Our Values
NYC English believes in opening the world to people through English. Empowering them, connecting them and giving them the language skills and confidence to thrive in their careers and social life.
Our goal is to accelerate learning of conversational English by delivering a professional grade product that is easy-to-use, anytime, anywhere and on any device.
Looking to the future we will continue to enhance and deepen the product with leading digital learning innovations and pedagogic excellence.
Our Team
The Founder
Mark Emerson
NYC English was founded by Mark Emerson, a C Level executive, who has successfully owned and managed global digital English language companies for the past 18 years.
Emerson entered the market in 2000 as President of Ellis Inc, an English language software company he expanded globally. In 2006 he sold Ellis to the largest education company in the world, Pearson Education, who later asked Emerson to serve as VP over Global Digital English products. He grew Pearson’s Digital English division significantly and expanded it across the world.
While working in many different countries he saw first hand the need for a radical new approach to digital English language learning: one that combined the natural way people learn a language with 21st century digital technology and mobile communications. He saw that conversational English was a vital skill in an increasingly interconnected world and that confident command of spoken English was the key to people around the world having a better chance in life.
He concluded, “most people feel they can’t communicate in English but want to. I felt that they can.”
So, with this in mind, Emerson founded NYC English in 2015.
After 2 years of development the product is currently being successfully used in 14 countries and is rapidly expanding across the world. It will be globally available by the end of 2017.
Key People
Prabish Chandran
- Co-founder and CTO Vidyatech Solutions
- 20+ years of experience in developing solutions for organizations such as Microsoft, CA, IBM, AT&T, and Symantec
- Designed and developed instructional technology solutions for Reader’s Digest, Pearson Digital, and Thomson Reuters
- Bachelor of Science and Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Science
Dr. David Christiansen
- Curriculum Developer – Pearson Education
- Ph.D., Educational/Instructional Technology
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language
- Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Bilingual Education
Geoff Drayton
- Vice President Latin America Promethean Inc.
- Vice President Sales Decision One
- Bachelor of Arts University of North Carolina
Thomas Irle
- Managing Director, Educational Technologies Ltd.
- Director, Time Life Asia
- Vice President Asia Universal Music
- Masters in Business Administration, Hamburg University
Elaine Zirakian
- Pearson Education: Delivery Executive for Strategic Accounts and Senior Education Specialist
- Curriculum Dean for Language Arts and English Literature Teacher
- Master of Education (M.Ed) in Educational Leadership & Administration