By Surojit Chatterjee: Subscribe to Surojit's RSS feed
July 7, 2010 8:49 PM EDT
US media and entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney Co. (NYSE.DIS) is using Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to teach English to Chinese children and make learning fun. The efforts are paying off as the company has become one of the leading educational institutions in China's fast growing private English education sector that is estimated to be around $2 billion.
Learning a foreign language is tricky for anyone. Especially if the Chinese have to learn English. Hence, as part of a school program launched by Disney that aims to teach English to 150,000 children a year by 2015, the company has resorted to using popular cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to make learning English easy and fun for Chinese children.
The strategy has worked so well that Disney, which opened its first English school in Shanghai, China, two years back, is now planning to open 20 by the year end, including two in Beijing. By 2015, Disney plans to open at least 148 schools.
Speaking to Financial Times, Russell Hampton, president of Disney Publishing Worldwide, China has a large and growing middle class market with high disposable income. Hence, despite annual lessons costing as much as $2200 for 96 hours of classes, many parents are sending their children to the Disney-managed school.
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One reason the Disney school has gained in popularity is because each class has no more than 15 children - thereby allowing the teachers to focus better on the individual needs of the students - and the school uses a curriculum that's prepared by teaching professionals who have developed similar programs back in California.
Another reason is because Disney school makes learning fun, said Andrew Sugarman, head of Disney English in China. "All the content is related to a Disney property in some way," Sugarman said, adding that through plays, skits and other interactive methods, children are taught basic English words, besides learning about shapes and colors.
Disney estimates that it can earn over $100 million in the next five years from the education sector though it's a challenging market because it's a country where counterfeit Disney products, including DVDs and merchandise sell more than original ones. China, Hampton said, is a "promising market and as a company it has a high priority for us."
However, Hampton said Disney is in the education business in China not just to make money. "A side benefit is broader exposure to Chinese consumers and to build familiarity with the rich heritage of Disney storytelling," he said.
Shares of Burbank, California-based Disney closed up 4.48 percent at $33.14 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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