Hey marina, thank you so much for doing this interview with me today. I'm so excited to talk with you. No, thanks for inviting So what I want to talk to you about in this interview is basically how you learned English And then how you emigrated to the USA started your company and everything that you're doing now because I think all the information That you have in the stories you have are going to be really interesting to the subscribers I have here on this channel, so why don't you go ahead and get started by telling us where you're from? Okay, so I'm from st. Petersburg Russia. I was born and raised there and when I was 25 I moved to the United States, so English has been my passion since I was four years old because my granddad would always tell me that marina If you learn English you can do anything because you can be a singer in English you can run a company And it's like okay I need to learn English and he would always sees me he would be like okay marina translate this phrase into English And I'm like six years old I barely speak Russian like I could not do that and you would laugh at me, so that was a big trigger for me So I'm like I'm gonna study English And I started when I was four I was learning like dog and cats of course with my parents And I had to teach her and then I went to a school that is like a normal school but it has Intensive English classes and because I was so passionate about English I was chosen as one of the winners to go to the UK when I was 14 to do like an exchange program And I went to a school where Kate Middleton studies small bird college, and it's a completely different experience If you compare it to Russia so in Russia we had a school where I went in the morning And I left at like 2:00 p.m. It was like a really small building that school Melbourne College is like a whole city you have best can both fields you have IRA many buildings you how close you have the whole church And I fell in love with everything but before I fellows I also realized I do not understand people, and it doesn't matter that I've been studying English for like ten years by that time I was like I cannot understand British accent I don't understand their jokes because they grew up in a different culture, and I felt a little depressed But that was also a huge motivation for me to continue So before leaving I went to a bookstore that was internet back then didn't have it at home So I bought a lot of books. I bought a lot of magazines and When I came back to Russia. I was just you know reading them from cover to cover And I think like that trip was a trip that changed everything in my life I realized first that I don't know what speak English so we have one too. I cannot really communicate with people Second I have really weird Russian accent people don't get what I'm saying Third the world is so big and it's not just my city. It's actually a lot of places around the world where people have different Ideas different goals in their lives, and I'm like I want to connect my life with the whole world I don't want to be just in Russia I want to be everywhere and yeah, and then the next summer because I made friends with my host family I called him next time. I'm like can I come and stay with you for three weeks and surprise me They said yes, so the only thing I had to pay for was my ticket But I also realized that those trips are the best way to learn a language And then I had the same thing with my German so when I was 18 I found a school myself I went to Germany I realized the whole process is really complicated, and this is when I got an idea to start linguae trip Which is a my company? It's like a booking platform for language courses That's really interesting. How your entire story and everything you experience in life is ultimately What led you to create this company that you created and? Everything you just said in like what was it like 1 to 2 minutes was literally how many years of your life like over 20? years Right because we started when you were 4 years old and now it's like boom and then I made my company and I'm just like Wow like that's crazy, and I think when people hear it Maybe they don't understand everything that took place in between a lot of things so please Like in your first trip when you said you first went to the UK and all of a sudden you were confronted with this realization That oh my gosh, I would have been studying English for years Which is basically the story of almost everybody on my channel? They've been sending English for years, and then sometimes they go abroad or some of them haven't been abroad yet And they go oh my gosh. This is nothing like what I expected I don't understand locals and it's such a frustration for them So how did you go from I understand and comprehend English in my English classes, too Then becoming a fluent speaker like how did you make that cross over how long did it take and what did you do to become? Fluent yeah, it's a great question. I think it took maybe two trips to the UK so the first trip It was just the realization of what's going on the second trip I tried to interact as much as I could with Everyone I try to understand the accent I tried to work on my own accent because when you come somewhere like Starbucks or a cafe and you order something and somebody doesn't get you they get frustrated And I didn't want that so I tried to work on my accent as well So I think yeah it took two trips sometimes it takes longer, but because I was 14 I think her brain is so flexible when we're young So we're really open to new accents new words with German it took a little longer though that's actually something that I'm glad that you're bringing up because so many people have this idea in their mind like oh if I just Go to the US and study for six months. I will Magically like become fluent like have the level of fluency that they've been dreaming of all their life What do you think about that well? I think six months is a long period so in my case those two trips they were like two or three-week trips two years