The original thinking behind what is now Language Corpus started 20 years ago when Reid began teaching English in the Middle East and studying Arabic after earning an M.A. in Linguistics.
Strongly influenced by the writings of language coach/consultant Greg Thomspon, Reid and his wife Liz collected and worked through many Arabic recordings, and Reid began to share those on CD-ROMs with other Arabic learners he knew.
As Reid saw the value of these recordings, and realizing that not everyone had the privilege of living where the language was spoken, he began to formulate an idea of providing natural language recordings in many languages on CD-ROM.
The friction of technology's limitations 20 years ago kept Reid from pursuing the idea then, but his skill gained in creating a successful language learning website and email newsletter led him to a job back in the U.S., where he programmed an online video streaming and test taking web application for the Department of Modern Languages at UTA.
These new skills in web application development took Reid into the business world, where eventually he would start and run a software development company that at its peak had 13 team members.
And now, 20 years after the germ of the idea, the internet is quite established enough for Language Corpus to provide audio recordings, transcripts, and translations to language learners in many languages all over the world -- no CD-ROMs required.
Our vision is to provide many thousands of audio recordings on many topics by many speakers in each of many, many languages, and then provide "smart" online software that guides each learner through the recordings that will most help them progress. This will enable intermediate-to-advanced language learners to significantly grow in their ability to understand "real world" spoken language, especially for those who don't have the privilege of living somewhere where the language is spoken. (And it will also speed along the proficiency of those who do live where the language is spoken.)