FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chuck McGonagle
603-262-6335
cmcgonagle@transparent.com

2007 Holiday Retail Season Surprise: Foreign-speaking Shoppers Flood US Stores

Byki.com's FREE Audio/Visual Vocabulary Downloads Provide Quick Language Learning Solution for Retailers

Nashua, N.H., December 4, 2007 - Retail analyst forecasts for the health of this year's holiday shopping season point to an unexpected X factor: the success by which American retailers can cater to foreign-speaking shoppers who have traveled to the US to take advantage of favorable currency exchange rates against the steeply devalued US dollar. For US stores across the country, these forecasts have come to life on the sales floor. A surge in organized international shopping travel tours has brought an influx of foreign-speaking shoppers from Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany, France and South Korea, among other countries, flush with cash and empty suitcases to fill with gifts.

One of the biggest challenges to retailers in 2007: how to quickly provide employees with functional foreign language competencies to keep front-line cashier transactions moving unhindered and to encourage these shoppers' business. According to Doug Killian, Director of Tourism for Mall of America (www.mallofamerica.com), "The United States is seeing a significant increase in foreign shoppers this holiday season which offers strong potential for retailers. Retailers who are able to meet their needs will be the biggest benefactors."

Meeting this type of language-based business challenge is what Byki.com, an online language learning tool, does best. Byki.com's online repository of downloadable language vocabulary tools enables a busy person to quickly master words and phrases from a foreign language that are most essential to their needs or interests. Byki (pr: BIKE-key), a now pronounced acronym for "Before You Know It", encapsulates the core benefit of the company's proven language learning method: it happens quickly. Byki.com features a robust menu of free "Starter word lists that are intuitively grouped by subject and need: including lists for "Shopping" and "Retailers"(www.byki.com/shopping) which have been highlighted on a special site page for easy access for retailers trying to accommodate the needs of their non-English speaking holiday customers.

According to Byki.com's online development director, Chuck McGonagle, the Byki website's hit rate typically spikes during the year-end, when holiday travelers are motivated to learn languages for international destinations as well as by makers of New Year's resolutions. "We monitor social trends including travel and are showcasing the Byki shopping vocabulary lists to help store managers and their staff to communicate with foreign customers," said Meiselman. "Byki presents useful words and phrases, enabling you to learn quickly and speak confidently. Plus, Byki connects you to a global community for learning and sharing language skills."

About Byki.com

Byki.com is the portal for the Byki ("Before You Know It" language learning product and language sharing community. With Byki, users can get started learning their chosen language for free, and can upgrade to a comprehensive, expanded vocabulary development suite for $39.95. Byki currently offers learning programs for 64 languages, and is continually updating this list with additional languages regardless of how remote or active it is in current cultures. Byki is part of Transparent Language, the privately-held leading developer of best-practice language learning products for the general public, corporate and international government customers.

About Transparent Language, Inc.

At Transparent Language, we leverage our expertise in technology and in the research and practice of language learning and teaching to build unique capabilities for use by US Government agencies and organizations, as well as hundreds of public libraries, thousands of schools, and millions of individuals. We care about all languages, regardless of commercial value. We believe that language technology needs to work for all courses and curricula, not just a few courses. It needs to benefit not only individuals, but entire programs. We believe that great language technology not only changes the user experience; it transforms the economics, logistics, and reliability of language learning.