Q&A with Emil Brunner, CEO of Takeoff1 GmbH

MEDIA 7 | June 13, 2019

Q&A with Emil Brunner, CEO of Takeoff1 GmbH
Emil Brunner, CEO of Takeoff1 GmbH is an experienced businessman who has worked in many countries. He has dedicated more than 10 years to the intuitive method of language acquisition called the “Birkenbihl Approach” formulated by Vera F. Birkenbihl.  Emil and Vera have worked together on the digitalization of this language acquisition method which has been incorporated into Emil's language-learning platform, Brain-Friendly. 

In this interesting Q&A, Emil takes us through the Birkinbihl approach which is helping users worldwide to learn languages with ease.

MEDIA 7: Could you please tell us about your background?
EMIL BRUNNER:
 I started as a technician; then I changed to sales. In my heart, I’ve always been a salesman. I started my business as the first Xerox Partner in Austria, and then I managed a company selling office machines and equipment. It was my first time going into other countries, like Germany and Switzerland. In that business, I worked with many phone agents, so the company grew to an outbound sales call center. In the USA, I had my first technology experience and built an automated call machine. We then got the franchise partner of RTL Teleshop - it was after QVC the second largest in DACH, for Austria.  I gained knowledge in TV-Power plus Sales power and found it fascinating. The next step was to automate the call center.

In 2004, we ran a call center in a pizza box (computer) for teleshop companies. In the States, we closed orders for up to 60% of callers fully automated, the rest were connected to the classical human call center. It had a great future, but I did it with the wrong people. So the company went bankrupt, and we went back to Austria.
After that experience, back "home" - felt so small, and we went on to start a software development business.
I began working and studying TV & Film making at the same time. My master's degree was a documentary film about "Teleshop and new technologies.”

I met Vera F. Birkenbihl, and she was one of the most successful scientists for learning methods and strategies and held a lot of live seminars - long before TEDx came up. I produced about 10 of those seminars, gaining many skills in the process, and that's when I found out about the language learning method. Me and language? I had trouble all the time while I went to school. I was sure languages were not for me. However, my son was a successful young developer and was interested and started to develop an app for language learning - using the brain-friendly Birkenbihl method. Which means, you never waste time cramming vocabulary and you don't need to learn any grammar rules.

I don't know anyone who’s happy learning vocabulary. About 90+% of all people using a language (mother tongue and foreign language) are not able to describe a grammar rule — only the teachers can do it. So there must be another way without the pain. And here it was!
I tried to learn English. The goal was to speak well without thinking about what to say. I just wanted to talk.

That's it. It took me more than a year, but I had an experience I’ll never forget. I was working on my phone with many customers and collecting orders. After a while, I put the orders from my notes into the computer. Wow! I had made a request for English courses - an order from a bookstore in Birmingham. How did I do it? Yes, I did it in English, and I didn't even realize it. It was automatic. The gap, switching from German to English, was gone - forever.

In the meantime, both my sons, Herwig and Gerwin, were now professionals in software development on the international stage. I had a Swiss partner and last year, I sold my shares to set up a new company with a new app - the Birkenbihl language learning movies. The digitalization of language learning - watch a movie and get the language. Based on subscription models, we sell it now in DACH, US, and European Single markets.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning, that I am the only one, who got the okay from Vera F.Birkenbihl (she died 2011), to follow the method of the new science of language learning and take it to the next level. I got the seal of approval for the "Birkenbihl Approach" to honor products they follow with the principle of "brain-friendly" learning method.

I have put all of this experience into a new book, the follow up of Birkenbihl's bestseller "Einfach Sprachen Lernen". I completed it with Katharina Rucker, she has been on board since 2008 and is still the best blogger for language learning knowledge. The book will be published in English in Q1-2020.

"Using the brain-friendly Birkenbihl method, you never waste time cramming vocabulary and you don't need to learn any grammar rules."



M7: How far is the Birkenbihl method’s idea of ‘learning a language need not be difficult’ serving its purpose of making language acquisition effortless?
EB:
 Let me say 100%. Because the "classical" way to learn a language is totally different from the way our brain works. Our brain is trying to find new things to discover, to get new experiences and so on. What is there to discover when you use a vocabulary list? For example, table - Tisch / table - la mesa, etc. it could also be shown as table - Katze (cat). There is no sense, no meaning, no context.

If you learn it the brain-friendly way as a full sentence, and you "de-code" it, your brain has enough context, and there are new words to learn. 

