At the beginning of the reform and opening up, adult English was targeted at the Chinese market, and various adult English trainings poured into the market. Yu Minhong's New Oriental and Li Yang's Crazy English were the winners of adult English training in their early years. The huge market potential of adult English has also attracted a large number of investors, such as Wall Street English, Webb English, EF English, etc.
Wall Street English, as the leader of adult English education, has opened the adult English market in many countries and regions, and has made unprecedented achievements. Now it is declared bankrupt, in an uproar.
(The picture is from Canva)
The glorious history of Wall Street English
In 1972, Li Wenhao founded Wall Street English in Italy, with more than 500 centers in 30 countries and regions around the world, helping more than 2 million people to improve their English ability. In 2000, Wall Street English entered the Chinese market in the golden age of adult English, and successively opened 71 learning centers in 11 cities to usher in the era of Wall Street. This achievement depends on these factors.
First of all, the domestic English market is relatively blank, and Chinese people also have a demand for adult English. In the early years, English education in China was not paid much attention to, and English classes in many regions were opened late or exist in name only. At the end of the 1990s, the craze for tourism, studying abroad and foreign enterprises made English very popular. Wall Street English also shone in China's adult education market.
Secondly, Wall Street English has a prominent educational style and strong adaptability of the audience. Wall Street English has an original and diversified learning method, which is taught by foreign teachers. The teaching method is flexible and the curriculum system is perfect, which can meet the needs of different age groups and groups with different English levels. Wall Street English has been successful in adult English with its own outstanding style.
Finally, Wall Street English is based on brand foundation and vigorously marketing. On the one hand, open English corners and virtual communities are used to let learners get rid of deaf and dumb English and create immersive English learning. On the other hand, in crowded places, we will relentlessly ask passers-by, recommend courses and carry out service marketing. Wall Street English seizes the adult English learning market with a strong sales driven strategy.
The success of Wall Street English is not only because of the large gap in adult English education in China, but also because of its own bright spots, which can lead the adult English market. Wall Street English cannot escape the curse of the so-called "prosperity is doomed to decline".
The era of Wall Street English came to an end
In 2021, Wall Street English will occupy the 21st year of the Chinese market, which will not only lose the glory of the industry giant, but also end in bankruptcy.
On the one hand, the epidemic brought Wall Street English education and training to a standstill, and capital ran away again. After the outbreak of the epidemic, offline education and training were impacted, and many stores of Wall Street English were unable to give normal lectures. Branches were successively closed, and a large number of layoffs were made. In July 2020, Baring Asia Investment and CITIC Capital sold the overall business of Wall Street English China. After the change of ownership again, the operating condition of Wall Street English did not improve.
On the other hand, the reputation of Wall Street English has plummeted, and the market supervision has exposed its own shortcomings. Wall Street English has experienced difficulties in refunding fees for many times, affecting brand reputation. In June this year, Wall Street English was fined 2.5 million yuan by the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau for false publicity and price fraud. The reputation of Wall Street English has declined, illegal punishment has been imposed, the self management of Wall Street English has gradually declined, and customer satisfaction has also plummeted.
The reason is that the external environment is only the trigger for the decline of Wall Street English, and improper management is the deep-seated factor that makes it difficult for Wall Street English to continue its glory.
After the implementation of the double reduction policy, the education department made great efforts to rectify K12 subject education. Adult English education was not involved. It should have become a new outlet, but became the first adult education to declare bankruptcy after the policy. Is adult English training difficult to maintain this education market?
The situation of adult English is worrying
Adult English education is generally divided into two categories: exam oriented English and practical English, which are targeted at college students and people in the workplace respectively. Since the reform and opening up, the adult English training market has witnessed a blowout growth driven by the dual engines of "studying abroad+workplace". However, with the development of the times and the popularization of Internet technology, adult English education is in a worrying situation, such as Weber Education, which declared bankruptcy in October 2019. The decline of adult English is inseparable from these factors.
First, adult English is not rigid. As practical English, adult English education is not rigid and compulsory in the environment of diversified career choices. However, college students have already acquired the ability to use basic English at school, and their demand for English is not high after entering the workplace. Adult English education has passed its golden age and is no longer eye-catching.
Second, under the influence of the epidemic situation, the demand for postgraduate study has decreased. As the main force of adult English, the number of people studying abroad has dropped sharply, the market share has continued to shrink, and the business of adult English has shrunk under the influence of the epidemic at home and abroad.
Third, the adult English market management is out of order, and the customer source is reduced. There are some problems in the adult English market, such as routine marketing, induced class selling, loan consumption, delayed refunds, etc. Adult English education has become a synonym for brainwashing and difficult rights protection, and consumers have run into difficulties in the lies of training institutions. Adult English loses the trust of customers and is difficult to get customers.
With the development of society, the adult English education market is shrinking day by day. It is full of chaos and has lost its advantages in the past, which is difficult to maintain. However, adult English is not a dead end and still has a bright future.
English training, where to go
If someone quits, someone will join. The adult English market is not lack of driving force.
On the one hand, English learning needs still exist. With the internal volume becoming more and more intense, the employment pressure of the student party is increasing, and the job anxiety of office workers is becoming more and more serious. A series of problems follow, the number of postgraduate entrance examination students is increasing rapidly, and the demand for English learning is also increasing.
On the other hand, the "double reduction" policy has boosted the earnings of adult English market. When the government calls for suspension of English training, parents will take over part of the English learning tasks of students in primary and junior high school. The demand for adult English learning is increasing gradually, which is an opportunity to revitalize adult English training.
From the learning wave after the reform and opening up, to the establishment of the concept of lifelong learning, and now to the proposal of international quality talents, adult English training has been in the limelight all the way, and it is normal to be frustrated occasionally. If institutions want to transform adult English education training or continue the glory of adult English education industry, they have to change their strategies.
first, Adult English training institutions examine their own problems, and with the determination to break a man's wrist and the courage to scrape his bones and heal his wounds, they rectify the problems and win customers with the quality of courses. secondly, Expand online training, reduce the impact of the epidemic on English teaching, and increase user viscosity by punching cards or exchanging learning points. last, In combination with K12 teaching materials and public demand, special courses are offered to broaden the training content. Although adult English training has lost its former glory, it still has great potential.
Look at the youth English training institutions that need to be transformed after the double reduction policy, such as VIPKID, 51talk, etc. It is not difficult to find that many people are still confident in adult English, and the adult English market, which is injured by the double reduction policy, still has great potential. However, from the perspective of the bankruptcy of Wall Street English, the transition from K12 English education and training to adult English education has a long way to go.
