Learning a foreign language is a big challenge to many Chinese youth, which is understandable because besides Mandarin or Cantonese being so radically different from English or Spanish, they use characters while many foreign languages use letters.
However, accidental English-language tutor Malik found that he could make learning the language fun for Chinese learners by using viral videos. His videos becoming viral actually was the accidental part, reported Global Times.
A Chinese financial student in New York, Malik posted his first video on Jan. 19 showing him imitating various American accents. He posted it on Sina Weibo that night and told some friends about the video, to wake up the next morning and find he was an internet sensation.
From two followers the night before, he had 500 in the morning and 300,000 views. That week, his followers grew to 100,000, now about 243,000.
Because his first video become viral, Malik studied the work of other Chinese video bloggers and came to the conclusion he should not engage solely in monologues for his niche, 16- to 25-year-olds who want to score high on the College English Test or enroll in a school overseas. He touched on light topics that would interest the young viewers, such as life overseas and cultural differences between the U.S. and China, which convey messages.
Seeing how he could influence had Malik rethink his career path from finance to teaching English. Because many Chinese student are frustrated about learning English, Malik pointed out, “Instead of standing there teaching the pronunciation or the usage of different words and terms, they might include cultural factors and fun elements [in the video].”
For Cindy Mi of Hebei Province, now the CEO of VIPKID, her method involves pairing Chinese students with native English speakers who tailor instructions to meet the individual needs of students. She uses video conferencing technology by tapping 2,000 English teachers from the U.S. and Canada to tutor Chinese students. The Skype-like setting allows the student and teacher to draw on the same PowerPoint slide, facilitating learning.
The market is large. In 2015, more than half a million Chinese students went overseas to study, a 14 percent hike from 2014 figures, according to China’s Ministry of Education.