Qooco, already a leader in online English education, announced today the release of its Mandarin Chinese learning service.
Qooco uses voice and tone recognition technology to provide lessons in spoken Mandarin Chinese. Tom Kidd, one of the lead developers of the site (http://www.qoocochinese.com), believes that Qooco’s high tech approach to language learning is more effective than traditional options. Kidd said of Qooco’s teaching methodology, “The goal is to provide students with an interactive environment where they can actually open their mouths speak Chinese. Too often, Chinese language students spend their time with their noses jammed in a book or in passive listening activities. We try to maximize students’ on task speaking time. This helps improve students’ confidence, vocabulary retention and fluency.”
Currently, Qooco offers three levels of Chinese instruction, ranging from beginner to lower intermediate. Each level consists of approximately 30 lessons, with each lesson containing a series of interactive voice recognition lessons. (http://www.qoocochinese.com/
In addition to its core exercises, Qooco also uses tone recognition technology to help students practice the intricacies of Mandarin’s tones. Kidd said of the tone technology, “One of the hardest parts of learning Chinese is getting a handle on the tones. Our tone lessons give students a visualization of the intonation of their voice, so they can practice making the right tones at the right times.” (http://www.qoocochinese.com/
In an unusual move, Qooco also provides audio instruction free of charge. Kidd said of the pricing decision, “We believe that anything that isn’t interactive should be free. There is a lot basic information about the Chinese language that everyone should have access to.”
Kidd also stressed the company’s ability to track students’ progress and provide useful data. He said, “We keep track of every lesson users complete. Users can see exactly how they are spending their study time and where their trouble spots are.” Users can stream Qooco's audio lessons directly from the website.
In terms of pricing, Qooco currently offers basic and premium subscriptions for $10 and $30 a month. A yearlong premium subscription to Qocoo costs $240. “It ends up being a lot more inexpensive than paying for a private tutor,” argues Kidd, who believes that Qooco can provide the interactive speaking practice that so many Chinese language students seek.
Qooco is currently working on expanding its bank of audio lessons and has plans to create a variety of mobile based Chinese learning tools.
Qooco is based in Beijing, China. For further information, please visit http://www.qoocochinese.com or send an email to service@qooco.com
