“We are offering an introduction to Chinese for everyone in Ireland who might be interested”, explained Carroll. “The service has been designed to cater for absolute beginners of the language, and literally anyone in the country can try it out for free. Lessons are short and lighthearted, and can be consumed using a computer, iPod, or smartphone (iPhone etc.).
About Ken Carroll Ken Carroll is originally from Dublin, Ireland, but has lived in China since 1996. He speaks Chinese plus four other languages. As well as Co-founding ChinesePod, Ken hosts ChinesePod’s Newbie and Elementary podcast lessons with Jenny Zhu, his native Chinese co-host. He also runs Kai En, a leading chain of Shanghai-based English language schools.
“We believe this is a good time to raise awareness in Ireland of the rich possibilities that China presents – economically, linguistically, and culturally. Hopefully, too, it will contribute to the discussion on how innovation can assist recovery from the current global economic downturn. It also dovetails with the 30th anniversary of Sino-Irish diplomatic relations.” Anyone living in Ireland can activate their free ChinesePod subscription. To do so, simply text ‘ChinesePod’ to 57199 from an Irish phone to receive a voucher code (texts cost €1 each), then visit www.chinesepod.com/ireland to complete the sign-up process. Offer ends October 31st 2009.
Ken has been invited to Dublin in September to attend the Global Economic Forum at Farmleigh in Ireland, where business leaders from around the world will discuss ways to assist in the economic recovery.
With full support from the Irish Ambassador to China, Declan Kelleher, and Xu Lin, Director of HanBan (affiliated to the Ministry of Education of China), ChinesePod is hoping to highlight this as a great chance for Irish residents to learn more about China.
About HanBan Hanban is the executive body of the Chinese Language Council International, (http://english.hanban.edu.cn/hbsm.phpa) nongovernmental and non-profit organization affiliated to the Ministry of Education of China.
About Learn Chinese in Ireland Details of the campaign can be found at www.chinesepod.com/ireland
Hanban is committed to making the Chinese language and culture teaching resources and services available to the world, to meeting the demands of overseas Chinese learners to the utmost, to contributing to the formation of a world of cultural diversity and harmony.
About ChinesePod Based in Shanghai, ChinesePod.com was founded in 2005 and was the first language learning product launched by Praxis Language Ltd. The first website to teach Mandarin Chinese through podcasting, ChinesePod now has over 250,000 users globally and an unrivalled archive of 1200+ online lessons. A free 7-day trial is available for non-Irish learners on www.chinesepod.com/ireland Further details can be found at praxislanguage.com
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