Taking English to one and all

Basic skills, business communication or facing interviews — British Council's English courses promise to make you proficient in the language.

INTERACTIVE: A Project English class in progress at the British Council, Chennai. Photo: M. Karunakaran

The recently-introduced English courses at British Council have been attracting a composite group of enthusiastic learners — from professionals to homemakers. Project English, a nation-wide initiative of British Council to train people in fluency and accuracy, has been receiving encouraging response, if one has to go by the growing numbers.

Nearly 2,200 students have completed the programme so far and the fifth batch is in progress. Three courses — English Evolution for learners who want to tune their reading, writing and speaking skills; English Executive for those looking to better their business communications; and English Impact for people facing interviews and group discussions, are covered under the project.

Each course will have four levels and a level test will be conducted to slot the participants in appropriate levels.

“We have 12 full-time teachers who have been trained by U.K.-based professionals to make the programme more interactive,” said Keshav Sreedharan, Head, Business Support, British Council.

As it is gaining popularity, Project English, which is being conducted now at Chennai and Delhi centres, will also be introduced in Kolkata shortly, he said.

Having been a teacher for over two decades, Sheila had a lot to unlearn before she joined the Project English as a teacher.

“The rigid rules of teaching in schools don't apply here. Classes here are more flexible and informal. Fluency has never been a problem with the students but they lack accuracy. We teach grammar through examples and make them learn at their pace,” she explained.

The classes have a cosmopolitan mix of Japanese, Spanish, Korean, apart from Indians, who are in the country for education and business purposes.