Leaving safe HP for unpredictable China
Introduction
I left a stable software engineering role at HP in Mountain View to start an English school in China. I was reuniting with four former colleagues from Actual Living English (ALE), a highly successful experiential-learning school we'd worked together in Taiwan a few years earlier, to bet that the same model could work at 60 times the scale, in mainland China's ESL market.
I was confident I would do well because I had:
- 5 years' experience teaching English to foreign exchange students in college
- 3 years' experience writing and improving curriculum for other teachers
- 3 years' experience studying Chinese and using it while living in Taiwan
- 6 years' experience designing and improving database and CRM systems, starting with my computer science degree and continuing through my software engineering roles in Silicon Valley
The experiential method
| Aspect | Traditional | Experiential (learn by experience) |
|---|---|---|
| Ratio | 1 teacher per 30 learners | 3 teachers per 30 learners |
| Positions | Teacher stands while learners sit | Teachers and learners gradually move around the room while speaking |
| Interaction | Teacher lectures from the front | Teachers wander through the room to observe and correct students when needed |
| Talk % | Teacher talks 60% of the class | Students talk in pairs 90% of the class; teachers explain class materials and activities |
| Venue | The same classroom every time | Different venues that relate to the class topic |
| Class length | 1 hour | 2 hours |
The calculated risk
What made it calculated rather than reckless was that we weren't testing a new idea, we were scaling a proven one.
We already knew exactly what drove ALE's success in Taiwan:
- engaging content and activities
- effective marketing plans
- a proven sales strategy
- membership acquisition and retention
- teacher quality and personality
- venue selection and negotiation
We partnered with a well-known TV personality in Asia for credibility and reach.
And we built a business plan detailed enough in its cost and revenue projections to secure seed funding for three years of operation.
The work
For three thrilling years, I worked three roles from 9 AM to 10 PM, six days per week:
- Database creator and administrator of all activities, teachers, and content
- Content creator of class activities, weekend adventures, daily SMS, and textbooks
- English teacher of all class types, student levels, and incoming teachers
The classes
Examples of our 300+ English classes (called "Mini-Adventures") include:
| Topic | Venue | Contents of 2-hour class |
|---|---|---|
| Pottery making | A mall shop that teaches pottery making | - Vocabulary and phrases related to pottery making - 1-on-1 conversations about pottery, flatware, and art - Hands-on clay molding to make objects |
| SCUBA diving | A public swimming pool | - Vocabulary and phrases related to SCUBA diving - 1-on-1 conversations about deep-sea diving and ocean life - Suiting up in a wetsuit and exploring the pool |
| Mexican culture | A Mexican restaurant | - Vocabulary and phrases related to Mexican food and culture - 1-on-1 conversations about Mexican history and culture - Eating and drinking Mexican cuisine |
| Bungee jumping | A mountain bridge over a river | - Vocabulary and phrases related to bungee jumping - 1-on-1 conversations about extreme sports - Suiting up and jumping off a bridge |
The progress
ALE's experiential learning model was a genuinely new approach that worked in Taiwan where we found immediate traction with open-minded families eager for an alternative to rote memorization. But in China, traditional learning methods were deeply ingrained. It took many months of showing the Chinese concrete examples of how our learning method works before they were open to trying. After offering them a free week to attend our classes, membership exploded.
| Year | Students | Cities (schools) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 1 |
| 2 | 500 | 2 |
| 3 | 12,000+ | 6 |
By the end of the second year, enrollment was up 400%, and students weren't just attending class––many were now planning to study at colleges in the US, UK, and Australia.
By the end of the third year, we were teaching over 12,000 students in six major cities throughout China.
The result
The biggest result I'm proud of is that many students saw dramatic gains in both English ability and confidence and that dozens of them went on to study abroad, with some earning scholarships based on how well they'd learned to speak and write English.
Our success caught the attention of another ESL school that wanted to expand its presence in China. My business partners and I chose to accept the acquisition, allowing the business to expand beyond what we could have achieved independently.