The Market
MARKET FOCUS
The language learning market is valued at 377 millions USD. According to the International Institute of Education, study abroad costs around $18000 USD per semester or $36000 USD per academic year.
Based on the Modern Language Association, the number of U.S. college students who study Chinese has increased from 28456 to 61055 through 1998 to 2003. Chinese language demand has risen and China has become a very popular destination for U.S. students to study abroad.
Books, language courses and apps, VR language immersion is an additional tool. VR technology brings immersion to where the learner is; there is no need to study abroad anymore. VR HelloChinese can provide the same language immersion learning opportunities at a lower cost.
TYPES OF OFFERINGS
VR HelloChinese is a virtual reality Mandarin learning app that can be used with Oculus, Cardboard VR or Samsung Gear VR.It is a subscription based fee. It is an yearly subscription of $300 USD, which includes HelloChinese and VR HelloChinese.
VR AI is designed with Artificial Intelligence characters where learners can interact with the pre-designed real- life situations practicing listening and speaking.
VR LIVE are scheduled live sessions where users can meet and participate in live virtual events. In these events, learners would meet other users and practice Mandarin. Sessions would be monitored by Mandarin Instructors to assess learner’s skills and answer any questions they have.
THE BUYER
VR HelloChinese is suitable for all type of Mandarin Chinese learners who are looking to polish their listening and speaking skills. It is designed as an interactive environment where the user can dialogue with others in real-life scenarios, improving their fluency and accuracy.
GLOBAL TARGET
Our target are learners who are learning Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language and do not have the opportunity to practice their listening and speaking skills outside of class. We aim to focus on all users who wish to be in an immersive Mandarin speaking environment and traveling abroad might not be the best option for them.
MARKET STATUS
Virtual Reality is becoming more popular, providing an immersive setting for users to personally experience the situation. Although it is not as accessible as apps, it is only matter of time for VR to become widely used. Real-life practice is what is missing when learning a language, and VR is the solution providing the user an alternative environment where the user can engage into conversation in the target language.
THE COMPETITION
Currently, Hello Chinese is one of the most downloaded gaming apps for learning Chinese. There are VR language immersion services such as Immerse me, Argotian, Altspace and Mondly. These offer several different languages. HelloChinese and VR HelloChinese only aim at one language: Mandarin Chinese.
Unlike other competitors out there, we only aim at one language. Why? We are not looking to provide the same exercises or virtual worlds in different languages. Our VR worlds are real-life scenarios that could happen when in China or in a Chinese speaking environment. Our team is composed of Mandarin Chinese instructors, voice recognition experts, UX designers, and years of experience working in the language learning industry.