Uber Teams With Rosetta Stone On Language Learning For Drivers

Uber is partnering with Rosetta Stone to help their drivers and delivery people learn more languages for free, a company release said Thursday (July 29).

The release said Rosetta will be integrated with Uber’s Driver app and will allow drivers and delivery people the ability to use its language services to learn.

The reasoning behind the new partnership is the high numbers of immigrants working as drivers or delivery people for Uber, many of whom don’t have a complete grasp of their new language. The release cites stats that 82 percent of drivers in London and 90 percent of drivers in New York City are immigrants who “might benefit from language learning.”

Others, Uber reasons, simply might want to learn a language as a personal goal, including many drivers outside the U.S. wanting to learn English.

This also builds on other rewards like the 100 percent tuition coverage for Arizona State University for those with Uber Pro Gold status or their U.S.-based family members.

Per the release, the company was also working on developing some language content based around rideshare interactions.

“For nearly 30 years, people have turned to Rosetta Stone to express themselves and hold meaningful conversations in new languages,” said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning, the parent company of Rosetta Stone. “We’re delighted to help drivers and delivery people who work with Uber to bridge communication gaps with customers and make deeper connections with people everywhere.”

Uber said starting Thursday (July 29), drivers and delivery people will be able to request a document showing statistics of the work they’ve done for the company including “when they first signed up to use the app, the number of trips or deliveries they’ve done, their average customer rating, and top feedback.” This will give drivers and delivery people proof of their experience for situations like job applications.

Uber also recently rolled out plans to expand its grocery delivery. The service is now available in 400 cities and towns. The expansion comes after a partnership with Albertson’s Companies, adding 1,200 grocery stores to the platform.