Codecademy is starting to think global. The New York-based startup has translated its popular learn-to-code platform into three new languages today and formalized partnerships in five countries.
So if you speak French, Spanish or Portuguese, you can now access the Codecademy site and study all of its resources in your native language.
Codecademy teamed up with Libraries Without Borders (Bibliotheques sans Frontieres) to tackle the French translation and is now working on pilot programs that should reduce unemployment and bring programming into schools. In addition, Codecademy will be weaving its platform into Ideas Box, a humanitarian project that helps people in refugee camps and disaster zones to learn new skills. Zach Sims, CEO of Codecademy, says grants from the public and private sector in France made this collaboration possible.
The Portuguese translation was handled in partnership with The Lemann Foundation, one of the largest education foundations in Brazil. As with France, Codecademy is planning several pilots to help Brazilian speakers learn new skills. Meanwhile in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the company has been working closely with the local government on a Spanish version of its popular site.
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Codecademy isn’t expanding simply for the sake of adding new language options though. By teaming up with the Tiger Leap program in Estonia, the startup will be helping the national government in its mission to teach every K-12 student (the equivalent of kindergarten through to grade 12 in the US) how to program.
The UK government is formally introducing computer science into its educational curriculum this September. Codecademy has been advising policymakers on the implementation and today, it announced plans to open its first international office in London. Rachel Swidenbank, who has been chosen to head up the UK division, said the office should be open in a month or two.
Read Next: Codecademy leads by example, unveiling a gorgeous redesign of its ‘learn to code’ site / On a mission: How Codecademy is helping the UK government to get programming into the classroom
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