in a row so In total that's like a month and a half So I think half a year is great, but it also depends on what you're doing during those six months sometimes You're just hanging out with people from your country, or you're on skype with your family all the time And you're speaking your language in my case. I was lucky that that time nothing exists that was Skype, but again Internet was a privilege that was 2004 so I called my mom once a week I Didn't meet any rushes like there were no Russians in the place where I were so I didn't speak Russian at all and sometimes Right now. This is a problem because when we come somewhere we have this thing and this thing is all in our language There's Instagram with people speed from my narrow in my case Russia There are people from my country so when you are traveling somewhere my advice number one would be to go to a smaller town First we were talking about the US LA is a place where all of the tourists go I would coach some I don't Fort Lauderdale is one of my favorite places in Florida It's not really international. It's mostly American town, but you get the seaside and you get a nice Florida climate and then the second advice would be staying with a local family Versus staying in the residence because when you're staying in the residence you meet people from again your country when you're staying with locals You're just interacting with locals About staying with locals though because I have let's say businessmen there on this channel learning English And they're 40 years old and they have a family would they stay with locals too, or is that like? Younger people sometimes they do it depends again if you are going to London for example We have different tiers of families so you can stay in an executive home state Where you will have a separate bedroom with separate bathroom, and they would cook for you, and this is a higher level accommodation Sometimes you don't have this option like when you're going to a smaller town We just have some families there so it depends on the kind of personality we had a 78 year old who went to the UK to study English who stayed with the local family she loved it yet it really depends on The personality I guess that's awesome because sometimes people comment and they say oh Stephanie Thank you for your videos, but I'm too old to really learn English When I was studying in Germany I was studying mathematics and economics But I took an Italian classes like a side class, and we had a guy who was 75 years old He was doing his bachelors in art, and he took Italian as a side class as well I was amazed of like I want to be like him I was 75 yeah, actually I know someone who's around that age too, and she studies English and she was telling me I don't know if this is true or not but according to her It's been scientifically proven that studying languages basically helps you retain your memory longer. It's been proven Yes Because your brain stays flexible so the more you learn the more you train brain is actually a muscle so the more you train it The longer it stays active so the trips basically to the UK you said you went to the UK twice right yes I went to the UK I won later Later on when I started the company I had a chance to go to Canada as well I had a chance to go to the United States But back then my parents couldn't afford you know traveling so far and so I was relying on those scholarships so you feel like Going to those trips to the UK is sort of where you became fluent or you just became more fluent and then over the years You've been improving like right now. Do you feel like you're still working on your English and still? Every day every single day. I'm learning new phrase when I'm recording videos from my channel. I'm learning you eat hymns I'm like oh my god That's what she meant when she said that because I didn't get it back then, but yeah, I'm learning everyday But I think the biggest jump from like being intermediate not really speaking English Happened when I was in the UK that was like the biggest progress that I've had and then when I moved to the States again It's a completely different English so back, then I was just talking about studies maybe Daily stuff when I moved to the u.s.. I had to raise money from venture capitalists Who are here in the Silicon Valley, and I had to you know talk to lawyers talk to accountants And this is a completely different English. Yeah, well, you know what you had this huge goal. You're like I want to start a company and so you were using English as a tool you weren't necessarily Like everyday in the grammar books like oh, I'm just studying English. I'm studying English you're like oh my gosh I have to talk to lawyers, so you would probably research questions like which questions should I ask them? How should I ask it? What should I say or if there was vocabulary you needed you probably you know got that vocabulary on the go And then did your conversations or whatever it is and you're just sort of interacting in daily life Using English as a tool to reach this much bigger goal that you had And that's how you've been improving along the way every single day And that's that's the best thing to do right because when you are motivated to get something English like a side projects You're reaching another goal, but then it's actually easier because when you concentrate in just English you're like oh today I have to learn a hundred new words. Oh my god. That's so boring, but when you're like okay? I need to get an ova for the United States and tomorrow I have a call with a lawyer And if I don't ask this question then maybe I don't get the visa and then it's a completely different thing yeah And you have a different motivation like you said you were working on your pronunciation So I don't know maybe you were talking to yourself in front of the mirror talking while you were driving But it's not just I want to work on my pronunciation. It's I have an interview coming up I have this coming up and I want people to understand me Yeah, when we graduated