Millicom has launched its EduMe English service, a low-cost mobile English language learning course that is available exclusively to Tigo’s customers in Rwanda by subscription or on demand.
According to Hans-Holger Albrecht, Millicom CEO and President, “We are very excited to offer millions of people in Africa and Latin America the chance to educate themselves with the help of mobile- and internet technology. We are starting by offering English language training as this is a language that gives people more opportunities and connects people across the world. EduMe English is a groundbreaking new product where people can learn English anytime anywhere. Millicom is all about promoting a digital lifestyle and transforming lives: education is integral to this.”
Available on a mobile phone, EduMe English combines listening, reading and speaking training through text lessons, quizzes and audio sessions where students select courses that gradually increase in difficulty. These combine high quality content recorded by native English speakers with instructions in Kinyarwanda, the local language spoken by many Rwandans. The platform is expected to offer students the opportunity to decide when and where to learn.
EduMe English, the first product to be launched by EduMe, will be followed by an entrepreneurship course under its EduMe Business School brand to Tigo subscribers in Tanzania during the third quarter of 2014. The course is developed in co-operation with GSMA, the worldwide mobile industry body and will mark the introduction of the first purely mobile vocational business school in Africa.
EduMe English is developed by international experts in language learning and follows the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the globally-accepted framework for language learning. EduMe Tutor, a phone- and Skype-based English language tutoring service, has been launched in beta mode in El Salvador with a live service following shortly.