Online education builds strong connections between China, US

It may be challenging for Americans to teach Chinese students English online, but the experience of learning and sharing cultures with Chinese families is much more fulfilling.

This is the view shared by more than 300 teachers who gathered on Aug 9 in Dallas, Texas, in the United States, for VIPKID's second regional conference.

Founded in 2013, the Chinese online education company has hired about 60,000 native speakers in North America, mostly in the US, to teach English online mainly to children under 12. Teachers can publish schedules online based on their own time arrangements, and teach classes from wherever there is internet access.

For many of the teachers, a relationship is built not only personally, but also culturally, as they get a chance to learn more about China when teaching Chinese children English.

US teacher Joan Grabowski told that she became interested in Chinese culture and history through lessons provided by the company.

To her, teaching seven Chinese kids English is a good experience, during which she "builds personal connections with families on the other side of the world".

The online English learning service has been welcomed by Chinese parents over the past two years and is building a bridge between cultural differences by meeting demand from both China and overseas.

With a number of online English learning companies for children emerging, the number of customers is expected to reach nearly 8 million and the market value may exceed 5 billion yuan ($730 million) in 2019, according to a report by China's consulting company, iResearch, in 2017.

Besides English learning, VIPKID launched an online Chinese learning service last year, and has more than 10,000 students now, many of which are children of the company's English teaching staff.

Kris Hiwell is a good example of the bonds being forged.

A special education teacher, he was introduced to the company by his wife who had been teaching there for more than a year.

His 12-year-old son is learning Chinese through the company's program, Lingo Bus. "They say the language of the future is Mandarin and my son is learning it already," he said.

Hiwell and his wife are considering moving to China to be full-time English teachers in order to give their son a better language environment.

Kevyn Klein, VIPKID's global director of community, said that the company aims to create global citizens, both in the US and in China, by bridging the gap between the two countries.

"Kids in China are growing up seeing teachers in the US and understanding the US culture, and American teachers who have never been outside of the country before, all of a sudden, appreciate Chinese culture," she said.

Xinhua