More on "Voices from Other Lands"

There are over 2650 languages in the world with 7000 dialects. Out of this, the Chinese language is ranked as one of the four most time-demanding and difficult languages to learn. But this challenge doesn't seem to be preventing people all over the world from taking on the task. According to The Economist magazine, there are currently some 30 million foreigners studying the language.

This is good news for Fred Rao, the founder and CEO of eChineseLearning.com, a video-based online Chinese teaching website. With around 30 qualified Chinese teachers based in Beijing, the company can provide one-on-one lessons to anyone in the world with access to a computer and the internet. Rao started eChineseLearning in 2006, after getting his MBA from Stanford University and co-founding a Chinese social networking site.

I caught up with Fred Rao at his office earlier this week to talk about the growing global trend of learning Chinese and the business behind eChineseLearning.

www.echineselearning.com