As the organisers of the Sochi winter games gear up for 2014, the company tasked with training 70,000 staff puts its faith in online lessons

The organisers of the 2014 winter Olympics in the Russian resort city of Sochi last month appointed EF Education First, the Swiss-based language training provider, as the official supplier of language training for the event, with the task of teaching English to up to 70,000 Olympic staff, volunteers and tourist-sector workers.

Work is already under way to build stadiums and transport infrastructure from scratch in the coastal city and neighbouring alpine resort. But with the games expected to attract tens of thousands of international visitors the organisers must now ensure that language is not a final barrier to success.

English will be the lingua franca of the games, not only among officials and athletes but also on the streets of Sochi, a city that hopes to make its mark on the international tourist map. But with the 1,000-day countdown to the opening of the games in February 2014 now started, the challenge of turning everyone from trackside judges to city taxi drivers into confident users of English is daunting. Read more.

See: The Guardian.co.uk

Thanks to @PaulEdgar1 on Twitter