Drops Announces New Product and Global Eagle Partnership in Support of Global Citizenship
LOS ANGELES, JUNE 20, 2019 — Award-winning language learning app, Drops, today announces its entry into the travel market with the launch of a new category, ‘Travel Talk,’ which includes the essential words and phrases travelers need to get around. Travelers now have a dedicated resource that bridges the gap between casual language learning and fluency, allowing them to better connect with locals and immerse themselves in the culture of their destination.
A Trillion Dollar Market
Drops also announces its partnership with Global Eagle Inc. [NASDAQ:ENT], the unique provider of the connected entertainment experience, partnering with media experts to act as a single source supplier where travel, technology and entertainment - connect.
Starting next year, Travel Talk will be accessible to airline passengers in transit, giving travelers all over the world a new way to learn and connect through language. Passengers will be able to see Travel Talk as an option while scrolling for an in-flight game or media experience.
Drops and Global Eagle have partnered with the objective of serving a simple, engaging and accessible language learning solution to a fast-growing and rapidly evolving travel market. In 2018, 2.3 billion Americans traveled for business and leisure purposes. By 2020, the United Nations Tourism Agency forecasts the number of international arrivals would reach 1.4 billion. The world grows more connected everyday and there is a growing consumer appetite for the best travel experiences enhanced by cultural immersion.
Yet a whitespace exists when it comes to learning the local language as a traveler – solutions are often time-consuming and tedious, and not relevant or easily accessible for casual language learners who just need to know the basics. Through their partnership, Drops and Global Eagle will enable travelers to better connect with the local culture, enrich their travel experiences, and become global citizens by learning the building blocks of language.
Taking travel to new heights
Travel Talk ports the trademark Drops approach – vocab-focused content taught through quick, mnemonic word games - into an even more essential and basic form. Travel Talk features over 25 languages including Korean, English, Japanese, German, French, and Castilian Spanish, with more to come.
Key features of Travel Talk:
- Accessibility: As with all Drops’ content, Travel Talk can be used with or without Wi-Fi, which is ideal for data-concerned travelers – there’s no need to carry around a bulky phrasebook or refresh Google.
- Relevancy: Travel Talk doesn’t bog you down with complex grammar or unnecessary phrases. Categories include “Meet and Greet”, “Buy and Bargain”, “Eat & Drink”, ”Staying Safe”, and more.
- User-friendly: On the surface Drops makes learning a fun game, but under the hood is a pedagogic foundation built on years of research. The app’s simplicity and accessibility keep users coming back. So whether you are a business traveler, a student studying abroad, or on a vacation, you can feel confident not only learning the basics, but enjoying the process.
Travel Talk will be available for download on iOS and Android.
Per Norén, President, Global Eagle confirmed that:
“The decision to partner with Drops was an easy one. We are continuously pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when it comes to continually improving the travel experience of our customer’s passengers. By making language learning a fun, accessible swipe-only game, Drops’ TravelTalkfits the Global Eagle ethos of taking the best-in-class, to a T. Especially where Drops offers popular tourist destination languages like Hawaiian, Icelandic, and Maori that few other apps teach. By adding Drops to our offer, we bring our passengers a completely new way to learn on the move, while increasing the connectivity of our world through language learning.”
Daniel Farkas, co-founder and CEO, Drops said:
“Words are our most important interface. They make us human and help us develop cultural awareness and empathy. Growing up in the melting pot of Europe, I often wished there was a way to spark international connections through language. As a lifelong traveler, I’ve learned that the building blocks of language – words – are the key to jumpstarting global citizenship. Through Travel Talk and our partnership with Global Eagle, we hope to scale this and achieve our goal of helping millions of people thrive in an increasingly global community. “
Drops is the fastest growing language app in the world (5x year-on-year growth) with more than 12 million users. Recently nominated for a Webby Award and named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2019, Drops is a new way to learn a language that combines beautiful, engaging word puzzles with mnemonic association. Like an online game, Drops is fast and fun and quickly becomes an integral part of your daily routine, thus making it easy to learn one or more of Drops’ 30+ languages. Drops was founded in 2015 by language and learning enthusiasts, Daniel Farkas and Mark Szulyovszky. Drops is available for free on iOS and Android, with a premium version available for $9.99 monthly, $69.99 yearly, or $159.99 for lifetime access.
Global Eagle is the only international connectivity and media content experience organization, serving consumers beyond the reach of normal telecom and cable providers, bringing a digital world of connected entertainment to the Aviation, Maritime, Enterprise and Government markets. Through its intelligent leadership, investment in innovation and comprehensive product suite, it commands an envious position as an open platform single source provider and blended solution partner. Global Eagle boasts connecting the largest domestic aviation fleet of over 700 aircraft, combining a complete entertainment streaming solution. NASDAQ listed Global Eagle has over 600 blue-chip accounts, targeting every customer as a reference and is committed to putting their customer’s user first. The company actively engages with humanitarian projects to support a better world bringing instant connectivity solutions to disaster incidents and areas of poverty.
