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| Corporate
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Berlitz
International, Inc. is the world's premier language services
firm, providing quality language instruction, translation,
and publishing services throughout the world.
 Berlitz has been providing language services
for more than 120 years, with millions of alumni. The time-proven
principles of the Berlitz Method are supplemented by a constant
flow of new and updated information and the latest multi-media
lesson materials. Translation and publishing services throughout
the world complete our full-service portrait.
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| Berlitz
International, Inc. Worldwide Headquarters |
|
Berlitz
International, Inc. Worldwide Headquarters
400 Alexander Park
Princeton, NJ 08540-6306
USA
Telephone: (609) 514-9650
Fax: (609) 514-9689
The
Berlitz Worldwide Headquarters was opened May 14, 1996.
Approximately 140 employees are housed in this facility.
The
headquarters features a prototype of the new Berlitz retail
concept center which also serves as the Princeton Language
Center.
The
design of the 70,000 square foot, four story headquarters
facility reflects Berlitz's international presence and incorporates
a variety of cultures - a fitting design for the world's
leader in global communications!
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|
| The
Berlitz Story |
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For more
than a century, people from around the world have been coming
to Berlitz to learn the languages they need for business,
pleasure, travel,  and to improve their ability to communicate
with people of other cultures. They come because they know
they can count on Berlitz to teach them the languages they
want to know quickly, enjoyably, effectively, and with unmatched
expertise. Berlitz's tradition of excellence in language instruction
goes back to the very beginning of the company more than 115
years ago.
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| Maximilian
D. Berlitz |
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The organization
now known as Berlitz International, Inc. was founded in 1878
by Maximilian D. Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Descended from a long line of teachers and mathematicians,
Maximilian Berlitz grew up in the Black Forest region of Germany.
He emigrated to the United States in 1872 and arrived prepared
to teach Greek, Latin, and six other European languages according
to the strict traditionalist grammar-translation approach.
After
building a successful career as a private teacher, Berlitz
joined the Warner Polytechnic College as a professor of
French and German language instruction. The college, however,
was less imposing than its name, and Berlitz found himself
at once owner, dean, principal, and only faculty member.
 Needing an assistant to teach French,
Berlitz hired a young Frenchman who appeared to be the most
promising candidate, possibly because of the impeccable
French in his letter of application. Invited to Providence,
Nicholas Joly arrived to find his new employer ill and feverish
from overwork, a condition that was not improved when Berlitz
learned his new assistant spoke no English. Casting about
desperately for a way of using Joly, Berlitz told him to
try pointing at objects and naming them and to act out verbs
as best he could. He thereupon took to his bed, emerging
anxiously six weeks later prepared to face the wrath of
his neglected students.
Instead,
Berlitz found the students engaging in lively question-and-answer
exchanges with their teacher, in elegantly accented French.
The characteristic solemnity of the formal classroom had
vanished. More important, the students had progressed further
than any ever had under six weeks of his own tutelage.
 Berlitz quickly concluded that his
emergency measure held the seed of an innovative teaching
technique. By replacing rote learning with a discovery process
that kept students active and interested, it solved many
of the problems that had plagued language instruction in
the past.
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| An
Overview of the Berlitz Method
TM |
|
After
experimenting with the new technique and finding it consistently
effective, Berlitz developed a system of language teaching
which today is still the basis for the world-famous Berlitz
courses.
The
principles he laid down were deceptively simple. Only the
target language would be spoken in class, starting with
the first greeting by the teacher. Emphasis would be on
the spoken word, with students learning to read and write
only what they had already learned to say and understand.
There would be no formal grammar instruction; instead, students
would absorb a grammatical system naturally, by using it.
Above all, to develop fluency, students would have to learn
to think in the new language, not translate - to associate
new words with objects and ideas, rather than with the distractingly
familiar words of their mother tongue. Teachers would have
to constantly encourage students to speak the language being
taught, employing a barrage of questions to be answered
and a quickly expanding vocabulary. And, most importantly,
each Berlitz teacher would have to have a native command
of the language being taught.
While
the unique system of instruction developed by Berlitz has
been refined, enriched, and modernized throughout the years,
these elements remain at the heart of all Berlitz language
instruction.
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| Years
of Rapid Growth |
|
 Maximilian
Berlitz's innovative approach to teaching languages met with
almost immediate success in Providence, and by 1880, he was
encouraged to open a language center in Boston.
This was followed in quick succession by language centers
in New
York City and Washington,
D.C. Their success led him to open centers in other American
cities and in Europe,
where the popularity of Berlitz's teaching technique spread
even more rapidly.
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| Expansion
and Diversification |
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As the
company moved into the 20th century, increased international
trade and the rise of multinational corporations stimulated
a new period of growth for Berlitz. In Europe, Latin America,
and the Far East, the demand for English soared, replacing
French as the accepted language of the business world. At
the same time, the demand for language instruction increased
in English-speaking countries as well.
In the
1950s, Berlitz opened its first Latin American language
center in Mexico,
following shortly thereafter with locations in Brazil,
Venezuela,
Argentina,
Colombia,
and Chile,
for a current total of over 50. A Tokyo
language center was established in 1968; today there are
approximately 50 Berlitz centers in Asia.
Berlitz continues to enjoy a strong presence in Europe,
with more than 126 Berlitz centers in operation today. The
North American division has more than 70 centers in the
US
and Canada.
The current number of Berlitz centers worldwide is more
than 320, and that number is certain to grow with continued
expansion into new markets.
