The challenge
With a large population of native Spanish speakers in the US, Sodexo is faced with two main challenges: employees with low English proficiency who have difficulty communicating with customers and managers with low Spanish proficiency who have difficulty communicating with their employees. Sodexo needed a language learning solution that addressed the diverse needs of both their employees and customers. That’s where Babbel came in!
Why Babbel?
With Babbel, employees and managers could practice vocabulary and oral skills in an independent learning environment and improve their skills at their convenience. The short 15 minute lessons inspired successful, regular training for all learners and allowed learners with low technical literacy to adjust to the new language quickly.
Learners benefit from an independent learning environment where they can practice vocabulary and oral skills and overcome speaking hesitations and fear, boosting their confidence in the new language.
“I could listen to expressions, repeat them, and listen to them as many times as I wanted.”
A participating Sodexo employee
Babbel’s onboarding material ensured a smooth start, while weekly reminders kept learners on track with individual learning goals. The learners especially appreciated the lessons related to their daily interactions at work, as well as the flexibility and convenience of the platform.
“Learners are likely to be more engaged if the learning content mirrors the real-life language usage.”
Researcher of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA
Learners benefit from an independent learning environment where they can practice vocabulary and oral skills and overcome speaking hesitations and fear, boosting their confidence in the new language.
The individual and independent use of Babbel increased the employees’ willingness to communicate and made them feel more confident in the workplace. Sodexo found that there was improved internal communication and better customer service overall!
* This case study is based on the results of a study conducted by linguists at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA.
