A killer

Wise Words: killer app

Today, our Word of the Day is killer app. A killer app is a superior new feature of a technology. It is so superior that people feel they can't do without it.

For Apple, 2009 was clearly the year of the killer app. More than 100,000 apps are now available for download in the App Store. In September, the total number of downloads topped two billion. I’ve downloaded free apps and paid for several, too. My all-time favourite app has to be Jamie Oliver’s 20 minute meals — even though a couple of the recipes didn’t go down too well with my family. (All my fault, not Jamie’s.)

Can Business Spotlight offer a killer app for learning languages?

Learning a language is not always easy, especially if you have a busy career, a family and a social life. At Business Spotlight, we appreciate that you often have very little time to spare for learning English. That’s why we’re constantly looking at ways to improve our range of products and online services to make them more attractive and more useful.

When it comes to learning languages, however, there is no silver bullet (as I wrote back in October 2008 when we relaunched this website). Could there be a killer app?

This year, we’ve introduced new features on our website, including the popular Business with Bob series of videos and a Twitter feed. They both offer a new kind of service to learners of business English.

The video is popular because Bob Dignen has a great presentation style. He also focuses on topics that most people can relate to: meetings and socializing. Would I call them killer apps? Not really — but they’re fun, useful and pedagogically sound.

What about Twitter? You can subscribe to our Twitter feed so that you don’t miss out on any content. You can use our Twitter account to contact us or comment on our content. The short updates are perfect reminders to learn a little business English every day. I use Twitter to keep up with ELT discussions and with breaking news. You could use it to keep your English up to date — or even to write to us in English. Is Twitter a killer app? Not really — but it’s fun, useful and pedagogically sound.

Something that is fun, useful and pedagogically sound keeps you motivated. And motivation is the key to language learning. We offer a variety of products and online services for learning business English. Combine them with a great teacher, a trip abroad or an intensive course to create your own killer app for learning business English.

We already have exciting plans for even more improvements in 2010 — using new technology and traditional print products. We hope you’ll add them to your personal language-learning killer app. If you do, we promise you'll have a superior language-learning experience that you won't want to do without.

We wish you luck and all the best for 2010!