Brian Ragsdale may have cracked Rosetta Stone with his new innovative online language learning program.
Ragsdale is the creator of Language B, a foreign language software platform that allows users to take lessons from the 20 languages they currently offer. Learning a language is something that Ragsdale values greatly, as he learned Spanish in high school as well as German and Japanese in college. He said he has been working on the Language B in abstract since 2001, but he didn’t made the leap to working on the project full time until 2011. Ragsdale’s passion comes from the fact that, as a language learner and Japanese teacher, he felt there could be a better option to teach language.
“In studying all of these languages, I’ve never found anything that I’ve really liked,” Ragsdale said. “So I came to the conclusion that I was going to have to write [the software] myself.”
From that idea, Language B was born, and Ragsdale decided to create a platform that users can use to create their own lessons and integrate their unique learning styles in an affordable way, rather than buying expensive books and a static software designed for mass consumption.
“With Rosetta Stone, you get what you buy,” Ragsdale said. “We try to make [Language B] very customizable. We are giving people a voice to teach language the way they think it ought to be taught.”
Ragsdale is also a programmer, something he has done as a hobby since the fifth grade. He said some people learn in different ways, and whether it be through speaking, hearing or visually, Language B gives all types of learners the opportunity to grasp a foreign language.
“We’re trying to set it to give [users] control of how they learn the language the best,” Ragsdale said.
Another advantage Ragsdale sees with Language B is its pricing. Rather than paying hundreds of dollars for software of a single language, Language B allows users to subscribe to the service for a monthly fee, giving them access to all of the content the website has to offer.
Language B is also free for instructors with an .edu email account. For anyone else with an .edu email account, the language service costs $6.95 a month, or $59.95 for the year. For anyone else who is interested in the software, the price is $9.95 a month or $74.95 for the year.
“I think [Rosetta Stone] prices way too many people out of the market,” Ragsdale said. “We are taking the opposite approach, that gives subscribers access to every lesson for every language that we offer, as well as the lessons that users create or publicly share. We want to keep it inexpensive and worthwhile enough to get people to continue their subscriptions.”
Ragsdale is an Eastern Kentucky University alumnus and currently operates his Language B business from the university’s Business and Technology Accelerator Program (BTAP), which offers low-cost office space, as well as access to EKU faculty, staff and students, along with other business coaching and services. Because of this partnership, anyone with an eku.edu email can use the software for free.
Ragsdale has been working with the BTAP since February 2012. He said the program has been tremendously successful since it was taken under the wing of the BTAC and many doors have been opened.
Language B has eight people on staff and five student interns who program for the site. Ragsdale describes all of the full-time employees as “language people” on some level.
Colin Keefe writes content and lesson plans for Language B and has been with the company since 2011. He is certified to teach high-school Spanish and also knows Japanese, German and some French. Keefe said he enjoys developing content for Language B.
“I feel like I’m actually putting my education to use,” Keefe said, adding that he had worked at Lexmark as a software tester, rather than teaching.
Keefe said Language B is a great tool for learning languages but is especially good at teaching vocabulary, something most students struggle with.
“The thing we do best right now is vocabulary acquisition and learning the words,” Keefe said.
The interactive learning and the community of speakers are other areas Keefe said Language B provides to its users, including different games, video and flashcards.
“Any time you can teach through games, people learn better because they are engaged and active,” Keefe said.
Ragsdale said the company started marketing the software in January, and they have seen a small but growing number of subscribers joining daily.
“I do expect it will be growing quite a bit this year,” Ragsdale said.
Plans for growth are already underway, as evidenced by the ability to view the website in English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, French and Arabic, enabling prospective learners from other countries to access to the software, Ragsdale said. He added that customer service is also a strong suit of Language B. Because the software is online, any bugs or issues are fixed quickly after a user points them out rather than having to wait for a patch or a fix that must be bought or downloaded.
Ragsdale said the company wants to reach out to tutors and instructors to continue refining the website and spreading to a larger customer base. He said most of the lessons are for beginners, but the catalog of language lessons will grow as the user base grows and customers develop and share their lessons. He said Language B will continue to grow and provide content, but added that it is also a platform for users to develop.
“We are a young company,” Ragsdale said. “There are a lot of things in the planning phases.”