Giant panda makes use of her English language skills

Among many overseas returnees, a giant panda hogged the limelight after it received an invitation to be a mascot for VIPKID, an online person-to-person English learning platform for Chinese children, on Aug. 16.

Meilun, one of the returned twin pandas, born in the United States, will become the mascot for VIPKID's online person-to-person English learning platform.

Meilun, one of the returned twin pandas, was born in July, 2013 with her sister Meihuan, in Atlanta, the United States. They arrived at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (CRBGPB) in November 2016, following quarantine.

VIPKID and the CRBGPB signed an agreement on Aug. 16, to roll out a series of open classes about pandas for 500,000 registered students, showcasing the communication between Meilun and the language teachers hired from English-speaking countries.

During the past two years, the twin pandas have been adapting to their new environment, as they are more used to the English language than Chinese – even less the Sichuan dialect. But, by taking advantage of Meilun's overseas background, VIPKID found a business opportunity for the panda to be a mascot and spice up the one-to-one English teaching classes.

"We appreciate this precious opportunity to meet and extend our friendship and love to Meilun and that's why we chose to adopt it," said Xu Zhe, special assistant to the CEO at VIPKID.