Korean Immigrant In U.K. To Get Funding From Google For Her Non-Profit Service That Helps With Easy English Communication

29-year-old Lim Hee Jae founded a non-profit organization that aims to connect teachers, students and parents through easy English communication.

The Korean woman says she considers the idea as a "relationship-building tool" that would allow parents to play a role in the learning process of their children.

"It's a relationship-building tool that empowers parents to be real partners in their students' education," she says, as noted by Stanford Business on Aug. 21.

According to research, parents who actively engaged in the learning process of its child would have positive impacts on the child's performance. However, parents who belong to the low-income communities find it difficult to engage in schools.

Last year, Lim formalized her ideas for TalkingPoints - a multilingual web platform that allows teachers to communicate with the students' parents. After the platform was launched, teachers no longer worry on how to communicate with parents whose primary language is not English.

"2 out of 5 Californian students speak a language other than English at home. It is likely to reach similar figures nationwide by 2040," Lee says, as reported by Education Writers Association on Sep. 29. "Communication between teachers and parents is critical for student achievement. Parents need relevant, actionable information through accessible channels."

"We want to give all parents the opportunity to be involved in their child's education regardless of the language they speak or the kinds of technology they have available at home."

"We've started with communication, which is the first step in empowering teachers and families to become real partners in their children's education, as a way of reducing the achievement gap," she adds.

Lim's non-profit service became a finalist of Google Impact Challenge in Bay Area. TalkingPoints will receive $250,000 to expand the web platform all over Bay Area in California.

Meanwhile, The Chosunilbo reported on Thursday that Lim and her family moved to UK when she was still in grade school. Since then, she encountered immigrants who have problems with communicating because of the language barrier

"I frequently encountered immigrant parents with problems communicating. TalkingPoints will help students who come from immigrant families make the most out of their public school education," she says.