Chinese language market taps into cloud technology

More advanced information technologies are scrambling to keep up with the growing number of Chinese language learners worldwide.

Tang Chinese Education, a Beijing-based company that provides services to Chinese language learners, recently came up with a "cloud platform" for teachers and students.

"We gathered as many worldwide online resources on teaching and learning the Chinese language as possible, and categorized them in a specific sequence with different labels so that teachers and learners can find what they want easily," company founder Li Jinsong said.

Founded in 2006, Tang CE's business now covers learners from more than 10 European, Asian and American countries.

Apart from gathering and categorizing public online resources, Tang CE also produced its own teaching and learning resources, including 18,000 instructional videos.

"We did so hoping that the platform could save time and energy for teaching and learning and improve efficiency," Li said, adding that the platform has now been used in 15 Confucius Institutes in the Republic of Korea and 10 domestic universities.

The platform is also connected with a mobile learning system, which was also developed by the company, and enables learners to study "anytime and anywhere", Li said.

With a smartphone, students can consult a page of a Chinese language textbook whenever they encounter learning difficulties. The system will then recognize the page and provide some guidance, including pronunciation and learning tips.

"The learners can follow the system to pronounce words or practice lessons, and it will track their progress and make suggestions accordingly," Li said. "Our purpose is to make the teaching and learning of the Chinese language convenient, efficient and intelligent."

In 2009, Tang CE received permission from the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) to hold the Internet-based test of the HSK, a Hanban test for foreign learners' Chinese proficiency.

Tang CE seized the opportunity and established an online test and assessment system that provides after-class practice, HSK practice tests and after-test analysis, which is also part of its cloud platform.

"The system is popular in some countries. In the ROK alone, it has more than 100,000 users," Li said.

Also in 2009, the company established an online training base, together with Central China Normal University in Hubei province, to help Chinese language teachers from around the world teach using Tang CE's advanced technologies.

By now, more than 700 teachers from home and abroad have received the training.

Li believes prospects are bright for his business, given the increasing number of Chinese language learners.

In 2004, there were 30 million people worldwide studying the language. The number has climbed to 100 million, industry figures show.

"In the ROK alone, there are 2.5 million Chinese language learners, and 70 percent of them choose to pay for themselves and study at Chinese language training centers. What about the rest of the world? There will be a huge market," Li said.