Educational Startup Zenius Launches Korean Language Learning Program

Educational startup Zenius launches a South Korean language learning program. This is because of the high interest of the Indonesian people to learn Korean. Zenius CEO Rohan Monga said learning Korean refers to a book-based curriculum, namely “Learn! KOREAN with BTS”.

This curriculum was developed directly by the South Korean educational platform HYBE EDU. HYBE EDU designs a curriculum that forms an interactive and two-way training session.

The curriculum design also provides opportunities for fans to learn basic Hangeul and Korean culture. Through the curriculum, users can hear and imitate everyday expressions that are often used by South Korean celebrities, BTS.

The learning program is present in the Zenius Live feature which includes live classes by local tutors and native speakers from South Korea. Monga said that Zenius brings qualified tutors who have experience teaching Korean.

Through the new program, users will get bundle book and live class packages. One batch of live classes will last for six weeks with a total of 24 hours of lessons to cover one book in full.

User Reaccessible Live Material

All live class material will also be recorded so that it can be accessed again by users. Users will also get an electronic pen or ‘MotiPen’ that can talk.

This is so that users can practice pronunciation through audio voiced directly by the seven favorite BTS members. Monga said that Zenius made a Korean language learning program in Indonesia because the demand was large.

“The interest in Korean is increasing. Zenius wants to provide a platform for an effective but fun learning model for anyone,” said Monga in a press release, Monday (13/12).

According to him, the number of Korean language enthusiasts is in line with the wave of popularity of Korean culture or Hallyu which is widespread in many countries, including Indonesia.

The Duolingo language app has more than 7.9 million active users who are learning the South Korean language. Korean is also the language with the fastest growth in student numbers after Hindi.

The Korean Language and Culture study program at the University of Indonesia (UI) also recorded a surge in student interest. As a result, this study program has become the most popular second language program after English Literature.

Previously Launched Zenpro Service

Two weeks ago, the educational startup also launched a new service called ZenPro. This service is aimed at developing or further qualifying for small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and professionals.

Monga said that for MSMEs, services of Zenpro are able to provide a foundation of skills in starting their own business. As for professionals, it’s able to encourage the sharpening of skills and the addition of new skills.

Over the past year, Zenius had 15.7 users. This number of users grew more than 10 times during March to December 2020. While user retention reached more than 90%.

Zenius aims to attract 30 million users in the country. To achieve this goal, the company is focused on improving quality of service. 

“Zenius continues to innovate and deliver innovative services and products to meet Indonesian education challenges, and last year,” Zenius Education Sabda PS co-founder and chief education officer said. 

Educational startups received pre-Series B funding from OpenSpace Ventures and AlphaJWCVentures earlier this year. These fresh funds are used to develop services and applications.

CEO of Zenius Rohan Monga said the company currently has more than 20 million users. As for the fourth quarter/2020 Zenius has 256 employees, while in the final quarter of this year the number has increased to 850 people.

This year, he continued, Zenius succeeded in launching a personalized learning feature through ZenCore. Launched last July, ZenCore allows users to practice fundamental skills in three areas, namely Mathematics, English, and verbal logic. Until now, ZenCore has been used by more than 230,000 users.