Over the last two years, Cambridge, Mass.-based EF Education First has been making its presence known in Russia. Serving as the Official Language Services Provider for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, the local education company has educated 25,000 volunteers, judges and athletes in preparation for the Olympic games.
After serving a similar role in the 2008 Beijing Games, EF inked a contract on April 27, 2011 to provide English language training to thousands across Russia. As part of that commitment, the company developed "Winter Games English," an interactive online English school, as well as an Olympic phrasebook and a series of face-to-face seminars that were held in Sochi, Moscow and St. Petersburg, among other major Russian cities.
In June 2013, following staff and volunteer training, 700 athletes started studying English with the support of EF. And with those athletes celebrating the Opening Ceremony Friday, so will the employees behind the Olympics' Official Language Services Provider.
EF will be showing the Opening Ceremony, airing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, at the company's aptly-named bar Lingo. The bar and grill will be offering up Sochi-inspired fare, including pork shashlik, vegetable rice plov and grilled vegetables. The meal will be served alongside the "Olympic Torch," a champagne cocktail featuring orange juice and raspberry puree.
To get the team excited, EF has been giving employees the chance to pose with a real Olympic torch. Adam Bickelman, EF's director of public relations, told BostInno the company's CEO Eddie Hult ran a leg of the Olympic Torch Relay in October.
EF's participation in the Winter Olympics doesn't stop there, however. TV personality Meredith Vieira, who is co-hosting the Opening Ceremony for NBC alongside Matt Lauer, tweeted out a picture featuring EF on Tuesday:
After carrying Matt for years, he's finally carrying my luggage in Sochi! @MLauer #Sochi2014 #NBCSochi pic.twitter.com/SdjV1yesdW
— Meredith Vieira (@meredithvieira) February 4, 2014
Bickelman sent along the tweet in an email to BostInno, writing, "EF is also apparently the official sponsor of the Sochi airport luggage trolleys."
With the help of EF, it's clear everyone is ready to go for the gold.
