RIYADH, 8 December 2006 — In a move to promote English teaching, the Kingdom has signed an agreement with the BBC to teach the language by radio beginning on Jan. 20.
“The Riyadh Radio has inked the deal with BBC Learning English, a division of the international radio and online broadcaster BBC World Service, to provide tailored bilingual programs for students of English across the Kingdom,” said Abdullah Ali Al-Alevi, chief of the English section of Riyadh Radio, yesterday.
Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Madani played a crucial role in the advisory stages of the deal.
The teaching program will be broadcast for the first time on FM and will be heard in key cities across the country. The lessons will cover comprehension, and explain the basics of English through topical and human-interest stories that will include references to the UK’s lifestyle and culture.
Commenting on this new Saudi-BBC tie-up, Andrew Thompson, head of BBC Learning English said: “I am also confident that this new partnership with Radio Riyadh is just the beginning of future collaborations.”
Referring to the benefits of the English teaching program by radio, Khaled Al-Kulaib, another official of Radio Riyadh, said: “People in Saudi Arabia want to learn English to get ahead on the job market, improve their professional development and communicate more widely at an international level and these tailored new programs can help them to do that.”
The program will especially help young learners or job seekers in the Kingdom, where English-language teaching starts at the sixth grade, much later than foreign-language courses begin in Europe and other regions of the world.
The programs will be available on Radio Riyadh twice a week at 97.7 FM in Riyadh, 96.2 FM in Jeddah, 95.2 FM in Kharj, 103.06 FM in Dammam and 106.9 FM in Taif.
