How often do you get those Skype chat requests from a previously unknown person with simply a “Hi”? But you know that someone out there wants to learn English. When I worked with a German scientific instrument manufacturer a few decades ago, all the employees wanted to practice their English with my English speaking colleagues and me but it was impacting our ability to get ahead with our own work. We finally agreed

that on Friday afternoons the primary language for work would be English; otherwise we stuck to German. Learning English in today’s business, academic and government enterprises has become a key to anyone desiring career success in an international environment. But how to practice it? How can one encounter and learn all the grammatical subtleties and vocabulary innuendos associated with use of English to the point where you confidently can discuss business issues? Enter KanTalk – a Skypecast-based learning environment.

KanTalk’s’ founder immigrated to the U.S. from China and found he was having significant frustration with understanding the subtleties and innuendos of English. He found difficulty especially when participants in a group session were talking too quickly. Often workplace colleagues would not have the time or patience to help explain details and correct his errors. When Skypecast appeared last summer, he started setting up Skypecast sessions purely to find others who wanted to learn English in a more public yet less stressful forum. He found two key factors about group sessions where the other participants were going through a similar learning experience and shared the same motivations: