India is one of the largest English speaking countries in the world and consequently, home to a flourishing BPO industry, Thomas Friedman points out in his book titled The World is Flat. However, when it comes to speaking and writing the language the right way, a large majority of people aren’t good enough.
According to a survey conducted by McKinsey, nearly 4 in 10 employers who had vacancies reported that a key reason behind these vacancies remaining unfilled is the lack of the right skills (including lack of understanding of English language) in new graduates.
To address this need, PerfectMyEnglish, a Delhi based startup, has created a platform to help users improve their communication skills. With PerfectMyEnglish users can learn how to avoid pitfalls in English grammar, improve vocabulary and enhance their skill level through short easy-to-understand lessons.
The platform allows users to login via their FaceBook or email account and take a quiz to test their current skill, absorb PerfectMyEnglish feedback and lessons to improve their understanding to the language.
The startup uses ‘flashcards’ like quizzes to help users to clear their understanding of different aspects of the English grammar and enrich their vocabulary. It helps users to understand the gaps in their skills and direct them to its learning material.
Launched by Karan Goel, Manas Abichandani and Sahil Sethi, PerfectMyEnglish diagnoses user’s weakness in various skill areas. “The platform tests skill level of user’s through several rounds of five questions each which are multiple choice and has a pattern similar to the CAT exam,” said Sahil Sethi, co-founder, PerfectMyEnglish.
For spoken English, PerfectMyEnglish intends to use the power of Voice over IP (VoIP). The site will let premium users access its lessons through a phone.
At present, PerfectMyEnglish gets around 2500 visitors, out of which 500 are international. “We have seen interest coming in from Non English speaking countries in Europe, West and Central Asia, Middle East, as well as East Asia,” said Sethi. The startup claims to have 600 registered users on its platform.
PerfectMyEnglish plans to add value added services to encourage users to sign up for using a subscription based quizzes such as one to one or group mentoring via PerfectMyEnglish Voice and paid mobile app.
“By the end of this year we aim to reach 100,000 registered users,” added Sethi. Presently, the startup is being funded by founders, however in future the company will look to raise funds from angel investors.
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