This paper is based on an ongoing research project. Its main purpose is to demonstrate the effectiveness of adopting the project lifecycle approach to learning Project Management through an interactive multimedia system. This multimedia system, referred to as the interactive tool (or the tool) in the paper, is a flash based environment. It can be accessed from either the local storage device of a computer or the Internet under both Microsoft and Apple based operating systems. The tool follows the standard lifecycle phases of a project in teaching fundamentals of Project Management at the undergraduate level. In order to demonstrate its learning effectiveness, the tool was put to the test at three different universities in Australia, Japan and Canada. All the participants were taking Project Management as part of their studies. This combination provided the opportunity of studying participants from different learning, linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The test consisted of a specially designed workshop with customisations for each country. The main objective was to measure and gauge the learning outcome in each case. The findings confirmed that all the participants from every group achieved two main goals of learning the field; and enjoying the learning process.

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A new language can certainly provide new dimensions and outlook on life and allow one to tap into different parts of the brain. It can help an individual to understand others and oneself better; and expand the boundaries of their actual and virtual worlds. In addition, using even the very basics of a new language can establish a closer connection with the native speaker of that language. This initiative can send positive signals of acceptance, trust and interest to the native speakers. A Business professional can certainly benefit from establishment of such a positive relationship. This paper explores why and how, in particular, a Business professional should go about learning a new language. It establishes connections between language and culture. It presents innovative methods of learning a new language using the latest technologies, learning ideas and approaches. The use of emerging technologies such as those used in speech recognition are also discussed. A number of multimedia language learning environments, which encourage creativity and right brain functions are presented, analyzed and recommended.

As technology advances and innovative communication products emerge, the interaction between people, globally, changes. Therefore, technology plays a major role in influencing both language and culture. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how the speech recognition technology available on the smartphones and tablets can support language learning. The very latest and advanced features of the smartphones such as the speech recognition capabilities were utilised in experimenting with language learning. The languages included French, German, Italian, Japanese and Mandarin. In all cases, the established learning concepts such as learning by guidance were considered. This paper has demonstrated how the latest technologies such as speech recognition can be utilised to produce effective educational materials for immersive language education. It is concluded that Technology can enable a learner to simulate the learning by guidance approach in the absence of the tutor or the opportunity of being in the actual environment.

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