Recent Media Coverage of FasTrac Language Solutions
Software gives English lessons
Digital Manatee - The Herald
By: Tilde Herrera – Herald Staff Writer
Bradenton – A local man who has given area workers crash courses in on-the-job Spanish has embarked on a new project to teach foreigners crucial work-related English. Chris Stubenberg, owner of FasTrac Language Solutions, helped guide a Minnesota company in its development of voice recognition software designed to help foreign workers learn industry specific English. Stubenberg is in charge of business development in Florida for Language Solutions LLC, the company that produces the software called English on the Job. “I needed something to go to the next step because the Spanish work population was becoming more established,” Stubenberg said.
The software can help develop English proficiency in industries such as health care, restaurants, hotels, and manufacturing. It was first tested by Barry Baer of Minnesota in analyze supplementing traditional workplace language materials with software programs. Baer worked in the pilot trial with work-force professionals and employers who had previously done, or were in the process of doing, vocational English as a second language training. About 500 workers participated. “They did learn faster when they used the software,” said Baer, who serves as the president of Language Solutions LLC. “They didn’t have to use professional language experts as they can learn at their own pace." Stubenberg was instrumental in helping Language Solutions curriculum. The software is powered by SpeaKIT Suite by Teaching Machine Inc. Students work through the program at a computer wearing a headset with a microphone. Words or phrases line one side of the screen with corresponding pictures on the other. As the words or phrases light up, the software recited them and prompts the student to say them aloud. Students know instantly if they got them right or wrong. If the pronunciation is incorrect, the word or phrase will be repeated; correct verbalization, and the student proceeds. At the end of the lesson, students can see the number of words or phrases they missed, number of times they missed, them and the pronunciations that posed problems.
The length of time needed depends on the student. “Some people zip right through it,” Stubenberg said. The Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis is halfway through its test of the software, said Dan Truniger, director of housekeeping. Three workers with varying proficiency in English use the software for one hour twice a week. “It looks like those three people are very happy with it,” Truniger said. “It’s helping them to learn English and tasks on the job, as well as helping them with computer skills.” Other bonuses are confidence and the ability to learn at different paces, he said. “What I like is that everybody has their own personal teacher because it’s one-on-one with the computer.”
There are two pricing modaccess and number of users. For instance, a school with an unknown number of users may subscribe to a yearly licensing agreement that’s based on the number of machines. The cost goes up depending on the amount of curriculum needed. Three computers in a lab with an unlimited number of users and one set of curriculum might start at $2,000 a year. Organizations can also use the software for a shorter period of time and pay by worker. The software is now used as a core training material, Baer said, without the need for a language instructor. "We're trying to get people from first to second (base)," Baer said. "(It's) not to get them fully literate, just functional."