from an accelerator here in Silicon Valley. I had a presentation I was in the stage in front of 700 top investors. Who invest in uber Facebook and Yeah, I had three minutes so when I had to present my company I had to be funny I had to sound natural because I was presenting an English language company so that was tough. Yes. It was a lot of rehearsing a lot of practicing But yeah, I think this is also when I improved a lot Yeah That's incredible and you know what when people study abroad and they speak English for the first time with other people I think it gives them such validation And that's what you knew because you experienced it and so you went in front of these investors to present your company so let's actually talk about that right now because I am beyond fascinated by you and by your story by what you've accomplished because This to me like I guess I could say even though you are constantly reaching new goals and constantly working towards Whatever it is that you want to do You're basically where so many people want to be you've accomplished what so many people want to do and I really truly appreciate Being able to bring you to this channel to show people what they can do because I want Non-native English speakers around the world to really know that they can use English to accomplish amazing amazing things You know they're hard workers They're smart people and I just want them to know what's possible so you were born in Russia But you used English to create this dream that you had so talk to us about your business. How did it start? How did you come up with this idea? Why was it so important to you? Thank you so much for this really know I could go on but Thanks, yes, so as I said when I went to the UK I realised that people are speaking a different kind of language is not what we learned at school and then I had the same problem with Germans so in my university they told me if you have an Upper intermediate level of German we can send you to Germany for half a year just study for free and you get a scholarship I'm like okay. I need to really pay attention to my German now, so it was like okay I'm gonna go to the school that worked for me in English so I will find us In Germany, and I went to an agency because back then like my UK trip was organized by the school I thought maybe I should hire an agent so I went to an agency and I'm asking him how much it's gonna cost me to Go to Germany for two weeks, and he's calculating the price and he said 1,300 euros and I'm like wow that's a lot I wouldn't be able to so my parents won't be able to afford it But he gave me all the brochures and I came back home And I started googling and I realised the school actually cost like 500 euros and I realized that was the Markov So I booked everything myself it took a while again because you know when you're emailing in school They don't want to reply they're really slow, but I figured it out of what my own tickets bought booked accommodation I loved the experience my level grew a lot and then when I came back home I talked to my class mates of the guy who was studying with me at the University? And I talked to him and said well the Markov is like 700 euros and actually schools pay commissions So we could work without any Markov, but then we just had this idea in mind and then my friend told me she wants to go to the UK and maybe I could find her a school and we decided just to start a company because we had this first client so we went to a Registration office where they register companies in Russia we only had $300? She was a first client. We made like $200 then we had a second client And then we run to the table in a co-working space and I was sitting so that was like a large large room I just had one table and the second thing that I had was a shelf and I could put a shelf by my table But I intentionally put it in another corner of the room so when the climbs Clients came in I stood up and went to the shelf and didn't made an impression then the whole this was ours because the average Trip was like $1000, and I couldn't just tell them he were ending a table here, so that was a funny thing yeah And then we just started so that was an office in st. Petersburg, and then we realized one to be in Moscow want to be in other cities But I hated travelling especially in winter because it's so cold And we realized this is not the way we want to grow we want to go online and we want to Grow all over the world and this is yeah. How we came up with the idea of language That was 2013 so we started coding language, but we were only able to deliver in 2015 because again We were really limited in budget the guys who engineer the coders were really expensive And then 2015 we started applying to different accelerators across the world again. That's in short meanwhile also My co-founder said we were too when we started it he had to go and find another job Because we were running out of money, so he was working in an oil company in Russia. He borrowed money from his manager and his Manager was telling him to stop because he said the idea was really stupid like sending people across Well and that going to how how's the company doing today? I think we talked the other day, and you said you have how many people working for you guys 43 now 43 and 500 interns And 500 interns and you guys are sending thousands of people around the world to study in language schools, not just English But if they want to study Spanish if they want to study Italian Italian in Italy Spanish in Spain German in Germany I mean that's phenomenal and so how many? Countries do you guys I don't know send people to our schools Oh, we have more than 400 schools, and yeah I think 26 countries because they're our top destinations like US UK Philippines Destination right now especially for Asia, they have more than 400 schools, and how does this work like let's say? I want to study Italian in Italy so I go to your website Lima trip comm and I can just look at myself Through everything you guys have there yeah, Italian language