English Attack! Now in Romania

Barcelona,30 June 2011: Following 12 months of Beta testing with over 25,000 users worldwide, the Entertainment Learning company today launches the official version of the English Attack! online language learning service in Romania. The site is already available with a user interface in Romanian (https://ro.english-attack.com), making it the only global site for English language learning with navigation, user information, help texts, and interstitial content available in Romanian.

The full impact of the Internet revolution has yet to be seen in the field of education, and in particular most online language-learning sites are still based on exercises and structures typical of early 20th-century pedagogy, far removed from the interests and motivations of today’s learners. English Attack! aims to drag language learning into the 21st century with an innovative, social approach.

“Where many English language learning methods still have a rather abstract and linear approach, English Attack! is focused on immersion and motivation. Our approach uses authentic content and the brain’s hunger for rewards, social connectivity and discovery” said Paul Maglione, co-founder of Entertainment Learning.

Added Gheorghe David, Managing Partner of ASSIST Software, which is the officially appointed marketing partner for English Attack! in Romania as well as a technical partner for the site: “Language learning has been waiting for a new, fresh and entertaining digital approach for some time. The user feedback for the site in Romania has been fantastic so far, and we are seeing accelerated growth in site visitors ever since we added the option of a site interface in Romanian. We are now one of the top 10 countries in the world for English Attack!”

English Attack! revolutionizes the look and feel of language learning via a combination of video clips, thematic visual dictionaries, and games; a motivational reward-rich ecosystem; and an international community of learners of English.

Video Boosters are fun, interactive multimedia exercises based on short (one to three-minute) video clips from current movies, hit TV series, news channels and music videos.

English Attack! also features Photo Vocabs, which are visual dictionaries on a wide variety of subjects.

Learners using English Attack! can periodically revisit the language elements absorbed in these learning units via a range of Practice Games, in which game design favoring repetition, replayability and challenge helps the shifting of the learned material into long-term memory.

The site’s system of scoring and badges, adapted from the most successful videogame environments, creates additional motivation for learners and replaces the conventional «evaluation » system of grades and pass/fail.

Finally, the site’s social functionalities (comments, making friends, messages) encourage the learner to actually use English in a friendly, learner-tolerant social context, putting site users in touch with other learners of English from around the world and thus creating a deeper personal involvement with the learning of the language.

Near-daily exposure to a language is by now recognized as a sine qua non factor in the effective learning of it. On English Attack!, the combination of fresh, current, real-world content with easy access short-session exercises creates the ideal conditions for frequent use of the site, and thus frequent exposure to (and use of) English.

Most traditional language-learning sites have adopted a subscription model, which often results in a high level of expense, in terms of both money and length of the subscription period, for the learner, especially those in the 15-35 age range. English Attack! has instead adopted the « free-to-play » model which is currently proving highly popular with users of online social games.

The user enjoys free use of the site’s functionalities, as well as free access to a selection of content refreshed daily. Access to the entire catalog of pedagogical content is available via the site’s virtual currency (Booster Coins), with which a time-limited access pass (the Booster Pass) can be purchased. The user has a choice of accumulating Booster Coins via regular use of the site; via direct purchase; or through participation in special offers put forward by the site’s commercial partners.

English Attack! has been designed for use by individual learners as a complement to other forms of instruction; but can also be adopted as a language training resource by schools, universities, language institutes and companies.

English Attack! was created in consultation with several teachers of English as a Foreign Language and is based on the latest findings of cognitive neuroscience. It is already being used both in the classroom and as a homework platform by many teachers in several different countries.

Entertainment Learning was founded by well-known specialists in the media and entertainment industries, Paul Maglione and Frederic Tibout, who see huge potential in the power of digital entertainment applied to a radically different way of helping people learn languages. English Attack! is the first site developed and published by Entertainment Learning.

English Attack! has been recognized on the European high tech scene, with finalist status at the TechCrunch (Paris), The Next Web (Amsterdam), and Plugg (Brussels) tech start-up competitions, and it was a winner of the SeedCamp Paris event.

Entertainment Learning has signed commercial representation agreements with partners in over 15 countries, and continues to expand distribution of English Attack! into new territories.

ASSIST delivers and promotes innovative software solutions in emerging fields such as web-based custom business applications, e-learning, e-commerce, e-payment, e-security, e-health or enterprise & resource planning, solutions developed to continuously and effectively fulfil partners demands by constantly updating knowledge, conquering new areas of expertise, increasing the quality of consultancy and the marketing services. Focused on media design, marketing, re-design of applications, assistance and educational activities ASSIST has tailored long lasting relationships worldwide, both on business and education areas.

English Attack! Web Site: https://www.english-attack.com

Contact : romania@english-attack.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.

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Visuals and more information at https://ro.english-attack.com/.