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After a few hours of study with our self-paced computer-based
courses, both lifelong and casual students of foreign languages
learn and retain practical, effective spoken communication
skills regardless of their self-perceived learning aptitude
or prior knowledge of the language.
Language instruction emphasizes spoken vocabularies and pronunciation,
covering grammar and written language only when required.
From the first lesson, students learn by listening to and
speaking in the foreign language, getting immediate feedback
and guidance. The courses tolerate incorrect pronunciation
and guide students extensively on how to improve it.
Acting as comprehensive cultural tutors, the courses teach
practical cultural knowledge, sensitivity and awareness — including
non-verbal gestures, etiquette, and norms of politeness — that
are critical for successful communication.
Students play fun, immersive, interactive 3D video games that
simulate real-life communication by role playing with animated "socially
intelligent virtual humans" that recognize students' intent,
speech, gestures and behavior.
If students speak and behave correctly, the virtual humans
become trustful and cooperative, and provide information
that students need to advance. Otherwise, the virtual humans
are uncooperative and prevent students from "winning" the
game. For example, in one scene in the Mission to Iraq™ course
students can speak perfect Arabic and still offend their
virtual Iraqi host by not asking him to enter the house
first or by later talking to his wife without observing
Iraqi cultural protocols.
We promote extensive levels of engagement, motivation and
practice by providing "free form" storylines with
very wide ranges of game-play paths, interactive dialogs
and action options. The storyline's drama, exploration and
elements of surprise include opportunities to learn from
getting into trouble and trying to gracefully get out of
it.
Not all virtual humans are the same; each behaves according
to its individual personality, emotions and intent, consistent
with the storyline and in response to student actions. For
example. in another Mission to Iraq scene, the student's
disrespect towards two virtual Iraqis elicits a passive
response from one and insults from the other, but students
can fix the problem if they know how to react to the Iraqi's
complaints.
Numerous exercises, quizzes and tests continuously monitor
progress and measure the students' level of proficiency,
helping them stay motivated. Courses adjust themselves automatically
to the students' rate of progress, letting them advance
at their own pace.
Our courses are specifically designed to match the profiles
of their target students, accounting for factors like age,
native language, cultural background, native country, prior
knowledge of the target language, desired level of fluency,
and application (business, professional, tourism, etc.).
Key design parameters include course length, storyline,
difficulty, vocabulary, and entertainment level ("seriousness").
We currently feature single-player games that run on personal
computers running the Microsoft® Windows™ operating
system. During 2008 we will release many new products, including
web-based versions and training companions for the Apple
iPod.
And most importantly, our courses work!
» See sidebar
Applications and markets
INSTITUTIONAL
We offer language-learning solutions for organizations of
any type: for-profit, not-for-profit, professional,
government, NGOs, law enforcement, and so forth.
DEFENSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY
 Our
subsidiary Alelo TLT, LLC serves defense,
national security and intelligence organizations. It publishes
our award-winning courses, Tactical
Language & Culture Training Systems.
» Alelo
TLT, LLC (formerly Tactical Language Training LLC)
EDUCATION
We offer solutions ranging from full-length courses to supplemental
materials for classroom instruction, all compatible
with national and state standards for K-12, college
and post-graduate levels both in the United States
and elsewhere in the world.
PERSONAL
We offer courses suitable either for self-study or to supplement
classroom instruction.
ENTERTAINMENT
We offer game publishers excellent opportunities to differentiate
themselves in today's global markets. Our unique solutions
that give "communicative intelligence" to
game avatars will take the game industry to new levels
of realism and engagement, likely creating new game
genres.
How we can help you
You can either acquire our off-the-shelf courses or those
produced by our customers, or license our Alelo Technology™ to
publish — or co-publish with us — your own courses
for in-house use or resale.
» Catalog
of language-learning products and services
We also offer broader simulations of real-life social communication
not necessarily related to foreign languages for applications
in training, healthcare, entertainment, and advertising.
» Simulations
of social communication
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