Skype is rapidly turning into the classroom of the 21st century. Aside from videophone, it also checks spelling on the digital whiteboard. London-based stand-up comedian Tommy Campbell's iPod is packed with recordings made by a mother-of-one who lives in China's southernmost province of Hainan. The two have never met, but every week they spend three hours in each other's company, as Tommy struggles to form the distinctive tones and sounds of Mandarin Chinese. Lily Huang is Tommy's Mandarin teacher. Rather than pay exorbitant prices for a UK-based face-to-face tutor or hide in the back of the class at night school, Tommy can take Lily's lessons in the comfort and privacy of his own home via the Internet, direct from China.

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