When communicating with people from different backgrounds, cultural skills are just as important as language skills. We set cultural learning on equal footing with language learning, since language and culture are inextricably bound and both are key to future success in life. All materials, as an authentic form of content-based education, are about real people and seek to reinforce the broad cultural understanding necessary to engage with people from German and Spanish-speaking countries.

Our platform has over a dozen different interactions that activate multiple learning channels for students. The book activities also utilizes dozen of different activities, focusing on creating meaningful, real communication between students in class as well as encouraging students to think and express themselves interculturally through reading and writing.

Our phrase “Sympauthentic input” refers to unscripted speech elicited from native speakers. Written texts and listening pieces are drawn from hundreds of interviews with native speakers, with content appropriate for novice and intermediate learners. This real, unscripted and normal-speed language provides students with excellent training in listening comprehension, preparing students for real encounters in the target language. Careful selection of interview questions and responses make this authentic language accessible and ‘doable’ for beginning and intermediate learners.