So it works, and it takes a minimum amount of time because our brain is memorizing everything in connections, like synapses, and that works very well, making it fun and available to use for the rest of your life.
The newest thing we have developed is the Movie(c) courses. Birkenbihl told us all the time, "a movie is the closest experience to real life". Watching a movie is like experiencing an actual event. 

When the "de-code line" is integrated into the movie,  entertainment and learning become cohesive. The "de-code line" in the movie, works as a karaoke player. The spoken word-pair is synchronized and highlighted. So you can close your eyes or your brain will automatically follow the decode line, and you will absorb the language. Repeat it, and you become perfect. It’s the digital way to learn a foreign language.

M7: How do you develop the movies and what is the approach for making users learn new languages easily with these movies?
EB: 
The classical way to learn a language is to cram grammar rules. Understanding and speaking are two processes in our brain that we have to learn separately. The idea developed by Birkenbihl was to find out how to use the mother tongue to understand a foreign language. She had done a lot of research and observed neuroscientists and decided to call the it the decode line which means you have two decoding lines – the upper line is the foreign language that you want to learn, the lower line is the word-by-word translation where you get the information about the meaning of the words.
It’s easy to follow them if you like to follow, but it’s enough if you just watch the movie. Your brain is automatically looking at the decode line and getting the information so if you repeat that you become more familiar with the sentence and you’ll understand it.

M7: How has your working with Vera F. Birkenbihl for more than 10 years helped you to come out with an intuitive method of language acquisition called the “Birkenbihl Approach”? What was the idea behind this?
EB: 
Birkenbihl told me that she’d had an experience with teachers and children. The problem was that the children didn’t enjoy learning vocabulary. It was, and still is, a pain. After a couple of days, all of the learned words go. So she thought, if most people have this problem then the problem couldn't be the people, it must be the method. There must be a better way.

After that, she started researching, and she found old documents, detailing how the aristocrats (the European marriage expansion) learned languages. There were many connections between the European Aristocrats, and this old document described how they learned. There was a transcript, a direct translation underneath and a live speaker. So the learners followed the speaker and read the word pairs.

All of the experiments she did, worked very well. I remember, it was approximately 2008, there was a teacher in Odelzhause who gave the children private English lessons Coached by Birkenbihl, in 3 months, the whole class were able to speak English very well and had no problem with vocabulary tests. That was the point we realized we were onto something. Based on our findings, my son built the first application for Windows. However, if you think that’s it, no. It took a lot of time to optimize it and to do all the beta tests. But after a while, we saw that it worked, and my experience was. WOW! - I got it.


"Watching a movie is like experiencing an actual event.   When the "de-code line" is integrated into the movie,  entertainment and learning become cohesive."


M7: How is the “Birkenbihl Approach” assisting people around the world to learn more languages efficiently?
EB:
Thanks, that’s an excellent question. You can do it, totally without any app, with paper or music. Take the lyrics of the song you love and start to “de-code” (translate it word-by-word). Yes, with the app, it’s much easier, and if you have a device ready, you can fit, learning a language, into every spare moment you have. So you waste no time, get entertained and learn simultaneously. After a while, you begin to speak automatically like a baby, who is listening for a long time.
When it becomes a year old, it starts with some words, after the second year it begins, from one day to the next to speak full sentences, only by listening. So while you improve upon your spelling skills, in your mother tongue or foreign language, always listen (day and night) in the background. Your sub-conscience will do the rest.
It is a kind of democratization of language learning; everybody can do it, independent of age or origin.

M7: You have played a vital role in digitalization of this language acquisition method. What inspired you to take up this challenge and what was your vision behind this?
EB:
Yes, first, it was a curiosity about the possibility and a challenge for myself to learn a language up to a level to be able to sell anything. Remember, I was a weak student.
Additionally, it was the feedback from the first beta tester, later from customers that they had the same experience I had, and they are now happy and successful.  So it was sensible. Yes, a little bit also to make it easier for people. So now, I see that the end of the traditional way to learn a language is coming.

Think about it... you can watch a movie, it doesn't matter which one, and you get automatically delivered the “de-code” line. I think we'll be able to get it in the near future, we are still working on it. So you don't need any teacher, because every child is learning it like their mother tongue, additionally. For example, a Hollywood movie uses about 1000 to 1500 unique words, a daily newspaper uses about 500 to 700 unique words. So let's watch Spanish movies this weekend, and that's it. My idea is that no child should have to suffer the cramming of vocabulary.


"While you grow up your spelling skills, in your mother tongue or foreign language, always listen in the background. Your sub-conscience will do the rest. It is a kind of democratization of language learning."



