1. How to get students from Europe to Asia?
Johan Asplund
Managing Director of
Blueberry World Wide

2. Outline
Who is Blueberry and why have we been chosen to speak on this topic?
Why do European students choose to study in Asia?
How do you get European students to choose your school in Asia?

3. Who is Blueberry
Blueberry World Wide is a Swedish agency who help young people from the Nordic countries to study and/or work abroad. We were founded in 2002 and have quickly grown to be the biggest agency in Sweden with close to 2000 students every year.

4. Our products Blueberry work with: Language travel
Colleges and universities
Volunteer work
Work and Travel / Paid work abroad
We always work with local partners: language schools, universities etc.

5. Language travel
The majority of our students go abroad to study language at one of our over 200 partner schools. We offer 15 different languages. Our Asian languages are:
Japanese
Chinese
Korean
Thai

6. Our Asian operations
We started working with language schools in Asia in Since then we have sent hundreds of students on a yearly basis to study Asian languages in Asia. Currently we work with 20 language schools and universities in Japan, China, Korea and Thailand. And we are looking for more…

7. Big in Japan
Swedish students are the biggest European nationality in Japanese language schools
We are the biggest Swedish agency for Japan with students/year which makes us the biggest European language travel agency for Japan and one of the biggest for Asia
Recently we have also experienced an increasing interest for studying Korean in Korea. Soon we will look at why…

8. This presentation
Now you know a bit more about Blueberry and why we have been invited to hold this presentation. The presentation is based on our experience with sending Swedish and Scandinavian students to the mentioned Asian countries. However I will also compare the Swedish market to the rest of Europe. We have connections with many other agencies in Europe.

9. Why do European students choose to study in Asia?
There are three primary reasons:
They are interested in the country and its culture
They do it for career purposes
They have relatives or friends living there

10. Cultural interest
This is the primary reason for most Swedish students! They are interested in the culture and to really experience and understand it they must live in the country and learn the language.
Youth and pop culture:
Manga
Movies and anime
Music e.g. K-pop
Technology

11. Career purposes
For most Europeans career purposes would be the main reason to go abroad to learn a language:
They want to study at university level and/or work in an Asian country and the first step is to learn the language
They think that knowledge of an Asian language and culture will be useful back in Europe
This is usually the main reason why European students study Chinese in China.

12. Friends and relatives in Asia
Asian friends or relatives are another reason for European students to come to Asia. For Swedish people this is especially true for Korea.
Many Swedish people have been adopted from Korea and want to go there to find out about their origin
Swedish students who study in Japan often have Koreans as classmates and get interested in Korean culture

13. The Swedish CSN-system
After High School Swedish students can get grants and loans from the government body CSN to help finance their studies for up to 240 weeks at language schools and universities in Sweden and abroad. In Asia Swedish students can get financial support from CSN if they take a language course that is 13 weeks or longer at a language school that is recognized by CSN. There should be tuition five days a week. Universities are almost always approved by CSN.

14. CSN-statistics
Swedish long term language students to Asia (13+ weeks) on CSN grants
2003-
2004
2004-
2005
2005-
2006
2006-
2007
2007-
2008
2008-
2009
2009-
2010
2010-
2011
Japan 21 51
161
268
338
445
467
473
China 59
130
234
314
379
318
294
279
Thailand 3 11 16 24 27 32 43 60
Korea 7 6 13 18 23 33

15. The difference between Swedes and other Europeans
Swedish students usually take long term language courses (13+ weeks) so they can get CSN-funding. In Asia most Swedish students study for one year. Other Europeans often take shorter courses like a month or two.
Swedish students feel they can afford to take one year just to pursue their interest. That is why cultural interest wins out over career purposes which is more important for other Europeans.
Swedish students are very dedicated to the country they are studying in. Even after March 11 most of our students decided to stay in Japan and many are still going there.

16. How to get Europeans to your Asian school?
Provide courses, information and services that appeal to Europeans.
Be visible on the European market.

17. What kind of language courses do Europeans want and need?
Most Europeans are beginners in the Asian languages.
European students have different needs than students from other Asian countries. Europeans usually need more time to learn writing Asian languages.
They want courses that teaches how to use the language in real life situations. Some Asian language schools and universities have a very academic approach to language learning focused on reading and writing. Europeans want to practice all four language skills. They want to be able to get out into the real world and talk to locals so don’t forget conversation!

18. What services do the students ask for?
European students want to get information in English. It is important to have English speaking staff who can answer questions in English, offer English confirmation letters, have the website in English etc.
They want help with booking good accommodation at a decent price.
They want spare time activities, especially in the beginning of a language course when they don’t know so many people.

19. How to get European students to find your school?
My advice is:
Work with European language travel agencies
Other options:
Get on top on Google on search phrases like ”korean language school”
Go to Europe and market your school in fairs etc.

20. Why work with an agency?
An agency is the expert on their market in their country. They can market your school much more efficiently than you can do on your own.
It is a big step for a European student to go to Asia to study. Most students want the support of a local language travel agency to make them feel secure and help them with everything before their trip. So schools who work with agencies have a big advantage.

21. What does an agency like Blueberry do for you?
We would market your school all over Sweden. On the Internet, in our brochure, on fairs and in schools.
We would answer all questions from potential students before they book a course and help them find a school and course that suits their needs.
We would help them with the application, CSN-grant, visa information, insurance, arrival information etc.
So you get help with efficient marketing and most of the administration before the course starts. In exchange agencies ask the schools for a commission of about 15-30% of the tuition fee.

22. Why pay commission to agencies?
Some Asian schools, especially universities, are reluctant to pay commission to agencies. Why should you pay commission?
Working with an agency is the only way to get a big number of students from Europe.
You save a lot of money on marketing and administration. To go on your own marketing trips to Europe would be much more costly and reach much fewer students.
Agents live on the commissions, if they provide a big service for your school it is natural to give something back, just like schools do all over the world.
You only pay for the students you receive. So no students from an agency equals no cost.

23. Thank you! Any questions?
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this presentation.
We are currently looking for more partner schools in Korea!
Find us at:
At the K conference this weekend