Carlos Wizard Martins, the company's president, meeting with Sun Rongmao, consul-general of China in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Wizard's teaching system is rapidly becoming synonymous with English learning around the globe

The English language teaching business has evolved considerably over the past few years, with many new companies getting involved, and aggressively marketing their products. It is a globally competitive business.

The demand for English language classes is growing as well and that means good business for privately run companies, which are generating over $10 billion in global revenues.

Portuguese-speaking Brazil has not been immune to this demand for English learning, as its economy grows, more companies are looking for a workforce that can communicate at a global level - meaning, often, in English.

However it has also become apparent that the penetration of English into the workplace is not nearly as deep as it needs to be.

Certain observers pointed out recently that there were 8 million job vacancies in Brazil because of a lack of qualified manpower.

Now, it would not be fair to blame all those vacancies on a lack of English language skills, but it would be fair, and accurate, to say that, had the use of English been more extensive, skills and qualifications needed could have been obtained in English and transferred to the local economy.

Unfortunately, Brazil does not have full employment, yet these jobs are not filled. The obvious conclusion is that educators have a place in closing that gap.

For one man and his company, this paradox of job opportunities in the face of unemployment, is a window of opportunity. And Carlos Wizard Martins, the president of Wizard, is looking to change Brazil into a bilingual country.

Currently, only 2 percent of Brazil's people are bilingual, so it is not exactly difficult to grasp what Martins means by "window of opportunity".

Martins' catch phrase is "Speak English in 24 hours". That is the force, along with Martins' guidance and leadership, behind the expansion of Grupo Multi, a behemoth in the teaching industry, mostly thanks to mergers and acquisitions. The 24-year-old company had more than $1.4 billion in revenues in 2010, employs over 45,000 people, and is responsible for teaching over a million students a year in 3,000 locations.

New teaching era

Martins graduated from Brigham Young University, in the state of Utah, after spending seven years in the United States, and returned home to his native Brazil. He was working as a paper company executive, making some extra money from English lessons in his spare time, when he suddenly saw that he was making more from his teaching. So he veered off his career path and set up a language school that he named Wizard.

His teaching methodology was clearly appreciated by the students as they could easily see the progress they made after only a handful of classes. The same sequence of learning conversation was repeated in each lesson and his method caught on very quickly.

Naturally, there were some parallels drawn between Wizard's method and that of other, long-established companies teaching English by compact disc, and so on. But, those companies did not offer the personal and emotional links with the students that Martins employed.

"This method is popular, in the true sense of that word, because we provide classes for everybody - from housewives, children, and students to CEOs and presidents," Martins explained.

Growth opportunities

After he saw the window of opportunity, Martins naturally saw the growth potential his business offered. "People ask me how long this window will remain open, and I tell them. at least for another 50 years."

With the growth the Multi Group has achieved over the past 24 years, it, and its methodology, are on solid ground. As if to affirm that, and its professionalism, reliability and growth potential, Kinea, the alternative investment arm of Brazil's biggest private bank, Banco Itau, bought a 15-percent stake in the group, earlier this year.

While Martins knows that this $125-million investment is a stamp of approval for his 24 years of hard work, he still insists that this is just the beginning of a new future.

"Naturally, we entered into this partnership predicting that we would prepare for an IPO. This could occur in 2012 or 2013," he added.

The group has expanded aggressively in the last five years and continues to acquire more schools under its franchising agreement, making it one of the largest franchisers in the education sector worldwide.

In handling second language classes, Wizard is not limited to English - it includes Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, German, French, and Portuguese as well. So, it is expanding beyond Brazil's borders, with schools in the US, Mexico, Japan, Ireland, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom and, more importantly, in China.

Martins has said that he believes that national and international expansion will prove to be the key for Wizard in the coming years.

China's importance

Obviously, in its efforts to promote openness and an international outlook, China has to embrace English. By 2002, it had already become the world's largest English language teaching market and many employees below the age of 40 were being told to learn at least 1,000 English phrases. Clearly, that window of opportunity had opened again.

Martins knew there were opportunities in China, but it was not just the idea of the size that excited him. It would also be an exciting venture and challenge from a management point of view.

The business model used in Brazil was based on a large number of franchises, and the entrepreneur in Martins wanted to consider new models and ways to generate revenue for business in such a large market.

"It was interesting just preparing ourselves for business in China. And, since China has grown so much in recent years, it would be a mistake not to be doing business there," he commented

In explaining his methodological shift, further, he said, "In China we're launching an online English teaching platform, called WeSpeak.cn. This is a break from the model used in other countries, with physical buildings and teachers at the front of the classroom."

He continued, "We can reach many more people this way than we can if we use the same model as in other countries. It will be a challenge to offer language courses in a country the size of China so we are adapting our business model to meet China's specific needs."

China Daily

(China Daily 09/13/2011 page36)