M7: As a language instructor, how important is resolving the problem of language acquisition as a barrier to businesses and marketing when globalization is the trend?
EB: It is vital. In two cases, one of them is, that companies spend a lot of money, year by year and nothing is changing. The costs go up, and success is equal to or less. Especially the production industries who have many difficulties, i.e. when the company is based in Germany, and the production is in Mexico. In this case, we can help. We can produce a learning movie for the technical process and add the “de-code line”, so the employees get both, the knowledge and the language. I think this is an excellent opportunity for all instructors and trainers of language. They can supply companies to work with the Birkenbihl method, and it gives more success with less time to spend. 

M7: Do you think that the Birkenbihl method will encourage more people around the world to learn languages swiftly?
EB:
Yes, that's what I hope, and it is essential to tell everybody that with this method it is possible, yes it works. Also, my hope is that it could connect people and bring more happiness. It's okay, if you start now and only spend 10 minutes every day. After approximately 6 weeks, you will get about 400 to 600 unique words. However, you can also do it in 2 weeks if you spend 10 minutes, 10 times a day (less than 2 hours). Alternatively, if you spend only 10 minutes every 3rd day, it takes a little longer. Do it when you want with the time that suits you. Overall, you get it.

M7: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self?
EB:
Not much, except one thing: Whatever you do, if it doesn't work, find out how it could work, there is surely another way. But, just do it.

ABOUT BRAIN FRIENDLY

The Birkenbihl Approach (BBA) means, learning as the brain loves to learn. Our brain - look to the minds of children - how they like to discover and to understand how things work. It uses neuro mechanisms like abstracting rules (grammar) and background listening (to build synapses for spelling). To know more, visit Brain-Friendly.

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New Canvas Alignment Tool streamlines flow of data between One45 and Canvas learning management system

GlobeNewswire | September 14, 2023

Acuity Insights announces that its One45 product now offers a Canvas Alignment Tool, which streamlines the flow of data with Canvas – one of the most widely-used learning management systems (LMS) in higher education. This new tool allows programs to ensure that their curriculum mapping and facilitator reporting are consistent and accurate between the two systems. As a result, it reduces administrative burden, duplication of effort and reporting inconsistencies, ensuring program reporting meets accreditation standards with ease. This new tool will improve functionality and productivity for health professions programs that use both One45 and Canvas. "The Canvas Alignment Tool is an exciting addition to our groundbreaking One45 product. This tool combines complex data from diverse systems, delivering an efficient and effective solution for program administrators," says Rich Emrich, CEO of Acuity Insights. "This is yet another step in our strategy to enable program administrators to harness the power of data easily and effortlessly. We offer seamless integrations with leading education technology platforms in higher education. By doing so, administrators can gain valuable insights, ensuring both program and student success, without the hassle of making sense of data from various disconnected systems." What is One45? One45 by Acuity Insights is a comprehensive program management solution that allows health professions programs to simplify complex workflows, streamline accreditation, and enhance program assessment. Streamlined solutions for health professions programs One45 empowers programs with a dynamic, all-in-one platform that powers scheduling, curriculum management, assessment and evaluation, and MSPE processes with unparalleled flexibility. Simplified reporting tasks One45 solves tedious reporting challenges. It fully supports accreditation requirements in assessment, curriculum, clinical experiences, and Student Affairs, while effortlessly meeting day-to-day reporting needs. Seamless collaboration The One45 program management solution facilitates easy information sharing, collaboration, and communication among departments and learners alike. To find out more about the Canvas Alignment Tool, please read our blog post about integrating Canvas with One45. About Acuity Insights Acuity Insights is the leading provider of admissions assessment, program management, and analytics solutions for higher education. The company’s solutions help higher education institutions deliver on their mission holistically, considering the whole student, widening pathways into higher education, and ensuring both student and program success. Recognized as one of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 companies for 2021 and 2022, Acuity’s solutions are used by over 600 higher education programs worldwide. Its Casper situational judgment test (SJT), taken by more than 150,000 applicants every year, is the most widely used open-response SJT in higher education and is backed by almost 20 years of efficacy research. For more information, visit acuityinsights.com.

