Our Mission
Olé Noé is a language learning materials company for the speech-language pathology market. We provide innovative language solutions that are based on applied linguistics and communication sciences and speech disorder research. Our mission is to help individuals with language disorders and to empower professionals and caregivers to provide the necessary support to spark and advance language acquisition. In addition, we make language learning accessible to individuals who want to master another language. With Olé Noé, you can count on meaningful materials for intuitive language learning.

Our Story
The initial idea to create language materials occurred to founder Noé Alonzo Erazo when his grandfather José Morales suffered a stroke that resulted in his loss of speech and language. It was difficult for José to receive adequate services in his native tongue because of the shortage of Spanish speaking speech language pathologists (SLPs). This need for bilingual service providers and Spanish language materials compelled Noé to study academic Spanish at the University of Houston and the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico. While earning his master’s in applied linguistics, Noé worked as a Spanish-English interpreter at a pediatric speech clinic and continued to see opportunities for Spanish and English language materials. During his time as an interpreter, Noé collaborated with more than 20 SLPs while treating hundreds of patients with language impairments. This mentorship afforded Noé the opportunity to see where he could make a difference in the development of speech language materials. Soon after, Noé went on to write Spanish and English language test items for the Listening Comprehension subtests of the Texas Kindergarten Entry Assessment (TX-KEA), a collaborative effort between the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health and Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), the U.S. Department of Education, and the Texas Education Agency. One day while driving to work at the Texas Medical Center, Noé heard an ad on KSBJ radio announcing the Houston Liftoff business plan competition. He signed up for the competition that same day and the rest is history.

Legal Formation
Olé Noé, LLC was established on Nov. 24, 2014 in Houston, Texas and was founded to develop research-based language materials. Getting the company off the ground was made possible thanks to seed capital awarded by the City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity, the Houston Public Library, and Capital One Bank on behalf of the 2014 Liftoff Houston business plan competition. Olé Noé took first place in the top product category and was awarded $10,000 to launch the business idea. Within a year, Olé Noé launched its first product, English Phonetic Symbols, at the Nov. 12, 2015 American-Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) national conference in Denver, Colorado. Noé also got the opportunity to present a session at ASHA on collaborative teamwork between SLPs and interpreters. Olé Noé is dedicated to the development of educational materials based on the findings of clinical linguistics as a branch of applied linguistics.

About the Brand
The Olé Noé brand celebrates a passion for languages through a multicultural experience. The brand name combines the interjection olé and the proper name Noé. Olé is a Spanish loanword used in English meaning bravo, which is used to express approval or joy. Noé is Latin for Noah and is used in Romance languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French. The brand name is also a testament to phonological awareness through rhyme. Both words are spelled using an acute accent mark like in café and résumé. Olé Noé strives for ingenuity, never clichés. The accent marks are used in the domain name to promote proper spelling, encourage the appropriate usage of diacritics in the English language, and support Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) as advocates of a multilingual web. The Olé Noé logo uses two leaves as the accent marks to embody the organic teaching concept of educational theorist Sylvia Ashton-Warner (1963). Ashton-Warner taught Maori children in New Zealand how to read and write by empowering them through their own worldview, experiences, feelings, interests, and age-appropriate language skills. We believe that great language materials reflect the cultural perspectives of the people who speak those languages and practice those cultures. At Olé Noé, we value language learners and their culture by designing authentic materials that are culturally and linguistically relevant.