Audiotronics Partnership

Audiotronics, a North Hollywood maker of audio-visual educational equipment, said it has entered a partnership with a Japanese firm that teaches English in Japan.

Glory Co., Audiotronics’ Tokyo-based partner, already runs English classes using Audiotronics’ recording systems. The joint venture agreement gives Glory exclusive right to the Audiotronics Tutorette trademark and products in Japan.

The main product will be an Audiotronics recorder that plays magnetized picture cards. The magnetized portion of the plastic cards will have the English word for the scene portrayed on the card. A student can then record his pronunciation and play it back for comparison.

The agreement also calls for Audiotronics to train tutors and for the companies to jointly develop teaching programs.

Glory promotes the classes heavily on Japanese television, and its classes are expected to expand significantly in coming years, Audiotronics said.

Audiotronics, which is publicly held, said the joint venture should bring in revenue “in the low six figures” in its first year. No further terms were disclosed.