Toronto, May 20, 2003


Attention: business/technology/education editors:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


CONTACTS:

Ms. Diane Pirie 				Brian McElwain 
President               				President and CEO
The Teachers Group Inc.			Sounds Virtual Inc.
561 Avenue Road				920 Yonge Street
Suite 302.					Suite 505
Toronto, ON  M4V 2J8				Toronto, ON  M4W 3C7
Phone:416-961-3726				416-968-7155

The Teachers Group and Sounds Virtual to Develop a Multimedia Learning Product for all levels of ESL (English as a Second Language)

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA—May 20, 2003—The Teachers Group Inc., a Canadian publisher of ESL courseware products, called Phono-Tech, and Toronto-based high-tech developer Sounds Virtual Inc. today announced a partnership to create a unique Canadian multimedia product for teaching all levels of ESL to university and college students, immigration departments within federal/state/local governments and large multi-national companies. The partnership marks the first time in Canada that students of ESL will have access to a multimedia learning system for ESL produced in partnership by two Canadian companies.

Content from The Teachers Group ESL textbooks, called Phono-Tech, along with newly produced video and audio clips, will provide the content for Sounds Virtual’s CAN-8 VirtuaLab, a network based interactive language training software platform. This interactive version of Phono-Tech will allow students to work in a lab environment or from a home or office computer over the Internet.

“As an experienced and knowledgeable provider of ESL educational material, we are proud to work with Sounds Virtual to offer this unique interactive learning system,” said Ms. Diane Pirie, President of The Teachers Group Inc. “Since it was first published, thousands of students all over the world have benefited from using Phono-Tech. With the launch of the next edition of Phono-Tech running on a CAN-8 VirtuaLab platform, we can now offer students and instructors a complete teaching and learning package of on-line, Internet-accessible, multimedia software for all levels of ESL.”

Sounds Virtual’s president and CEO Brian McElwain said the partnership builds on the strengths of the two companies. “With The Teachers Group, we find an experienced and knowledgeable developer of ESL educational products and quality content in Phono-Tech. Combined with our CAN-8 VirtuaLab platform, which is used by schools around the world, we are poised to deliver students and instructors a combination of on-line, Internet-accessible, multi-media, learning tools for all levels of ESL.”

This multimedia version of Phono-Tech allows students to listen, speak and compare themselves with a recorded model at the click of a mouse button, which will provide immediate feedback on their progress. Students will also have the flexibility of following class instruction from home, office or a lab and learn at their own pace. For instructors, the system’s flexibility will allow for material to be designed for class use or individual student needs. Special features will allow instructors to create personalized exercises, tests, lessons, as well as monitor and maintain a dialogue with the class at large and individual students.

Written by Ms. Diane Pirie, Phono-Tech provides all levels of ESL teaching and learning capability including test preparation courses such as TOEFL, TOEIC, CAE, TESOL, and IELTS, as well as Academic Preparation and Business English courses to students all around the world.

CAN-8 VirtuaLab is a network based, interactive, multimedia tool for the instruction of modern languages used by 50 universities and colleges in Canada and over 200 learning institutions throughout the world, including the London School of Economics, City University New York and Hau Mei Bond International College in China.

About The Teachers Group Inc. The Teachers Group Inc. has been providing all levels of ESL teaching and learning capability via its Phono-Tech product for over 10 years to students all over the world.

About Virtual Sound Inc. Since 1993, Sounds Virtual Inc.( www.sounds.com) has been at the forefront of on-line learning solutions. The company’s leading-edge product, CAN-8 VirtuaLab, is a software, multimedia, multi-language online learning system that employs streamed audio, video, text and pictures to help end users learn ESL (English as a Second Language) or, in fact, any language as a second language. CAN-8 VirtuaLab operates in a PC LAN and Internet environment.

Back to the main page