We are the winning team. The first Vietnamese team ever won at the biggest competition for EdTech startups in the world.

Selected from a large number of competing teams all over the world with innovative tech products aiming to help solve problems in education, ELSA was among the top 10 best teams and after a convincing 3-minute pitch – advanced straight to the top 3 finalists of the competition.

ELSA’s CEO & co-founder – Vu Van – is pitching in front of SXSWedu judges.

ELSA Pronunciation app ~ Google Play Store

To me, February has a lot to celebrate. Today is one of those important days. After lots of sleepless nights, ELSA Speak app is finally available on Google Play Store for beta testing.

As we build ELSA, we are working one step closer to our dream of equal opportunities for all. That in this flat and borderless world, English should never be a barrier that stops us reaching the fullest potential. That speaking should be joyful, not fearful. That all accents are accepted, as long as we can fully understand each other. That all biases regarding accents should be reduced / removed, and our real talent should speak for itself at the workplace.

2015 has come to an end. New Year, as always, is the time for reflection: what you have achieved, and what what you have not yet. However, more importantly, New Year is the time for setting new goals – so that by the end of next year, you can look back and see whether you are getting closer to where you wanna be.

ELSA has had a wonderful year as I got the chance to meet and help so many people practice and be more confident when speaking English. And on this New Year occasion, I want to make my own resolution, too. That is, to help more and more people overcome the language barrier and let their voice be heard and cherished.

How about yours?

In case you want to speak better English in the next year, here are a few suggestions from ELSA.