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| A
Changing Student Body |
|
From
the founding of the company in 1878, Berlitz was geared primarily
to the needs of travelers and those studying for personal
enrichment. In the 1950s, however, it found the composition
of its student body changing. Berlitz was increasingly confronted
with business people, professionals, and technicians headed
for foreign posts and needing language skills for their new
assignments, while major corporations were seeking to enroll
large numbers of personnel - and their families - and the
first requirement was speed.
 To meet this need, Berlitz accelerated
the changeover from conventional classes to private and
small group instruction and instituted a research program
to develop new techniques of intensive instruction.
After
several years of research and testing, Berlitz created a
stir in academic circles with the introduction of its Total
Immersion(r) ("T.I.") instruction program. Total Immersion
teaches languages quickly to students with an urgent need,
such as an impending relocation overseas. The program immerses
the student in language instruction for more than eight
hours a day, for two to six weeks.
The
faster pace of learning required by students led Berlitz
to develop a new application of its basic approach to instruction.
Home study materials were introduced in 1970 to enable students
to supplement their classroom lessons through vocabulary
review and pronunciation. Today these materials include
books, cassettes, video and CD-ROM. Berlitz's curriculum
and training department continues to develop new materials
to keep pace with changing technology and student needs.
Berlitz
continues to answer changing student needs through new programs
offered in addition to traditional language center courses.
Berlitz
Study Abroad™ offers students a complete travel package
and an opportunity to study their new language in the country
where it's spoken. In 1988, Berlitz acquired the Language
Institute for EnglishTM (L.I.F.E.),
now known as ELS
Language Centers, which provides intensive English instruction,
recreational opportunities, and accommodations for foreign
students on campuses in many U.S. locations. Berlitz
Jr. offers special foreign language programs for U.S.
elementary, middle, and high school students both "on site"
at schools or camps and at Berlitz language centers. Finally,
Berlitz strengthened its offerings for the rapidly growing
cross-cultural market by acquiring Cross-Cultural Consultants
in 1994.
A significant
Berlitz achievement in 1996 was the launching of our new
franchising program. With the added strength of current
and future franchisees all over the world, Berlitz
Franchising is now poised to enter a new area of
growth into markets we have never served before.
 Berlitz has also expanded its offerings
in the translation field. In addition to traditional document
translation, Berlitz is one of the leading providers of
software localization. Berlitz Translation Services offers
its clients full production capabilities including foreign
language word processing, desktop publishing and typesetting,
graphics and layout, and a full range of audio-visual services.
Berlitz also provides interpretation services in all languages
virtually anywhere in the world. With technical and linguistic
resources around the globe, Berlitz is now one of the largest
commercial translation companies in the world.
Berlitz
Publishing enables millions of people to study independently
before a trip and to feel more comfortable once they have
arrived in a foreign land. For 25 years, Berlitz Publishing
has produced language and travel-related publications recognized
throughout the world for their quality, accuracy and ease-of-use.
Today, Berlitz publishes more than 1,000 titles in multiple
languages -- from full-scale travel guides to a European
Menu Reader, from inexpensive paperbacks to state-of-the-art
CD-ROMs. Their popular book line includes guides for both
the novice and experienced traveler as well as a comprehensive
line of home-study audio language programs based on the
world-famous Berlitz approach to learning languages.
Last
year millions of travelers around the world relied on Berlitz
travel guides and foreign language phrase books, dictionaries
and audio products. As the number of people traveling internationally,
for both business and leisure, continues to grow, Berlitz
remains committed to providing first-rate offerings for
a diverse and growing audience, through conventional as
well as new media.
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| Corporate
History |
|
After
the death of the founder, Maximilian Berlitz, in 1921, Maximilian's
son-in-law and associate, Victor Harrison, assumed responsibility
for the organization. Upon Harrison's death in 1932, control
passed briefly to Victor Harrison, Jr., who was succeeded
by Jacques Strumpen-Darrie, a man who had built an outstanding
career with Berlitz in Europe and the United States for more
than 30 years. Jacques' son Robert was to succeed his father
as president in 1953.
 In 1966, Berlitz became a subsidiary
of Macmillan, Inc. Robert Strumpen-Darrie continued as president
until his retirement in 1970. The company was then led by
Mr. Elio Boccitto through most of the 1980s.
In November
of 1988, Macmillan, Inc. was acquired by Maxwell Communication
Corporation, plc. As a consequence of Berlitz's strength
and long-term potential, Maxwell took the Company public
on December 13, 1989.
Berlitz
was subsequently acquired by Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd.
Fukutake, which underwent a recent name change, is today
known as the Benesse
Corporation. The term "Benesse" combines the Latin roots
of "bene" (meaning "good" or "well") and "esse" ("to live"
or "to be").
Benesse,
a leading Japanese publisher of correspondence courses and
other educational materials, is Berlitz's ideal partner
-- bringing substantial expertise in education, database
management, and correspondence marketing. The collaboration
began in the winter of 1990, when Benesse purchased a 20%
stake in Berlitz Japan. In February, 1993, the merger was
concluded, resulting in Benesse now owning approximately
two-thirds of Berlitz's common stock, with public shareholders
holding approximately one-third of the outstanding shares.
Berlitz's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange
under the ticker symbol BTZ.
The
combined resources of Berlitz and Benesse uniquely position
the company to provide for the language needs--instruction,
translation, and publishing--of the global marketplace.
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