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Talent Development

Alabama Community College System Selects the Instructure Learning Platform to Extend Access to Underserved Communities

PR News Wire | August 31, 2023

Instructure, the leading learning platform and maker of Canvas, today announced that the Alabama Community College System (ACCS), the system of public community colleges in Alabama, has selected the Canvas learning management system (LMS) as part of a major statewide initiative to transform and modernize its learning experience and increase student success. By unifying the learning experience on Canvas LMS along with Canvas Studio, Impact by Instructure and Canvas Credentials, educators across the state can access foundational, evidence-based edtech solutions to support their instruction. Comprised of 24 community and technical colleges, ACCS offers 2-to-4-year transfer, dual enrollment, technical training, adult education and community education for Alabama residents. In 2021 ACCS expanded its usage of Canvas to 12 member institutions. After a successful implementation, increased student access due to a robust mobile application, increased reliability due to decreased downtime and an improved user experience, ACCS now expands its investment by choosing a statewide deployment of Instructure Learning Platform solutions. The proposed solution, which is backed by research and ensures a consistent learning experience across the state, provides a proven approach to extending access at scale. The statewide implementation of the Instructure Learning Platform solutions will be available to all ACCS students by fall of 2024. The statewide implementation is a key milestone for Chancellor Jimmy H. Baker, whose efforts to modernize and streamline operations has improved the department's focus on the needs of higher education students. By scaling operations, including information security, IT and a consolidated approach to edtech, ACCS can now address challenges in a more effective and efficient manner. "Anything that Alabama's community and technical colleges can do to consistently deliver higher education and training in an accessible way that leads our residents to finding their best success is why we exist," said Baker. "We have seen through our academic programs and work-based learning programs, such as Skills for Success and Alabama Career Essentials, that a resident's ability to start their student experience on one platform opens the door to a wealth of other training opportunities throughout our community and technical colleges across the state." "ACCS and the state of Alabama are taking a giant leap forward with accessibility as they address learning deserts, or areas where students traditionally have less access to educational resources and opportunities," said Steve Daly, CEO of Instructure. "We're honored to play a significant role in elevating student success and amplifying the power of teaching throughout Alabama." Alongside Canvas, ACCS students will benefit from Impact by Instructure, a data and analytics solution that improves adoption and evaluates the impact of edtech. Educators and administrators can use these insights to make informed decisions and evolve educational offerings to best suit the needs of students. With access to this timely data, ACCS can help students accelerate the completion of programs and enable them to take any program at any institution statewide. Extending needed educational moments to students in every circumstance will lead to a new generation of educated learners previously excluded. "As a unified system of community colleges, utilization of a common Learning Management System makes sense," said Cynthia Anthony, President of Lawson State Community College. "One of our goals is to eliminate barriers that hinder seamless student experiences. I think a single LMS is a win-win for our students and colleges. We must look at the big picture and remain laser-focused on student success." The ACCS investment further magnifies the impact of the ACCS Innovation Center, an ambitious effort bringing together the state's community colleges, business, industry and community partners to deliver rapid, industry-recognized non-credit training within some of the state's most in-demand career fields. Adding Canvas Credentials to the training programs will play a key role in allowing learners to demonstrate skill mastery in a competitive workforce. "The strategic decision for the Alabama Community College System to have a standardized Learning Management System will simplify the learning process for students that take classes at different community colleges or transfer to another system college, which is significant," said Todd Shackett, President of Southern Union State Community College. "Additionally, it will allow colleges to more easily share faculty and curriculum across schools for better service and more efficiency." This far-reaching program serves as a model for other states seeking to address complex problems prevalent in modern learning environments, such as equitable access and student engagement. By implementing an all-Canvas Higher Education system throughout the state, Alabama promotes continuity and a consistent mobile-ready learning experience which shrinks learning deserts. The Instructure Learning Platform brings together students, instructors, and tools for a familiar digital learning environment in the physical, blended, or online classroom. ABOUT INSTRUCTURE Instructure is an education technology company dedicated to elevating student success, amplifying the power of teaching, and inspiring everyone to learn together. Today the Instructure Learning Platform, comprised of its flagship product Canvas LMS and several products serving K-12 and higher education, supports tens of millions of educators and learners around the world.

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Talent Development

Teaching Strategies Unveils New Curriculum Tailored to California's Expanding Universal Transitional Kindergarten Program

