ChinesePod.com – TIME.com TOP 10 Podcasts

Last month,  I found the Chinesepod.com on R/WW. I did a brief introduction here immediately, and I said: I was really impressed. I know this podcast site will be big one day. Last night, Time.com proved I was right, Chinesepod.com was ranked TOP 10 podcasts of 2006. What a nice Xmas gift (Two days late,though) for Chinesepod’s founder, Ken Carroll who now might be drinking somewhere to celebrate this ^_^. We finally see one more Chinese Web2.0 website being recognised by the global market in the end of 2006. Well Done, ChinesePod!

Teaching Chinese using the technology of podcasting, ChinesePod is part of the Hanyuwang Group which was founded in 2006 by a diverse group of entrepreneurs and academics. They are united in the belief that anyone can learn Mandarin if given the right tools and instruction. The vision of the company is therefore to play a key role in the emergence of Mandarin as a global language and create value for learners through the application of technology. The Hanyuwang Group is also the official online partner of the Hanban – China’s official Mandarin Chinese promotion agency (similar to British Council, Alliance Française, etc.).

ChinesePod was launched September 2005, has created over 400 lessons across 6 difficulty levels with daily update). It has over 30,000 registered users, over 2,500 paying customers (with average payment of 80USD) and over 150,000 monthly unique visitors. It is growing with monthly rate of 14%!.

Ken said, ‘The global demand for Mandarin instruction is way outpacing the supply of available content and trained teachers. This gap is widening is getting , particularly in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics. Only technology can create the scalability to reach learners and train teachers to meet that need. That’s our role.’

Well, that is true. ChinesePod’s achievement is partial due to its special service: teaching Foreigners the Chinese, which help it get its global recognisation. Why I found it impressive as a Chinese? If you look into the ChinessePod.com and try it, you will realise this in seconds: They combine the business idea, the technology and the web2.0 concept, perfectly!

Based in Shanghai and Beijing, with the government support and scalable business model, ChinesePod will show the world something really cool in the coming new year and 2008.

Hey, my friends, now you can learn some Chinese easily through ChinesePod.com before you move business to China.