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What LanguagEd Teach Professional Development for Teachers of Language

Aug 17, 2022

Chiara is always intrigued by the language.

Born and raised near Milan, Italy, Bruzzano worked as a translator at an online database after earning her bachelor's degrees. In search of more connection with people, she decided to transition her career into teaching language instead. She earned her master's degree as well as her PhD as well as was employed in Italy, Spain, and the UK as a language instructor.

However, as she travelled through her educational journey she discovered that there's not a clear path to teach in Italy as per Bruzzano, it takes up to a decade for a tenured teaching position at an Italian school.

"The way you become an English language teacher in Italy is extremely complex," she says. "Essentially the requirement is pass an exam that is national called the "concorso.' To take the test it is necessary to have a great deal of understanding about teaching language methodology, yet there are little to no reliable materials for studying ."

After hearing her colleagues complain about the absence of materials for teachers and she decided to join some Facebook groups and noticed even many others experiencing the same problem.

"I discovered that I had the knowledge to fill in this need, because it's literally my job for ten years."

In the year 2020, she made the decision to start her own online course business, LanguagEd, to provide English teachers of the language in Italy with the highest-quality, scientifically-based professional training. Fast forward to now, and she has eight courses with more than 14,000 students. How did she do it.

Jump ahead:

She started a company to fill the gap

When she realized that she could be a perfect candidate to bridge the gaps, Bruzzano designed courses that meet two goals: assist teachers develop skills for classroom practice and pass the exam. "All of the courses relate closely to the experience of teachers as well as however, language learners too," she says.

In the time she's been in business, she's helped hundreds of teachers pass the exam. "Obviously that credit belongs to them, not mine," she shares, with a smile. "But knowing that I'm helping by making a difference in the world is the most rewarding feeling ever. It also builds confidence. ."

In addition to her exam preparation courses, she and her team - which includes Annalisa Perone graphic designer, animator, and illustrator, Sylvia Provenzano, course reviewer as well as teacher trainer, and Andre Hedlund and Rachel Tsateri as teacher trainers provide personal consulting as well as a bilingual blog as well as a YouTube channel as well as a biweekly, scientifically-based newsletter. According to Bruzzano the tools she uses help to increase her audience on what she calls 'a individual basis'. .'

She built the audience of her 'personal basis'

Building an audience took some period of time. With so many teachers already having spent hundreds of dollars on exams preparation material but only to not pass the exam, she needed to show the teachers that her classes could legitimately help them pass. Making personal connections with colleagues and those in Facebook groups has helped her make connections and build confidence between her and the other. "I started having conversations with people preparing for the exam, and that set the tone of how we've handled the audience, as we're trying to convey that we value our customers," she says.

When she created a company Facebook page in 2020, with over 2300 users, she set up the WordPress site by 2021.

Next, she began building an email list to share a weekly, research-backed newsletter which is sent out each Monday morning. It contains a range of useful resources that can help readers prepare for their exam, as well as the latest research on learning languages. The email list grew through the offering of two freebies on her website: the first, which includes a table that summarizes the subjects of the test with possible subtopics, and the other, which includes an example essay sample to be used in the test. In the present, she's got over 6,000 customers.

All the time Bruzzano is in her course business she adheres to the principle that 'quality is more important than quantity.'

As she and her team created their own YouTube channel and launched it, she was sure to come up with a compelling and successful video to drive people to her website. "I produced a short video that summarized the main method of teaching language and its background from the past three centuries since it was a part of the material that teachers had to study in order to pass the exam," she says.

The video went viral up. In just two years it's had more than 50k views. It also drives the most traffic towards her website. While she has several other videos available in her YouTube channel, the one above has done the heavy-lifting."I make videos every so often now," she says, "but only when I've got something to say or if I need to respond to an intriguing question."

She also makes sure to use her channel to make available resources and top-quality material for her students. "I've created a few Q&A videos that were extremely helpful," she continues. "I've also used the channel to put together playlists of fascinating videos covering diverse areas of course that students need to study for the exam ."

She has created a bilingual blog

But perhaps the most important driving force behind traffic to her business is her bilingual blog. "I put a lot of time and effort into my blog as I believed it was a long-term decision that I should pursue," she says ."

She created the blog that was written in both English as well as Italian as she realized that her audience would be searching Google for both Italian and English. When she was writing each blog post she was sure to include particular keywords that could increase her search engine optimization. "That helped a lot," she says. "Some of the blog posts have been ranked extremely well on Google. There were 45,000 people who visited our blog within the first seven months alone. ."

