Narda Pitkethly of Nardagani Tells Us How She Adapted to the Japanese System to English

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Narda Pitkethly: I had Covid19 in early March. I did not know I had it until I realized I’d lost my sense of smell. No one else in my family has had Covid19, and we are all cautious.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Nardagani.

Narda Pitkethly: As you learn from my TEDx Talk, when my daughter was a challenged reader, in my 30s, I decided to adapt to the Japanese system to English, so people could learn to read English in a week. I’ve been developing Nardagani for many years. The most recent improvement has been to digitize the program, so I teach people to read, while a facilitator (only for younger students this is needed) does the exercises, plays the games and reads the books with the students. 

How does Nardagani innovate?

Narda Pitkethly: We continue to make improvements to our program as needed. I love to make improvements anytime we see how we can make our program easier to use.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Narda Pitkethly: We used to teach more students in person, but because our program is online, we made an easy switch to teaching remotely when necessary.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Narda Pitkethly: The most difficult choice was to include Teacher Training with our program. We could have probably made more money with a separate cost for the Teacher Training, but our desire is always to make our program easy and inexpensive. We have learned that nearly anyone can be a tutor for students and adults can teach themselves to read English solo. It is very exciting. Another difficult choice is the cost of the program. People tell us it is too inexpensive and we ought to raise our price. But at this price, more people can learn to read.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? How do you project yourself and Nardagani in the future?

Narda Pitkethly: The way I deal with stress and anxiety is to meditate and to keep my thoughts optimistic. I also get outside in nature when possible, and hike/walk to get my heartrate up, this helps my stress and anxiety.

We have sold our program to individuals in 47 countries. We would like to have our program in schools, detention facilities and many institutions.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Narda Pitkethly: Our competitors are reading programs. Literacy is a real problem in the world. Our program is 96% successful, which is much higher than any other reading program on the market.

Your final thoughts?

Narda Pitkethly: Please watch my TEDx Talk.

The reaction of Sven at the end, his surprise and joy are typical for our students of any age and any background.

Your Website?

www.nardagani.com. 

www.read.nardagani.com