Skill swapping is the hot new trend
Source: Xinhua |
April 15, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SKILLS, like commodities, can be traded. And that's exactly what resourceful Chinese Internet users are doing, hoping to save money and make friends.
English for piano lessons, driving for cooking... offers like that are common on many Chinese social networking websites nowadays.
Many users have reached successful deals, exchanging skills for free. They are often called "skill swappers."
On jnjhw.com, one of the leading Chinese websites providing a platform for such activity, about 50,000 offers under various categories were listed as of 9am yesterday.
Most of the registered users are students or office workers, according to Hao Yi, a 27-year-old who founded the website in 2007.
They swap diverse life skills ranging from language to cooking, driving to IT and fine arts to sports, he said.
To find a partner in their vicinity, Internet users only need to type in their desired skills and location.
Registered users of the website reached 60,000 yesterday, with a growth rate of 600 per day, Hao said.
Wang Xuyang, a student at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music, learned about this bartering from a friend who learned some French after giving piano lessons to a language teacher.
Wang considered skill-swapping a very "economical way" to advance his English after having been disappointed by a 20,000 yuan (US$3,062) commercial training course.
"I won't charge someone a cent for piano lessons if they teach me some English," said Wang, a music student.
Skill swappers say such an exchange gives people more incentives to learn in addition to social and economic benefits.
Wang Kehai, a management consultant in Beijing who's interested in skill-swapping, said it's a good way to learn.
Moreover, such exchanges give skill swappers a chance to form friendships or even become romantically involved.
Middle school student Long Qidong, 15, from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said it was convenient to make friends this way because "it's fantastic to find someone in the same city who shares your interests."
However, experts warn safety should be a top concern when meeting a stranger from the Internet.
English for piano lessons, driving for cooking... offers like that are common on many Chinese social networking websites nowadays.
Many users have reached successful deals, exchanging skills for free. They are often called "skill swappers."
On jnjhw.com, one of the leading Chinese websites providing a platform for such activity, about 50,000 offers under various categories were listed as of 9am yesterday.
Most of the registered users are students or office workers, according to Hao Yi, a 27-year-old who founded the website in 2007.
They swap diverse life skills ranging from language to cooking, driving to IT and fine arts to sports, he said.
To find a partner in their vicinity, Internet users only need to type in their desired skills and location.
Registered users of the website reached 60,000 yesterday, with a growth rate of 600 per day, Hao said.
Wang Xuyang, a student at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music, learned about this bartering from a friend who learned some French after giving piano lessons to a language teacher.
Wang considered skill-swapping a very "economical way" to advance his English after having been disappointed by a 20,000 yuan (US$3,062) commercial training course.
"I won't charge someone a cent for piano lessons if they teach me some English," said Wang, a music student.
Skill swappers say such an exchange gives people more incentives to learn in addition to social and economic benefits.
Wang Kehai, a management consultant in Beijing who's interested in skill-swapping, said it's a good way to learn.
Moreover, such exchanges give skill swappers a chance to form friendships or even become romantically involved.
Middle school student Long Qidong, 15, from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said it was convenient to make friends this way because "it's fantastic to find someone in the same city who shares your interests."
However, experts warn safety should be a top concern when meeting a stranger from the Internet.
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