Dec 16, 2010

TOEFL Serves 25 million Students Worldwide


Education Testing Service (ETS), the administrators of the TOEFL test, announced that over 25 million students worldwide have used the test to "achieve their education goals." That means they have used the test to establish their English proficiency as part of their application process to schools in the United States and Canada.

We confirm these numbers as TestDEN.com's traffic has been steadily growing over the past 12 months and we have had sky-high interest in our online practice course.

Nov 29, 2010

Foreign Students Worth $18.8B to USA


The 2009-2010 economic impact statement from international education compiled by the National Association of International Educators (NAFSA) was released last week. The numbers are big. International students are worth a lot to the US economy, $18.8B conservatively using NAFSA's methodology.

Here is how the total breaks down for the current academic year:

  • 690,923 international students
  • Spent $13.1B on tuition expenses
  • Spent $12.5B in living expenses
  • Received US student aid of $7.2B
  • and spent $448M in dependents living expenses
  • NET CONTRIBUTION BY FOREIGN STUDENTS: $18,776,000,000
Facing a budget deficit of $1.42 trillion and a trade deficit of $375B, how soon before the Obama administration opens the education door wide open?

Nov 22, 2010

ACT360 Moves to Gastown

ACT360 is moving back to downtown Vancouver, BC, Canada. Our new address in the Dominion Building in Gastown, effective December 1, 2010:

Suite 1116
207 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1H7

Love the 270 degree view!

Sep 13, 2010

Andy Krieger Teaches Arizona Teachers




TestDEN accent expert Andy Krieger was in Arizona to train elementary school teachers. Here is a link to the coverage by the Arizona Republic. The feedback from the teachers was gratifying:

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart because it's something wonderful and beautiful what he is doing to help us.
- Margarita Drauden, teacher

May 5, 2010

TestDEN TOEFL Challenge Launches on QQ Network


TestDEN's Free TOEFL Practice China Challenge launched today on the QQ/Tencent network in China. We are pleased to be working with QQ again in 2010, and we will have additional contests running through the summer of 2010 with QQ in China.

Apr 7, 2010

Connect with Andy Krieger on QZone


Andy Krieger launches his Tencent QZone site to connect with young Chinese on China's most popular social media service. Find Coach K on the QQ network at:

QQ: 909748335
QQ空间: http://user.qzone.qq.com/909748335

Apr 3, 2010

Accent Reduction Bejing DVD Launch


Andy Krieger spent the afternoon today at the Zhongguancun Book Building in Beijing to attend a book signing event. Andy gave a short talk explaining how the K Method helps young Chinese rapidly improve their speaking ability. A young, enthusiastic audience had the opportunity to see Coach K in action as he demonstrated his speaking techniques. Here is what one student had to say:

Dear Andy,
I am Neo, the Chinese boy you've met at your speech in Zhongguancun Book Building several days ago. Here's something about myself. I am a senior student at USTB,the University of Science & Technology Beijing and majoring in MIS, Management Informationg System.

While studying, I find it more and more important to conquer English because I have got to learn those more advanced knowledge from overseas like the great book "Thinking in Java" which is about computer programing.

And what's more important I think, is that we Chinese should make our voice widely heard throughout the world. At least, I must use English to communicate with you and to e-mail you.

To be frank, I've read some books about how to pronounce in the right way before which are written by Li Yang. It helped me with my oral Englich more or less. It's Li Yang who created the Crazy English to help Chinese people solve their accent problems and I don't know if you have heard about him before. He's very famous in China.

However, I still learned a lot from your speech. I am deeply impressed by your patience, enthusiasm and mostly, your beautiful American accent. I appreciated it a lot you've taught me such a great lesson.

And I have learned one thing from you that while speaking, one should speak as slowly as he or she can which can give him or her enough time to think and to put his or her tongue in the right position in order to pronounce right and besides, one should say 2 to 3 words at a time with the help of one hand, thus he or she could get a proper rhythm.

All in all, thanks very much for your teaching and I hope you can enjoy this trip in China.

Yours
Sincerely
Neo
Thanks to Mei at Chinese Renmin University Press for organizing a fantastic reception. Here are some links to Chinese media coverage of the launch:

Tencent QQ

Sohu

Sina

Xinhua

Mar 31, 2010

TestDEN Partners with Chinese Renmin University Press


TestDEN.com brings Andy Krieger's K-Method to China in partnership with Chinese Renmin University Press. The K-Method DVD and Practice Guide have been translated into Chinese and localized for students in China. The package includes 30-day access to TestDEN's Online Speaking Course and retails for 168 RMB.

Mar 2, 2010

TOEFL Practice Test Re-design


TestDEN launches its new free TOEFL Practice test interface. As usual, our marketing team is tinkering with various design elements and came up with a much friendlier landing page.

Jan 29, 2010

TestDEN Spanish Site Launches

TestDEN.com launched its Spanish version today in order to better server our customers in Central America, South America, and Spain. Visit the site at:

http://www.testden.com/es/index.htm

More languages are coming in March!

Jan 5, 2010

English Slang Pronunciation Guide

The English Slang Pronunciation Guide is now available to help English as a Second Language students sound more "American" when they speak English.

The English Slang Pronunciation Guide is written for intermediate and advanced learners of English. If you have already passed your TOEFL test or achieved a TOEIC score of 680, then this slang resource is for you. When you are done with English grammar and formal public speaking, it's time to have some fun. Learn how Americans really speak at home, at the office, and at the shopping mall.

Each entry contains a definition of the slang word, a funny video showing how the word is used, and the English text used in the video. Enjoy!