Success Stories

New Heights for English Education in Japan through the ELSA App

ELSA is an AI-assisted English conversation app that leverages AI to help users improve their English pronunciation. The app already has 50 million users in 101 countries, with great reviews worldwide for its virtual pronunciation correction service that utilizes voice recognition technology and artificial intelligence.

The developer of the app, Elsa Corp., is an American EdTech company founded in Silicon Valley in 2016. Today we spoke with Shunya Tamaki, Country Manager of ELSA Corp. in Japan, on the background of the app’s development and its entry into Japan.

Establishment: 2022/11

Destination: Tokyo・Kanto

ICT
USA

Update : 2024/04

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Transcript: text for visually impaired.

Caption: Success Story: New Heights for English Education in Japan through the ELSA App

Tamaki : ELSA Speak is a company that was born in Silicon Valley, California in 2016. It initially received funding from Google's AI investment division.

Caption: Shunya Tamaki Country Manager ELSA Corp.

Narrator: ELSA Speak is an AI-assisted English conversation app used by around 50 million people from more than 100 countries worldwide. It can identify individual weaknesses with pinpoint accuracy using unique voice recognition technology. ELSA Speak fully entered the Japanese market in 2020.

Caption: Why did you choose Japan?

Tamaki : In terms of where we currently feel the most potential in the Japanese market, put simply, demand for AI seems exceptionally high in Japan compared to other countries. Before entering the Japanese market, we mainly observed the organic growth of user numbers, without actively conducting marketing activities, and organic growth in Japan was far higher than in other countries. On this basis, we decided to sink slightly more resources into BtoC and then to also assign available human resources to BtoB, aiming for full-scale entry to the Japanese market. When looking at the macro perspective of the Japanese market and the opportunities it presents, the GIGA School Program in the education sector has been particularly impactful, I believe.

Caption: GIGA School Program

Narrator: In recent years, updates have been made to national curriculum standards, leading to changes in Japanese classrooms. The GIGA School Program is a government-led initiative to provide the optimal ICT learning environment in which every student has an ICT device and schools have access to high-speed, high-capacity communication networks to further develop children's skills and abilities. With the aggressive introduction of Ed Tech in schools utilizing information and communication technologies through this initiative, AI-produced educational materials and cloud services are becoming mainstream. In an environment marked by an emphasis on responses to the world community, there is a need to familiarize students with English starting in elementary to junior high school and improve upon students' practical English ability.

Tamaki : The concept of one device per student is unparalleled when compared to other countries. Since Japan is the only country where such an infrastructure is being developed, we recognized this as a unique business opportunity. I think we may have seen this as a macroeconomic factor in our decision. In our efforts to achieve success, we were mindful of physically visiting the educational settings. We provided hands-on guidance to teachers and students who were actively using our platform. We made fixed point observations at 3 months and 6 months, collaborating closely to ensure tangible outcomes. At that time, teachers were seeking scalable solutions, and we were actively looking for AI that could serve as a personalized coach for each individual. Our solution aligned with the needs of teachers, providing the kind of AI they were searching for. The ELSA technology offered feedback at a level that felt almost human-like, contributing to increased motivation and actual improvement in students' English scores. I believe it was the combination of these factors that garnered positive evaluations.

Caption: Kumihama Junior High School, Kyotango City (Kyoto Prefecture)

Teacher :ELSA was introduced in 2022 school year, and the current students are now using it for the second year.

Caption: Statement from Teacher

Student(1) : I started attending an English cram school when I entered junior high school. Since there are various students there, we don' t get individual guidance for each person.But, ELSA Speak tells me if my pronunciation is good or bad, and I find that aspect amazing.

Caption: Statement from Students

Student(2) : Because each of us has our own tablet, we can learn various topics and words, which I find really good.

Caption: Statement from Students

Teacher :The range is truly expanding as we create our educational lessons, and I believe it is contributing to the students' learning experience.

Caption: The timing of entering the Japanese market

Tamaki : If we had entered the market before the GIGA School Program, I don't think things would have gone this smoothly. We really benefited from a macroeconomic tailwind with initiatives like GIGA School Program, and we found the right people to collaborate with to create lessons together. I believe these two factors could be a reference for companies considering the Japanese market in the future.

Telop：The door is open for success in Japan and beyond

ELSA: AI-based English Pronunciation Improvement for All

Just exactly how does the app work? The first thing ELSA does is analyze the words spoken by learners in real time. Then, it compares their speech to the pronunciation of a native speaker and determines how close the input is to correct pronunciation. This gives learners a representation of their spoken English level in terms of pronunciation, stress, intonation, fluency, vocabulary and grammar, and lets them improve their English pronunciation without taking 1 on 1 lessons in person. Through self-directed practice using ELSA's unique deep learning-based voice recognition technology, users can improve their English at their own pace.

