Project Lingo — Language is Human Capital
Applied linguistics × development economics

Language is
human capital.
We invest in it.

Project Lingo builds language competence that opens real doors — to international careers, universities abroad, and cross-cultural integration. We don’t issue test scores. We produce access.

“A professional in Lagos with C1 German has already created value. When that value doesn’t translate into opportunity, the failure is structural, not individual.”

Project Lingo — founding argument
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University pathway · Professional access · Integration programmes · Humanitarian pathway · Lingo access certificate · Domain-specific language · Real access outcomes
University pathway · Professional access · Integration programmes · Humanitarian pathway · Lingo access certificate · Domain-specific language · Real access outcomes
The founding argument
“Language competence is the most underpriced, underinvested, and undervalued asset in the global economy.”

Economists understand that human capital drives opportunity. Yet language, one of the most productive, transferable, and compounding forms of human capital, has been almost entirely ignored as an investment category. The mainstream language industry sells courses. Project Lingo builds access.

What we do

Three mandates.
One integrated system.

01

Build

We design language programmes around your specific access destination, not abstract proficiency levels. Every hour of instruction is sequenced toward a real communicative act you will need to perform: in a lecture hall, a job interview, an immigration office.

  • Task-based instruction methodology
  • Destination-calibrated curricula
  • SLA-grounded programme design
02

Certify

The Lingo Access Certificate is not a score. It is an access-ready endorsement, co-designed with partner institutions, that says: this person is ready for this specific destination. More useful to you. More credible to the institution.

  • CEFR-anchored, purpose-built assessment
  • Domain-specific performance descriptors
  • Accepted by partner universities
03

Connect

When you earn a Lingo certificate, you enter an active placement pipeline. We match you to universities with open places, employers with talent agreements, and immigration pathways with language evidence portfolios we help you build.

  • University placement pipeline
  • Employer talent matching
  • Humanitarian pathway documentation
Who it’s for

Built for the person
the system overlooked.

Programme type 01

The professional locked out of international work

You have the qualifications, the experience, the track record. The language gap between you and an international role is real — but it is not insurmountable. We build the specific professional language your target employer actually needs, then introduce you to them directly.

Programme type 02

The student who belongs at an international university

Your academic ability is not the question. The language threshold standing between you and a university place abroad is the question. We build that language, calibrated to your target institution and programme and connect you to an admissions pipeline that knows your name.

Programme type 03

The migrant or newcomer building a new life

Integration is not just about residence status. It is about being able to participate in employment, in education, in healthcare, in civic life. We build the language of participation, not just the language of survival, and we measure ourselves against your integration outcomes.

Programme type 04

The refugee whose competence is invisible to the system

Your language ability exists. The system has simply never documented it, valued it, or used it on your behalf. We build on what you have, certify it in formats that resettlement countries, universities, and humanitarian employers accept, and make the invisible visible.

Where we are

Early. Serious.
Building with intent.

Project Lingo is not a decade-old institution with thousands of alumni. We are building something that has not existed before and we are honest about where we are in that build. Here is what that means for you if you apply now.

Apply for a programme
01
Small cohorts, serious attention
Our first cohorts are deliberately small. Every learner who applies now receives direct engagement from the founding team. Not a platform, not an algorithm. You will be known, not processed.
02
Programmes built from real SLA science
The methodology is not experimental. The organisation is early. Every programme we deliver is grounded in decades of second language acquisition research and development economics evidence on what actually produces access outcomes.
03
Partner relationships in active development
We are building university and employer partnerships now. Early learners help us build those partnerships — and are first in line when they formalise. Applying now means you are part of building something, not just consuming it.
04
Cost is subsidised for first cohorts
Early cohort pricing is significantly below what Project Lingo will charge once the partner network is established. If you are ready to engage seriously, now is the most accessible moment.
Apply

Your language is
already an asset.

Tell us about yourself and where you want to go. We will respond personally within 48 hours to discuss whether Project Lingo is the right fit and what that looks like for you specifically.

Application received.

Someone from the Project Lingo team will write to you personally within 48 hours. We will read what you wrote. We will respond to what you actually said.

Thank you for trusting us with this.

We respond personally within 48 hours. No automated emails. No sales calls.

The team

The rarest combination
in the room.

LA
Love Anuforo
Founder & CEO

Former Adjunct Professor of German at Connecticut College. 13 years designing language acquisition programs across Sub-Saharan Africa and North America. Masters in German, UConn. Fluent in English, German, and Yoruba. Has a budding knowledge of French and Hausa.

FA
Funto Alade
Chief Linguist

Applied linguist specializing in second language acquisition in multilingual African contexts, with research focused on acquisition processes, language contact, and learning outcomes.

AN
Amarachi Nwachukwu
Head of Programmes

Linguist specializing in the design of language programs across Africa. Research focuses on neurolinguistics and sociolinguistics. Fluent in English, Igbo, and French.

Ideas & research

The thinking behind
the work.

Working paper · 2024

The Wage Returns to Domain-Specific Language Certification

General proficiency tests predict wages poorly. Purpose-built, domain-specific certification generates returns 2.3× higher than equivalent general proficiency scores.

Read paper →
Essay · 2024

Why the Refugee Language System Is Failing the People It Serves

UNHCR documents legal status and health. It does not document language competence — an invisible asset that could open doors to resettlement, university, and employment.

Read essay →
Research note · 2024

Access vs Achievement: Rethinking What Language Programmes Are For

The language industry optimises for test scores. Access outcomes — placements, employment, civic participation — are weakly correlated with the scores the industry is designed to produce.

Read note →