Proficiency in English is regarded by many Taiwanese as critically important to their career. However, few graduate from school or college with a solid grasp of the language, so demand for textbooks, tapes, evening classes, and distance-learning courses is high. According to Eric Chou, vice president of the company's Internet division, currently the majority of Justtalk's users are from Taiwan, but the site's recently launched Hong Kong unit attracted 4,000 members in its first month of operation. The Web site carries advertising, but most of Justtalk's income comes from selling courses, Chou said.
Some free courses are also available.
Students wanting to practice their speaking skills can hold simple telephone conversations with Justtalk computers equipped with voice-recognition software. Justtalk's Web site operates in Chinese, English and Japanese, and can be used by Japanese speakers wishing to learn English or Chinese, and English speakers hoping to master Chinese or Japanese, as well as Chinese-speaking students. The site will begin offering courses in French, German and Spanish next year. Studying English via the Net is relatively cheap, and convenient for those who work irregular hours or live outside the major urban areas. However, it is too early to tell if online language schools are having an impact on the popularity of radio-based courses or evening classes.