腾讯与美国Age of Learning合作，推出ABCmouse布局少儿英语领域

Tencent is teaming up with Los Angeles-based education company Age of Learning to launch an English education program for kids in China. ABCmouse, Age of Learning’s flagship product, has been localized and will be available as a website and an iOS and Android app in China, with Tencent handling product development, marketing, sales and customer support.

腾讯正在与洛杉矶教育行业创业公司Age of Learning展开合作，推出面向中国儿童的教育项目。Age of Learning的旗舰产品ABCmouse已经在中国完成了本地化，将通过网站、iOS应用和Android应用推出。腾讯负责了产品开发、营销、销售和用户支持。

The new partnership extends Tencent’s involvement in ed-tech, which already includes a strategic investment in VIPKID, an online video tutoring platform that connects Chinese kids with English teachers and competes with QKids and Dada ABC. ABCmouse, on the other hand, uses videos, books and online activities like games, songs and stories to help kids study English.

通过此次新的合作，腾讯将进一步开拓教育科技市场。此前，腾讯已经对在线视频教育平台VIPKID进行了战略投资。VIPKID将中国儿童与国外英语教师连接在一起，竞争对手包括Qkids和Dada ABC。与此不同，ABCmouse使用视频、图书，以及游戏、唱歌和讲故事等在线活动来帮助儿童学英语。

The Chinese version of ABCmouse includes integration with Tencent’s ubiquitous messenger and online services platform WeChat, which now has more than one billion users, and its instant messaging service QQ, with 783 million monthly active users. This makes it easier for parents to sign up and pay for ABCmouse, because they can use their WeChat or QQ account and payment information. It also allows families to share kids’ English-learning progress on their news feeds or in chats. For example, Jerry Chen, Age of Learning’s president of Greater China, says parents can send video or audio recordings of their children practicing English to grandparents, who can then buy gift subscriptions with one click.

中国版ABCmouse与腾讯的微信和QQ进行了集成。微信的用户数目前已突破10亿，而QQ的月活跃用户数则为7.83亿。利用微信和QQ帐号及其中的支付信息，家长可以更方便地注册ABCmouse并完成支付。还还帮助家长在消息流或聊天中分享孩子们的英语学习进度。例如，Age of Learning大中华区总裁杰瑞.陈（Jerry Chen）指出，父母可以将孩子练习英语的视频或音频发送给他们的爷爷奶奶，而后者可以一键购买订购服务，作为礼物来赠送。

Though you probably haven’t heard of it unless you have young kids or work with elementary school-age children, Age of Learning has built a significant presence in online education since it was founded in 2007, thanks mainly to the popularity of ABCmouse in schools, public libraries and Head Start programs. Two years ago, Age of Learning hit unicorn status after raising $150 million at a $1 billion valuation from Iconiq Capital.

如果家里没有儿童，或是没有与小学阶段儿童有过交流，那么你可能没有听说过Age of Learning。实际上，该公司自2007年创立以来已经在线上教育领域建立起了强大的业务。该公司开发的ABCmouse在学校、公共图书馆和Head Start项目中都很热门。两年前，Age of Learning以10亿美元的估值融资1.5亿美元，成为了一家“独角兽”公司。当时的投资方是Iconiq Capital。

The partnership lets ABCmouse tap into a major new audience. Chen says there are more than 110 million kids between the ages of three to eight in China and the online English language learning market there is “a several billion dollar market that’s growing rapidly.” He points to a recent study by Chinese research agency Yiou Intelligence that says total spending on online English learning programs for children will be 29.41 billion RMB, or about $4.67 billion, this year, and is projected to reach 79.17 billion, or $12.6 billion, by 2022.

这一合作可以帮助ABCmouse吸引更多新用户。杰瑞.陈表示，在中国，3到8岁儿童人数超过1.1亿，而在线英语学习将成为“数十亿美元、快速增长的市场”。他指出，近期亿欧智库的研究显示，今年中国市场面向儿童的在线英语学习项目吸引的总支出将达到294.1亿元人民币，或46.7亿美元，而到2022年还将进一步增长至791.7亿元人民币，或126亿美元。

The localization of ABCmouse will extend to the design of its eponymous cartoon rodent, who has a more stylized appearance in China. Lessons include animations featuring an English teacher and students in an international school classroom and begin with listening comprehension and speaking before moving onto phonics, reading and writing. Tencent-Age of Learning products will also include speech recognition tools to help kids hone their English pronunciation.

ABCmouse的本地化也将涉及同名卡通人物的设计。在中国，这个卡通人物的形象将更加时尚。在课程的动画中，一名英语老师在国际课堂中给学生们上课，最开始是听力理解和说话，随后还将涉及拼读、阅读和写作。合作的产品还将包括语音识别工具，帮助孩子们提升英语发音水平。

In an email, Jason Chen, Tencent’s general manager of online education, said that the company “reviewed several companies through an extensive research process, and it became clear that ABCmouse had the most engaging and effective online English self-learning curriculum and content for children. Age of Learning puts learning first, and that commitment to educational excellence made them a perfect fit for our online English language learning business.”

腾讯在线教育总经理杰森.陈（Jason Chen）在电子邮件中表示，腾讯“通过广泛的研究程序调查了多家公司，很明显ABCmouse拥有最吸引人、最高效的在线英语自学课程和面向儿童的内容。Age of Learning将学习放在首位。对教学效果的专注意味着他们非常适合我们的在线英语学习业务。”