The business reason
Hannah ran a small wine import business — 8 French + 4 Italian labels, mostly via English-speaking middlemen. Direct relationships with French + Italian growers required language. Middlemen took 15-25% markups + filtered information. Better language meant better margins + access to smaller production-house labels that didn't work with middlemen.
Why she chose Koydo over Berlitz
Hannah had taken Berlitz French years earlier — group classes, generic curriculum, plateaued at A2. Koydo offered a wine-specialist tutor (a French sommelier-turned-tutor) + a tailored curriculum focusing on wine vocabulary, regional terroir terminology, and the social register of French wine country. Italian followed 6 months later with a Tuscan tutor.
What working language unlocked
By month 12, Hannah was traveling directly to Burgundy + Champagne for tastings + relationship-building. Three new label relationships in year 1 — each with 15-25% better margins than the middleman model. By month 18, working Italian let her open her first Tuscan label directly (a small Chianti Classico producer who only worked with Italian-speaking importers). That single label generated $40K in year 1.
ROI math
Total Koydo spend over 18 months: ~$550 (Solo Learner + cascading-discount math for adding Italian). Direct revenue lift attributable to language: ~$80K in year 2 alone. ROI: roughly 145× in year 2. Hannah considers it the highest-leverage business investment she's made.
Quick answer
Hannah Sterling — French + Italian for wine work. A solo wine importer in Brooklyn added working French (Burgundy + Champagne relationships) + Italian (Tuscany + Piedmont) to her business. Within 18 months, annual French-import revenue tripled; she opened a Tuscan label that wouldn't have existed otherwise. Revenue lift (French imports): 3×; New Italian-label launch: 1; Months to working B2 in both: 18. Hannah ran a small wine import business — 8 French + 4 Italian labels, mostly via English-speaking middlemen. Direct relationships with French + Italian growers required language. Middlemen took 15-25% markups + filtered information. Better language meant better margins + access to smaller production-house labels that didn't work with middlemen. Hannah had taken Berlitz French years earlier — group classes, generic curriculum, plateaued at A2. Koydo offered a wine-specialist tutor (a French sommelier-turned-tutor) + a tailored curriculum focusing on wine vocabulary, regional terroir terminology, and the social register of French wine country. Italian followed 6 months later with a Tuscan tutor.
In their words
“Wine is a relationship business. The middlemen exist because most importers don't speak the languages. Once I could have actual conversations with growers in their language, I got access to labels that aren't on any American distribution list. The Koydo investment paid for itself in the first month of year 2.”
— Hannah Sterling · Brooklyn wine importer