For creators looking to increase sales of their course, she recommends offering their customers the most value they can by applying the "quality over quantity" mindset.

"Grow your audience organically if you can, which is what I did," she shares. "It took longer but it builds better relationships ."

She used an accessible pricing model

When it came to pricing her courses she wanted to cost her courses with a reasonable price; her courses range from 29-79 euros. That is a one-year subscription that is able to be renewed for a lower price. "I didn't want them to be too pricey for teachers," She says. "I've worked as a teacher, and I've seen that this isn't the most lucrative job. ."

As it turns out, she says this pricing range will be affordable for most teachers. However, she offers no-cost versions; each course has the option of a no-cost introduction and one or two modules that are completely free. If the student chooses to purchase the course, they get access to every module in one go, not the release of content in drips.

She chose not to utilize's drip schedule feature since her students want the option to work on the subject at their convenience.

"A lot people who I teach are with families or full-time jobs," she explains. "They have to be able to study at any time they want. ."

She varied her content for her classes

According to Bruzzano according to Bruzzano, every lesson has an overview, the core material, and 'expansion' tasks, which are activities that extend each subject. "That means that students are able to determine how much they wish to accomplish based on how much time they have ."

She diversifies her content delivery in order to attract different types of students. Her content includes a mix of video, text, PowerPoint presentations, and audio. "I discovered that most people are expecting video," she says. "I had to manage my students' expectations because I'm not convinced that certain subjects would be best for video ."

Also, she has discussion sections on her site, however she does not have any separate communities for her students; as the mother to a 2 month old child, she was forced to get real with her time and plan it accordingly. "I've only had LanguagEd for two year," she says. "And I've already developed eight courses. I've concentrated my energy on course creation and management; I wouldn't have had time to keep up with the community ."

She designed - - and updated - her curriculums

The courses' curriculums using the topics of the test. She broke down every broad subject into instructional materials, and then based all of her content off current research. "I compose and design courses, and I also have Sylvia another teacher of languages and examiner, review the courses," she says. "She maintains contact with teachers via Facebook groups ."

Because the test was changed three times during the two years that LanguagEd has been in operation it's been necessary to ensure that she continually changes and adapts her material.

"I am able to modify my courses on using the Basic Plan. This means that even after my classes have been bought and I'm able change and modify their content based on the changes ."

She showed her students that she cares

No matter what an online instructor is teaching, Bruzzano advises that, just like her, the creators keep reviewing their course. "Go that extra mile in showing that you value your students," she says.

Even after students have completed the course, her staff keeps in touch with the students. "They are given a certificate and we send them a message of congratulations," she explains.

"We keep in touch because we want to determine if they've completed their test as well as, once more, to demonstrate that we are concerned."

In reality the extra attention to detail is what Bruzzano considers to have been the key to the success of her company.

"I think it's really important to demonstrate that you are concerned about your students which is a prerequisite to understanding yourself. For me, being the creator of the content proved that I was genuinely interested in the method I used to create my lessons. Plus, the fact that I was able to personally respond to questions and provide my students with valuable content increased trust among students. me ."

The trust that this has built in students has led to a booming word-of mouth marketing. "We accompany students in the journey of choosing which classes are best for them," she continues. "That could take a little bit of bouncing around, but when you've got it done the students are able to find the best course that meets the needs of their particular situation. This also means not trying to offer them something they don't need. The method may sound outdated, but it's what works for us ."

Reflecting on her course the journey of creation

If Bruzzano examines her journey to creating her company She says that she wishes she had believed in her company more from the very beginning.

The writer also wanted to stay clear of being too busy in other duties. "I have three jobs at three different institutions, I write a column in a popular blog, and I provide teacher education, and speak at conferences and appearances. After I had my baby and was near to exhaustion," she shares.

When comparing online versus the in-person classroom, she states that she misses the human relationship that is created by face-to face interaction. She's re-created that connection through other methods including in her personal consultations and communicating with her students in both the course and post course.

Advice to creators of online courses

If you're an online course designer who's trying to scale their company, Bruzzano has some advice. "Make sure you're the right person to create this material," she says. "I know this sounds somewhat stale But you need to know how you're teaching inside out. Otherwise, you'll be discovered at some point in the ."

She also advises that people enroll in a few courses to learn more about the art of teaching.

"Learning and teaching" are two very different concepts. There's a chance that you're an expert in your field However, that doesn't mean you'll be able to communicate your expertise. Invest in learning instructional design ."

If you're impressed by the stories of Bruzzano about how he built a thriving online course business you should sign up the course today.