ELT World » china

China: Online English tutor is a lesson in adaptive advertising

david — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:49:00 +0000

Here’s how it goes…

“I have a regular salary,” he says, reading lines off a computer screen.

The voice-recognition software evaluates his answer: 100 per cent.

“Would you describe your work as stable?” continues Lucy.

“Yes. How long will it take you to evaluate my application?”

Another 100 per cent. Not bad.

Thrilling stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree.

In September, Speak2Me’s registered users reached one million for its interactive language lessons, and that number is growing by up to 100,000 a month. Make no mistakes, this is becoming big business.

Both the figure of a million and the projected growth are testaments to how hard it is for students to indulge in English conversation in China. Although English is compulsory in schools, many teachers of the language still have little familiarity with the spoken language.

As with everything in the 21st century, the opportunity to make a quick buck is not being missed: ‘There’s product placement opportunities within the dialogue,’ Lingo Media Corp. CEO Michael Kraft says, cheerily from atop his increasingly large stack of money.

The online ads in Kraft’s product, notes The Star, get a target demographic discussing the product, instead of just reading about it in a banner ad. Here, Kraft tells advertisers, Chinese students will learn English by discussing the brand for several minutes and associating it with the cosmopolitan, English-speaking lifestyle they crave.

Is it just me or is this a little bit scary? We’ll have a billion English speakers fluent in adspeak and little else.

Chinese monks receive English training at Shanghaiuniversity

david — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:16:49 +0000

A group of Chinese monks, most of whom hold bachelor’s and even master’s degrees, completed an eight-month English training course at a Shanghai language university Saturday and were awarded certificates.

According to XinhuaNet, the 22 monks, all from monasteries in the Chinese mainland, studied English language skills and attended Buddhism classes given in English at the Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). It was the first time in China that a university provided formal foreign language training to monks.

Read the full story…

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China: 8D World aims to teach English language through gaming

david — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:04:06 +0000

A stealthy 8D World last year looked like Age of Empires for the Asian market. It turns out, hopwever, they’re teaching English as a foreign language, with a beta product launched this month.

The 8D World product is a fantastical online virtual world called Wiz World, designed to let players interact in spoken English with computer-generated characters that correct their word choice and pronunciation. With Wiz World, Wang hopes to find a market in Asia for a product developed using Boston’s unique mix of expertise in gaming, artificial intelligence and education. Now available in China, Wiz World will expand across Asia and later to other global regions, Wang said. The fantasy setting was chosen for a cross-cultural appeal.

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Breaking a TEFL contract before starting?

david — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:04:39 +0000

Over the the ELT World forum, Naturegirl321, author of the excellent TEFL Tips blog, recently raised this issue:

‘So here’s the thing, After six years I’ve learned to have a backup plan. Something always goes wrong. For example, here are reasons I’ve backed out of contracts after I’ve signed.

1. They said that since I lived in China I would have to first be quarantineed in Thailand for 15 days before going to Taiwan. This was during SARS.

2. I was told that there were mandatory prayer sessions afterschool.

3. The school was closing because one of the partners was embezzling money.

4. Teachers decided to stay so they didn’t need me.

5. After 3 tries and 2 months, I finally got a CRC notarised by the state of IL, sent it to be notarised. My mom put it ontop of the microwave and promptly recycled it the next day.

6. After two months of waiting for my invitation letter, I decided that they were too unorganised and went with another school.

Now I’ve accepted three positions and signed three contracts. And so far, they all seem like really great schools.

Don’t get me wrong, my intention isn’t to play one school off the other and say, “well, X school offered me Y, unless you give me a higher salary, I won’t teach at your school. ”

Now obviously I can’t start at all three schools. I know that the truth is the best method, but who wants to hear that you’ve signed with other schools just in case things don’t work out?

Any ideas on how to get out of contracts without stepping on people’s toes?

Any suggestions? Feel free to comment here or join the chat on the forum.

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Chinese are Learning English the Disney Way

david — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:14:26 +0000

China: According to the Wall Street Journal, Mickey Mouse has a new job in China: teaching kids how to speak English at new schools owned by Walt Disney popping up in the bustling city. The company says the initiative is primarily about teaching language skills to children, not extending its brand in the world’s most populous nation, you’ll be relieved to hear.

To maintain the attention of children as young as two years old, there is the Disney Magic Theater, which combines functions of a computer, television and chalkboard and is the main teaching tool. Disney’s foray into English-language instruction in China comes as the niche industry is booming.

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Pearson purchases English teaching business in China

david — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:44:41 +0000

United Kingdom & China: UK publishing group Pearson is buying Wall Street English, one of China’s top English language-training companies, for $145 million (in cash) to cement its position in a critical growth market, according to Reuters. Pearson, the world’s biggest educational publisher, will combine Wall Street English’s training centres for adults in seven Chinese cities with its Longman Schools business, which it said would give it a leading position in China’s ELT market.

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Aviation English training set to 'take off'

david — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 07:08:59 +0000

First of all, sorry, that pun is so lame I’m embarrassed to have put it in the title. Now, down to important business. Do you know your autonomous integrity monitor from your airborne data link processor? What do you mean ‘no’? Well, if your knowledge of aviation tertms isn’t up to scratch, China may not be the place to move your TEFL career to the next level, as the country is set to become the next battlefield for aviation English training organisations, according to a top executive from an international language teaching school, and you know how much their opinions are worth.

‘The aviation English training market potential is massive in China given the country’s fast growing commercial aviation market.’

That quote is attributed to a Finian Connolly, CEO of Edgewater College, founded over 15 years ago in Ireland, specialising in aviation English language teaching, as featured in China Daily. If you’re initially as surprised as me to know that there’s a college specialising in aviation English language teaching, you may be dismayed at the sheer number of terms you’ll have to brush up on if you want to branch out into this field of language teaching. If you think you’re already there, click here for a nasty surprise.

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More than 600,000 ethnic Chinese to receive bilingual education

david — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:26:58 +0000

China: The latest stats from XJ education departments indicate that, up to now, over 600,000 students of ethnic minorities have received bilingual teaching in XJ, according to aboutxinjiang.com. The bilingual teaching has got access to primary school and pre-school from middle school, and the education quality improves gradually.

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The Cantonese conundrum: Hong Kong’s English

david — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:51:31 +0000

China: The Malaysian Insider reports that the long-running and often bitter row over Hong Kong’s mother-tongue policy has taken a new turn, with the government set to ease restrictions on the use of English in the classroom. Currently, only 114 of more than 400 secondary schools in Hong Kong are allowed to conduct classes in English. In a proposal submitted to lawmakers last month, about 80 more secondary schools could be given the choice to switch to English. That is a significant U-turn on the controversial policy implemented 11 years ago, which ordered these schools to use only Cantonese — the city’s mother tongue — as their medium, erasing English from their classrooms except for teaching it as a second language.

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$1 billion to widen school choice in China

david — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:21:09 +0000

China: Secondary schools will be allowed to choose the medium of instruction for various subjects from September next year, according to a HK$1 billion plan unveiled by the government yesterday. However, schools choosing to use English must ensure that 85 percent of students in a class are among the top 40 percent of students in Hong Kong.

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