Innovations in software coupled with the widespread availability of Internet broadband are transforming the once stodgy business of language education. Leading the charge in Japan are two Japanese-American brothers, John Hideyoshi Martyn and Billy Kosuke Martyn.
The brothers want to reduce the many hours per week that language teachers spend on managing assignments, grading, and keeping track of student progress. Their early stage Internet startup, called Language Cloud, aims to be the first comprehensive learning management system to help teachers easily manage assignments and classes in the cloud.
It sounds like an audacious mission, until you learn that Cambridge University Press, and professors at Sophia University and Tokyo University are partnering with Language Cloud. In November 2012, John received the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan's Director's Award for entrepreneurship. That caught people's attention.