PR Newswire | August 29, 2023

Teaching Strategies, the country's leading developer of early childhood education solutions, has unveiled a first-of-its-kind curriculum tailored specifically to California's expanding universal transitional kindergarten program (TK). The program aims to build a bridge from preschool to kindergarten for close to 3 million children under the age of 5. The new curriculum, which was built in close partnership with California educators, builds on the company's widely-recognized Creative Curriculum® but is aligned to California's early learning guidelines. The Creative Curriculum® for Transitional Kindergarten: California is paired with observational assessments that measure how well children are mastering academic and social skills, professional development for educators, and tools to keep families engaged in their child's learning–all in one, easy-to-use digital platform. "With 90% of brain development occurring before kindergarten, TK is a critical stepping stone for many children. California is leading the way to ensure all learners have an age and developmentally appropriate learning environment, and we're proud to be helping more schools deliver on that vision," said Breeyn Mack, a former preschool teacher and Senior Vice President of Education at Teaching Strategies. "Building on our 45 year legacy of translating play-based learning research into practice, we've designed a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions— including curriculum, assessment, family engagement, and professional development—to help California educators meet each child's unique needs and prepare them with the skills needed for kindergarten." California began expanding its free, optional, universal TK program last year by extending its cutoff date for eligibility. The state will continue to extend the date range until all 4-year-old children are eligible statewide. The Creative Curriculum® for Transitional Kindergarten: California prepares children for kindergarten by balancing direct instruction with project-based learning that is critical to whole-child development. It provides progressions of learning and development that span the entirety of early childhood in order to individualize learning for each child, and it focuses time each day on building foundational reading, mathematics, and STEM skills. In addition, the curriculum includes guidance and support tools for teachers to access in real time, including a suite of videos that model for teachers how to teach activities in their classrooms. It also connects families to their child's learning seamlessly through automated playlists of activities directly tied to daily classroom instruction. Oakland Unified School District is among the growing number of school districts that have invested in the new curriculum for the 2023-2024 school year. Educators in Oakland also provided valuable feedback on the curriculum as it was being created. "Transitional kindergarten is this magical time for children, so selecting a curriculum was important for our team," said Dr. Bernadette Pilar Zermeño, a PreK/TK English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement specialist for the Oakland Unified School District. "We created a very detailed rubric for evaluating a TK curriculum, and we decided it should be whole-child focused, honor the needs of teachers, engage their families, and provide equitable and inclusive experiences for both children and families. After evaluating four different early childhood curriculums, we selected The Creative Curriculum®." About Teaching Strategies Driven by research that shows a child's first eight years form a critical foundation for success in school and in life, Teaching Strategies has been an advocate for the early education community for over 40 years. Today, Teaching Strategies connects teachers, children and families to inspired teaching and learning experiences, informative data, stronger family partnerships, and professional learning through the leading early learning platform and resources. Its products, including the most widely-used curriculum and assessment solutions The Creative Curriculum® and GOLD®, are found in over 250,000 classrooms and more than 80 countries around the world and reach over 4 million children each year.

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Education Technology

New Canvas Alignment Tool streamlines flow of data between One45 and Canvas learning management system

GlobeNewswire | September 14, 2023

Acuity Insights announces that its One45 product now offers a Canvas Alignment Tool, which streamlines the flow of data with Canvas – one of the most widely-used learning management systems (LMS) in higher education. This new tool allows programs to ensure that their curriculum mapping and facilitator reporting are consistent and accurate between the two systems. As a result, it reduces administrative burden, duplication of effort and reporting inconsistencies, ensuring program reporting meets accreditation standards with ease. This new tool will improve functionality and productivity for health professions programs that use both One45 and Canvas. "The Canvas Alignment Tool is an exciting addition to our groundbreaking One45 product. This tool combines complex data from diverse systems, delivering an efficient and effective solution for program administrators," says Rich Emrich, CEO of Acuity Insights. "This is yet another step in our strategy to enable program administrators to harness the power of data easily and effortlessly. We offer seamless integrations with leading education technology platforms in higher education. By doing so, administrators can gain valuable insights, ensuring both program and student success, without the hassle of making sense of data from various disconnected systems." What is One45? One45 by Acuity Insights is a comprehensive program management solution that allows health professions programs to simplify complex workflows, streamline accreditation, and enhance program assessment. Streamlined solutions for health professions programs One45 empowers programs with a dynamic, all-in-one platform that powers scheduling, curriculum management, assessment and evaluation, and MSPE processes with unparalleled flexibility. Simplified reporting tasks One45 solves tedious reporting challenges. It fully supports accreditation requirements in assessment, curriculum, clinical experiences, and Student Affairs, while effortlessly meeting day-to-day reporting needs. Seamless collaboration The One45 program management solution facilitates easy information sharing, collaboration, and communication among departments and learners alike. To find out more about the Canvas Alignment Tool, please read our blog post about integrating Canvas with One45. About Acuity Insights Acuity Insights is the leading provider of admissions assessment, program management, and analytics solutions for higher education. The company’s solutions help higher education institutions deliver on their mission holistically, considering the whole student, widening pathways into higher education, and ensuring both student and program success. Recognized as one of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 companies for 2021 and 2022, Acuity’s solutions are used by over 600 higher education programs worldwide. Its Casper situational judgment test (SJT), taken by more than 150,000 applicants every year, is the most widely used open-response SJT in higher education and is backed by almost 20 years of efficacy research. For more information, visit acuityinsights.com.

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