cuimengs "It was a wonderful experience of learning Chinese. I accidentally went into www.eChineseLearning.com , and signed up for a Skype Chinese lesson. I had a quick test over the phone first and soon after received the materials for the first lesson. Then I quickly had my own "virtual" teacher speaking clearly to me on the other side of the globe. She sat in front of a chalkboard, jotting down words that I mispronounced or used incorrectly. When I stumbled on the question, "What do Chinese people eat over the Mid Autumn festival?" she sent me a picture of yue bing or moon cakes and told a relevant moving legend. The best part is that I have the convenience of learning Chinese at home while in my pajamas."
As clipping from a foreigner's blog, the depiction describes a wonderful experience of learning Chinese on eChineseLearning, a world-famous online Chinese Language school. You must be curious about its unusual teaching method and great charm. Today we have the pleasure of having invited Ms Wang to tell about the extraordinary Chinese teaching style and the business behind eChineseLearning.
1. It has been said above that eChineseLearning provides the Chinese instruction on line. How does it work?
We use a variety of free video instant messaging software, like Skype, along with writing tablets and our self-developed teaching materials for distance instruction. Anyone from anywhere on the globe can join this service and enjoy live, one-on-one teaching from our professional teachers. In fact, it resembles a classroom setting - the student can see the teacher, interact with the native Mandarin speaker and clear the doubts instantaneously.
2. We've known that more and more high schools as well as universities in western countries started offering Chinese courses. I wonder what inspired your desire of coming back to China and taking the path of online Chinese instruction.
You've got the point that there is a great demand for Chinese instruction across all professional fields, ages, geographies and cultures. Actually, it's estimated that the rough number is about 30 million across the world. Besides, there is also a strong desire to learn within Chinese communities, but only about 80,000 can come to China to study the language with native teachers. From all these, we can clearly see the great significance of an online Chinese school. And we can also see the widely opening door to a huge market to online Chinese instruction, as even the most remote regions now have Internet access. Accordingly, I do cherish very much the opportunity of engaging in the great potential cause in eChineseLearning, the pioneer online Chinese school.
3. Well, may you tell more details about the business of eChineseLearning?
Yes. Since founded in April 2006, eChineseLearning has been offering various online one-on-one Chinese courses for individuals, including Standard Chinese for all levels, Business Chinese, Travel Chinese, Business Etiquette, and Culture training. Besides, many supplemental education programs are also provided for universities and corporations to make up for the shortage of Chinese teachers abroad. So far, the school has landed thousands of overseas students of all ages and walks of life from over 40 countries, including business owners, kids, actors, professors and professionals from corporations such as HP, Nike, Motorola, etc. And new student enrollment is still growing at a two-digit rate month-on-month. The encouraging prospect of online Chinese learning has then prompted a number of venture capitalists to approach eChineseLearning and offer investment capital. eChineseLearning also pairs with internet portals, such as Sina.com, China.com, which has millions of registered users and daily page views in North America, to launch co-brand educational channels.
4. Why can your online school grab such a sizable share of this market?
Generally, the price must be a big draw for individual and group students. eChineseLearning charges students nine dollars per hour, less than that half of the market price for the prevalent tutoring rate of $20 to $30 in most areas of USA. We further offer promotions from time to time and its five dollars per hour lures new students. However, I think the most important reason lies in its most specialized one-to-one customized teaching style. Different from the traditional teaching models, the customized courses are more flexible and interesting. We will design personalized and professional tutoring plans for our students, and then offer the tailor-made lessons due to their respective level, pace, schedule, learning style as well as their specific goals.
http://www.echineselearning.com
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