Headquarted in Beijing, 51Talk employs over 3,000 people across the globe, and has set up offices in Shanghai and Wuhan in China. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Customized experience for individual users

On the 51Talk website, three mainstream courses pop up once you log in to the page. They are English Courses for Young Learners, American Academy and English Courses for Adults.

According to Huang, these three represent the core business of 51Talk. The combination of first and second ones can also be called K-12 education, which refers to the North American designation for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

From the official financial statements of 51Talk, K-12 businesses have accounted for 72 percent of the total revenue and are expected to gain a bigger market in the future.

"Students between 6 and 12 years are in the "golden age" for speaking English, as a growing number of Chinese parents realize," Huang said.

"In the online class, every course lasts 25 minutes for one-to-one users, and 45 minutes for the group class (one-to-four). Therefore, each student can attain individual user experiences through frequent interactions with their selected teachers," he added.

The online learning programs are mainly based on standards including the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), Common Core State Standards ( CCSS) and an interactive teaching model created by 51Talk.

"We are targeting at the general public. Therefore, the high performance-price ratio is one of our highlights to customers," Huang said. "The slogan for our company is to give everyone the ability to communicate with the world. "

51Talk has produced the self-made Air Class educational system to provide each user a one-stop learning platform. Students can take courses, practice, do homework and do tests in the system. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]