VIPKID，在线少儿英语教育让距离不再是问题【经济学人精讲】第250期

 

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本文选自《经济学人》2019年4月13日文章。VIPKID在线少儿英语为西方老师和中国孩子架起一座桥梁，通过网络授课，中国孩子可以享受纯北美外教，让距离不再是问题。自2013年成立以来，VIPKID已经有50万客户，每天进行18万个课程，同时也为北美的自由职业者、残疾、退休人士提供工作。

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选文精讲

Distance no object 距离不是问题

  • money/ distance is no object: 钱/距离不是问题，这是常见的英文表达。

Online tutoring works better than some might expect

在线辅导的效果比预想的要好

VIPKid connects tutors in the West with pupils in Asia, disabled people and the retired

VIPKid将西方的老师、残疾和退休人士与亚洲的学生联系起来

Apr 11th 2019

AMANDA SPIKES, aged 27, sits in her tiny bedroom in Brooklyn, New York, talking through her headset to eight-year-old Joey in Hebei province, northern China. On the wall behind her are felt hangings that read “Team Amanda” and “VIPKid”, the company for which she works. On the screen are images of her, Joey and some teaching materials.

27岁的Amanda Spikes坐在她纽约布鲁克林的小卧室里，通过耳机和中国北部省份河北省的8岁的乔伊聊天。她身后的墙上挂着“Amanda团队”和“VIPKid”(她所在的公司)。屏幕上是她、乔伊的头像和一些教材。

“Happy New Year, Joey!” says Ms Spikes, enunciating very clearly. Then she sings him a little song: “I like food, I like fruit, fruit tastes good in the morning,” and claps when Joey repeats it. This lesson is going better than the last one, when Joey messed up the technology by licking the iPad screen.

  • mess up: 弄坏

“新年快乐，乔伊!”Spikes一字一句地说，然后她为他唱了一首歌:“我喜欢食物，我喜欢水果，早上的水果味道很好。”，当乔伊重复这首歌的时候，Spikes拍手鼓励。这一课比上一课进展得更好，上一课乔伊弄坏了上课所需的技术。

VIPKid is the biggest of a number of companies using technology to provide teachers in the West for Asian children who want to learn English. Stephenie Lee, a senior product lead, describes the company as “the Uber of education…We provide the limos and the trained chauffeurs.” Its 60,000 teachers are mostly people with classroom experience who prefer the freelance life. Amanda has 10-12 regular customers and teaches five or six 25-minute lessons a day, for which she gets paid $10.50 a time.

  • limo: 豪华轿车

  • chauffeur: 司机

  • freelance life: 自由职业

VIPKid是众多公司中最大的一家，这些公司利用技术为希望学习英语的亚洲儿童提供西方教师。高级产品主管斯蒂芬妮·李将该公司描述为“教育领域的优步……我们提供豪华轿车和训练有素的司机。”该机构的6万名教师大多有课堂教学经验，更喜欢自由职业生活。Amanda有10-12名稳定学生，每天教5- 6节课，每节课25分钟，每次收费10.50美元。

Since it was founded in 2013, VIPKid has won half a million customers. It provides 180,000 lessons a day. At 140 yuan ($21) each (less for bulk purchases), these add up to revenues of over $1bn, which cover, aside from the teachers’ salaries, the costs of the platform and customer acquisition, although Ms Lee says they get most of their clients through word of mouth. VIPkid provides a curriculum and materials to help teachers “make the best of that little rectangle”, she explains. That includes digital costumes in which teachers dress up to amuse their pupils.

  • aside from: 除了

  • word of mouth: 口碑，口头宣传

自2013年成立以来，VIPKID已经有50万客户。它每天提供18万个课程，每节课140元人民币(合21美元)(团购的话价格更低)，加起来的收入超过10亿美元，除了教师工资，这些收入还要支付平台成本和获取客户的成本，尽管李老师表示，他们的大部分客户都是通过口碑获得的。VIPkid提供课程方案和素材来帮助教师“充分利用这个视频对话框”，她解释道，这包括教师们为取悦学生而精心打扮的虚拟服装。

Online tutoring works better than older people might expect. Nine-year-old Zhang Yutong in Tianjin wasn’t making much progress in her 30-strong class at school; now, says her mother, “I feel she is truly happy when she talks to VIPKid’s tutors. She is quite willing to express herself.” Yutong’s teacher, Jessica, asks her to propose an alternative ending to the gentle tale of Miss Snowball’s cat. “The cat could die,” says Yutong cheerfully, making them both laugh.

在线辅导的效果比老年人预期的要好。天津9岁的张玉彤在学校30多名学生的班级中成绩平平;现在，她的母亲说，“当她和VIPKid的老师交谈时，我觉得她真的很开心。她很愿意表达自己。玉彤的老师杰西卡让她为Miss Snowball故事中的的猫换个结局，“猫可能会死，”玉彤高兴地说，逗得他们都笑了。

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