For Immediate Release                   Contact:        Deborah Szajngarten
                                                                Sony Electronics Inc.
                                                                Phone: 201-930-6357
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SONY EXPANDS COMMITMENT TO LANGUAGE EDUCATION WITH LAUNCH OF YEAR 2000 SONY SYMPHONY$E2 LEARNING SYSTEM GRANT

Award Recognizes Innovative Language Program and Use of Technology in Education

PARK RIDGE, N.J., Jan. 7 ­ Sony Electronics Inc. today announced the call-for-entries for its Year 2000 Sony Symphony LLC-8000A Learning System Grant.  Sony intends to award one eligible school or college with a 10-station Symphony Learning System.
For the second consecutive year, Sony will provide United States public and private schools with the opportunity to obtain top-of-the-line technological learning tools on a grant basis.  Sony's Symphony LLC 8000A Learning System allows teachers to more closely monitor each student's progress in language acquisition.  At the same time, the learning system offers each student more time to speak per class than the students would normally have without the language learning system, hence, increasing the rate and level of information absorption and retention.
"This grant enables schools with otherwise insufficient funding to take advantage of Learning System technology where they may not have that opportunity otherwise," said Ron Remschel, marketing manager of education systems for the Broadcast and Professional Company of Sony Electronics. "With school budgets growing tighter each year, it's a challenge for administrators to invest in the latest technology."
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The grant is open to all United States public and private K-12 state certified schools, schools for the disabled, and both public and private state certified colleges, in the 48 contiguous states and Alaska with foreign language programs or ESL.  Schools with existing learning systems are eligible and no purchase of any Sony systems are required. 
Sony will announce the grant recipient in May 2000.  The grant consists of a 10-station Sony Symphony Learning System with a choice of audio active student panels or Soloist' virtual digital audio recorders for ten student stations.  Installation of the system will be arranged and paid for by Sony and handled by a local authorized Sony reseller of Sony's choosing. The grant will not include the purchase of furniture, software and peripherals, or the cost of room/facility construction to house the Sony Learning System.
In 1999, Sony awarded a Sony Symphony LLC-8000A Learning System Grant to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Elementary School in Aberdeen, Md., for its unique language program. St. Joan of Arc is one of only a handful of schools in the Baltimore area with a foreign language program requirement for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. 
"We are using the Sony Symphony Language Learning system to move our Spanish classes beyond the purely academic level, to the experience of a living language," said Kathy Casey, development director for St. Joan of Arc. "We can customize our lessons such as self-monitoring activities for the advanced student or reinforcement for the less confident student."

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 The Symphony LLC-8000A System
The Symphony LLC-8000A Language Learning System is designed to increase interactivity with expanded multimedia capabilities. The Symphony LLC-8000A system provides easy component integration for random pairing and multiple student conference capability, along with audio-based functionality and a built-in video switcher. 
The system is a sophisticated, Level IV multimedia language learning system for audio-visual language classes or for utilizing computer graphics and multimedia instruction. 
Fore more information on Sony's Year 2000 Sony Symphony LLC-8000A Learning System Grant or to obtain a grant application, please visit the website www.sony.com/education or call 1-800-686 SONY.
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Editor's Note: More information about Sony products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sony.com/education, or readers may call 1-800-686-SONY. Additional press information is available at http://www.sony.com/news.

The Broadcast and Professional company of Sony Electronics is a U.S. provider of video and audio equipment for the broadcast, production, business, industrial, government, medical, and education markets.  Sony offers a wide array of products and systems for image capture, production, and display.  Sony also provides specialized equipment and systems for data recording, duplication, electronic photography/publishing, video conferencing, high definition video, interactive and security applications. Sony Electronics annual sales exceed $10.5 billion.