Shunya Tamaki, Country Manager, ELSA Corp.

Tamaki explains further, "We are developing our own voice recognition AI. Using this cutting-edge technology, we measure the pronunciation of non-native speakers and score them on the naturalness of their pronunciation. ELSA allows users to take English conversation lessons as if they were sitting next to a native English-speaking teacher. Thanks to the immediate feedback provided by AI, users can improve their English pronunciation, and also greatly improve their listening comprehension."

In November 2022, Elsa Corp. established ELSA Corp. in Japan, in Tokyo. Today, sales of the app are growing at a significantly higher rate in Japan than in other countries. Although ELSA is available in many markets worldwide, their market expansion in Japan has the express focus of turning the country into ELSA’s number-one market by 2025.

ELSA’s AI-Powered Speech Analyzer

Educational Expansion, from Elementary to University, as well as Local Governments and Companies

In 2020, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology revised the National Curriculum Standards for the first time in around 10 years. Foreign language-related activities were introduced in the third and fourth grades of elementary school, and foreign languages were assigned as subjects in the fifth and sixth grades. These revisions were put in place in response to societal changes and a continued rise in globalization and the proliferation of information technology. The government aimed to comprehensively nurture Japanese students’ ability to listen, read, speak and write in a foreign language, to foster requisite communication skills by the time they graduate from high school.

Amid growing momentum for foreign language education and the notable focus on EdTech, ensuring that each student receives the amount of English language instruction they need is urgently required, and a more scalable solution is needed in the education field.

As the demand for more effective foreign language education is growing throughout the Japanese education world, ELSA’s technology that provides AI-mediated coaching based on students' English proficiency levels was a godsend.

Students who have used ELSA have been impressed with the system, with feedback including, "I can check my pronunciation and confirm what I’m doing right, and what needs improvement," and "My pronunciation is constantly improving. Speaking in English is fun now."

ELSA has also been very positively appraised by many educational professionals from elementary through university, and a partnership agreement has been concluded with Kyoto University and with the Board of Education of Kyotango City, Kyoto Prefecture. More recently, ELSA was adopted by about 40 junior high schools nationwide, and more schools are considering introducing the app for the near future.

ELSA's App Gaining Traction in Schools

"The English learning market in Japan has always been gigantic in comparison to other countries, with a value of several hundred billion yen. On top of this, the launch of the GIGA School Program in 2019 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has played a major role. The GIGA School Program is a five-year, approximately 300-billion-yen initiative to equip each student in compulsory education in Japan with a touch-screen computer, tablet or other digital device, and to install high-speed, large-capacity telecommunication networks in schools. This plan has resulted in solid basic infrastructure, and every student has their own app-ready device. This kind of environment is unique, even in global terms," says Tamaki.

The Future Appeal of Japan's EdTech Market

The Japanese government's GIGA School Program has provided ELSA Corp. in Japan with a major tailwind. A further trend that makes the Japanese market appealing is the growing importance of reskilling in Japan's human resource development sector, which is currently very common in response to the digital transformation (DX) of industries, technological innovations and business models.

This all means that the environment is becoming more favorable for further growth of EdTech companies in Japan's business-to-business market, and technology like ELSA's is forecast to be in particularly high demand.

ELSA Corp. in Japan has been steadily introducing its services to Japanese educational institutions and local governments, and has also entered into collaborations and partnerships with companies operating in the EdTech field. ELSA continues to work to expand into new arenas.

Tamaki offers further explanation: "Once your company is recognized in Japan, generating stable sales can be expected. Another major advantage of the country is the lack of major geopolitical risk. That being said, Japanese culture entails that finding your first customer when starting a business without any track record can take quite some time. In this sense, it is crucial to find that initial set of customers. Visiting sites in person and giving compelling, informative explanation about your product is key. It’s also important to find teachers who value our products and are able to act as influencers. I can’t understate the benefits of working people like this at first, before gradually bringing the product to the wider market."

In order to support ELSA's entry into the Japanese market, JETRO's Invest Japan Business Support Centers (IBSC) provided information on the Japanese EdTech market, gave consultations on registration, taxes and labor, made introductions to service providers (including HR companies, co-working spaces, tax accountant offices) and provided assistance in finding business partners and business matching.

"When we first entered the Japanese market, we faced many confusing and difficult challenges, such as labor, tax and financial matters. At that time, JETRO provided us with incredible support. Our U.S. headquarters had never hired employees in Japan before, so the wide variety of support we received, from the initial clarification of labor laws to the preparation of documents, was truly invaluable," concludes Tamaki.

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