Chicago Students to Receive Free Chinese Classes

TRENDING: Humanoid Robot Maker Unitree Advances Toward $618 Million Shanghai IPO; In Depth: Huawei’s Bid to Rewrite the Rules of Chip Scaling; Chinese Chipmaker YMTC Claims 13% of $46 Billion Global NAND Market

LATEST: Tencent Opens WeChat to Handset Makers’ AI Assistants; China Launches New Reusable Rocket to Accelerate Satellite Deployment; DJI, Insta360 Lock Horns in Camera Pricing Standoff; Tencent Gains $53 Billion in Value on Reports of WeChat AI Agents; Chinese Chipmaker YMTC Claims 13% of $46 Billion Global NAND Market; China’s Robotics Funding Frenzy Picks Up; In Depth: China Arms Itself With New Legal Tools to Scruntinize Overseas Investment; Zhipu Seeks $2.2 Billion Shanghai Listing to Fuel AI Expansion; In Depth: Huawei’s Bid to Rewrite the Rules of Chip Scaling; Humanoid Robot Maker Unitree Advances Toward $618 Million Shanghai IPO; MiniMax Eyes Shanghai Listing as China AI Firms Chase Capital; China AI Developer Zhipu Hits Record $112 Billion Valuation; Luxshare Gets Lenient Antitrust Fine Over Wingtech Deal; Flying-Car Startup Volant Raises $147 Million Ahead of Potential IPO; ChangXin Clears Key Hurdle for Record STAR Market IPO; Xiaomi Slashes AI Model API Prices by 99% to Match DeepSeek; Huawei Targets 1.4-Nanometer Chip Performance by 2031 With New Design Architecture; DeepSeek Cuts Flagship AI Model Prices by 75% as Funding Round Looms; Wingtech Sues Nexperia in China, Seeking $1.2 Billion and Control of Equity; DJI Says Mass Adoption of Delivery Drones, Flying Vehicles Still on the Distant Horizon

By Noelle Mateer / Dec 17, 2018 10:47 AM / Society & Culture

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said VIPKid will offer Chicago public school students free Chinese courses. Photo: VCG

Kids at Chicago Public Schools are about to get a lot better at Mandarin.

Beijing-based online education giant VIPKid will offer public school students in Chicago free online courses as well as a “virtual pen pal program with students in China,” Chicago’s Office of the Mayor announced Thursday.

VIPKid, whose backers include basketball star Kobe Bryant, has had success among teachers in the U.S. who use the online platform to remotely tutor Chinese students in English. Now they’re flipping the script with their Mandarin-learning platform, called Lingo Bus.

More than 10,000 students at public schools in Chicago currently study Mandarin, the statement said.

Share this article

Open WeChat and scan the QR code