Education brand opens new chapter in English learning

An English education brand launched new products in Beijing on Wednesday that the company claimed would sharpen students' reasoning and thinking abilities while learning the language.

Xueersi English, affiliated with leading K-12 after-school tutoring services provider TAL Education Group, released Hello English Plus, a new series of curricula targeting primary school students in China.

Wu Xiaowei, director of Xueersi English, said at the launch ceremony of the curricula that the new books emphasize cultivating children's thinking ability, in response to parents' demands for better teaching methods and approach to learning English.

"Instead of learning solely the language, an increasing number of Chinese parents hope that their children's thinking ability could be trained and developed at the same time," she said

Herbert Puchta, former president of International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, said at the ceremony that nurturing children's thinking ability during their language study has proven to be effective, which could stimulate students to learn in a more proactive way.

According to Wu, the new curricula system of Xueersi English is divided into three parts - before class, on the class and after class – and combines online and offline teaching and tutoring.

Under the new system, students need to make preparation by learning vocabulary and grammar on their own before class; on the class, teachers of Hello English will try to involve activities that could lead students to think; after class, foreign teachers in North America will help students improve their speaking and communicating skills through project-based learning.