Italy then you have all of the options like in different cities you can read the reviews of students some schools are located by the beach, so you can combine your Vacation with study some schools are in Milan or Rome for example say Yeah, you decide where you want to go, and yeah, you read the reviews and you cool, and is everything combined like the accommodations Everything like that yeah accommodation course all of the registration fees Church, but it's cool The only thing that is separate is the flight because again We don't know where you are we have partners through whom you can book a flight mm-hmm. That's so awesome I imagine though that there are other ways of booking through a school directly or you can book through another company But I think I saw on your website that you guys actually have reduced fees you you were able to negotiate with the schools So that they give you students who book through you a special discount right. Yeah, so first. It's a special discount It's normal it depends on the school But is five to thirty percent off the published price because again we have a high volume of students so we're able to get individual pricing and the second thing is that you get a free cancellation period so We're trying to create as like Expedia for booking hotels We're trying to create Expedia for language schools, so we are giving students this freedom that I know sometimes plans change And if you're booking directly through school, they wouldn't allow you to cancel for free They would charge some fees But we have this period where you can just cancel the free Wow you know what I want to ask you this question That's business-related, but I almost think I know the answer so you went from Booking your own trip to booking your friend's trip to starting Renting a table and having a few clients to then going online and to now you have all these people working for you And you're worldwide as a business. It's like how do you go from that? To that you know was there some manual that told you how to do all of this Or did you just have to figure it out as you went along? You just figure it out when you work, so First like our clients asked us can I book from this country or that country? We're like oh We need to translate our website So when we realize we need to go online that was the moment when I realized I don't like to travel so Instead of traveling we can just go online and people will be able to book not from just like three or four cities Where we have offices but from all over Russia? And then when we translated into English we realize like anyone who speak English can book on a platform So I think it's all organic we also have a vision where we're going We don't have the exact like dates when we're like going online or this or that But we have a vision that we are a booking engine for those schools. See I think it's all really organic You just feel it It's like you you have the idea, and so you take a step and when you encounter problem, then you're like okay How do I solve this problem you solve it another step, then you have another problem? And I guess that's just the nature of doing business Yeah, and sometimes even clients call us and tell us hey. Why don't you do that and we're like of course? It's a great idea especially when there are like hundreds of clients calling us with the same idea, so yeah Thank you guys for for reaching out and advising us what to do. That's great awesome and to wrap it up Do you have any advice for people who are trying to improve their English or who are thinking about? Maybe studying abroad? What do you have to say to these people? First have a clear goal and maybe a due date with you when you need to present your English so for me It's always like maybe it's a trip that I'm planning or maybe it's a an exam I need to take so have a really clear goal while you're doing that and what level do you need to reach your goal? Second you also need to understand that if you want to do like master's degree or PhD or MBA There is a lot of financial aid available especially in the States, and I went through the story This is like a different part of my life when I tried to do an MBA and I was able to get into American schools With full financial aid and I think really talented people across the world they don't know about it because I didn't know about it it was just by chance that I discovered this opportunity, so Leuco financial aid as well because not everyone in this world can afford an MBA that cost like 1,100 thousand dollars, I think yeah, people are really surprised when they realize how much financial aid is available I got over five thousand dollars per semester of financial aid in college And it was simply because I looked for it You know there were other people in my situation that could have gotten that money. It's available there are donors There are literally people that you know donate $200 for this scholarship 300 for that scholarship and if you just look for them and apply for each one it's a little bit time-consuming, but hey free money, so that's awesome advice that you need to you need to be able to write a personal statement where you Talk about how important this education is for you You need to be able to pass TOEFL or IELTS and score Whatever, they're looking for in that university so English is very important in this process absolutely well Thank you again So much marina and for everybody that watched this video you guys please go subscribe on her channel because this what you saw here was a little taste of what she offers I watch her videos all the I Remember religiously, and you talked about how you got your visa how you started your company How you improved your english goal-setting? I don't know productivity hacks You talked about all of this stuff and more so Thank you for providing such a great resource for everyone and please keep doing what you're doing so I think you're creating something really awesome Thank you. Thank you so much for you're talking to you. No problem take care Good bye
