seems like, though, your idea is truly unique. And I think those of us who could afford it and have the time to do it would absolutely grab it. So where are other potential areas to grow? I mean, some people want to learn German. Some-- you mentioned Mandarin earlier. It seems like your growth trajectory is unstoppable.
- Yes, hopefully. For now, we're going to be expanding just in Spanish for the time being. We have opened already Mexico City, Oaxaca. We're opening Barcelona, Spain. And we're hoping to open new locations next year. And then we'll go from there. The next step would naturally be other languages and expanding both the in-person and the online immersion in all those fronts. So there's plenty to do. I can keep busy for a while.
SONIA GIL: Sonia Gil, we wish you all the best. Thanks for taking the time to join US, CEO and founder of Fluenz.
