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KUMON IS LAUNCHING an English as a foreign language (EFL) programme in Hong Kong this year as an alternative to its English reading programme (ERP), which teaches advanced reading comprehension skills to native speakers.

The EFL programme was designed in Japan, and 11 centres in Hong Kong have been test-running it since last June.

Half of the centres in Hong Kong will start using the new programme this month  and the rest will start in March. Centres in Thailand and Shanghai ran it last year.

Kumon language instructional information team assistant manager Shirley Poon said many students found the ERP programme too difficult.

'English is a second language for most students in Hong Kong. Their schools use Chinese, they speak Cantonese at home and they don't read many English books,' she said.

As a result, many found the ERP exercises difficult to understand, she said.

'The ERP exercises expect students to learn how to write summaries, appreciate classical literature and critique articles. They struggle and can't study these with ease,' she said.

The new EFL programme aims to train students to understand standard written English through reading and listening. The programme includes daily expressions, word order and grammar, which are not included in the ERP programme.

The new programme teaches fewer words but repeats them many times in different forms to ensure that students learn them. The programme provides CDs for students to listen to.

Students also learn simple phonics to help them spell English words.

The programme targets younger students because only the early levels of the curriculum have been completed. Levels 7A to F are ready in Hong Kong and Kumon Hong Kong is translating levels G to I. Kumon aims to develop the programme to level O, which will make a total of 21 levels of study.

Ms Poon said the EFL and the ERP programmes were not designed to be interchangeable.

'We will advise parents which one their children should enrol in according to their family background, school and assessment test results. Students can enrol in the ERP programme after completing the EFL programme,' she said.

Josephine Chiu Hang-yee, an instructor at one of the 11 centres that tested the EFL programme last year, said some parents were initially worried when she introduced it.

'They didn't want their children to get into an easier programme at first,' she said. 'But then I convinced them that children cannot learn too many things at one time. Appropriate programmes can help their children learn more.

'Children can learn good and simple English as a foundation and then enrol in the ERP programme to advance their skills.'

She said that the programme was now well-received by parents.

'The response of parents is very positive. The EFL programme is not easier than the ERP programme - they just have different approaches.

'The EFL programme is well-designed. A lot of students understand more about the words and sentences so they are much happier learning.'



Programme aims to make learning English much easier