CUBA NEWS
March 8, 2003

FROM CUBA
Cuban elementary schools to resume the teaching of English

HAVANA, Cuba, March 4 (Fara Armenteros, UPECI www.cubanet.org) - Third- to sixth-grade students in Cuba will soon start taking English in schools, according to a government announcement. This will be the first time in many years that English is widely taught in the island's schools.

During the 30 years that Cuba had close links to the Soviet block countries, Russian became de rigueur in schools, and English was relegated to secondary status.

Before the present government came to power in 1959, public schools taught English in the fifth and sixth grades; private schools usually taught it in every grade and in some cases, provided dual instruction, in Spanish in the mornings and in English in the afternoons.

At present, there are special language schools that teach English, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese, but admission is limited to people who can demonstrate job-related reasons for learning the language.

English classes, according to the government announcement, will be taught under a system of televised classes instituted to cope with the shortage of teachers.

Arturo, a retired bus driver, injected some historical perspective into the news: "Remember when they started with Russian. There were Russian classes on radio and on television. But teaching languages on television is nothing new. In the fifties, the Guinness beer company sponsored English classes on television," he said.


Versión original en español

 

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