Mobile phone English lessons a hit in Bangladesh

The mobile tutorial lasts only three minutes, but Rahman, 21, who is studying the textile trade says it is already helping him learn the language, which is key to getting a lucrative job in foreign firms based in Dhaka.

He is among hundreds of thousands of young men who have turned to the novel English teaching service since it was launched last month by a charity arm of the BBC.

The aim is to teach the language to six million people by 2011.

"It's simple and good. It costs three taka (four US cents) per lesson -- the cheapest way to learn English in Bangladesh," Rahman said. "There are a lot of English courses available here, but most rip you off and the quality isn't so good."

It is also easily accessible via all six of Bangladesh's mobile phone operators whose networks cover almost the entire population.

Called Janala (window), the teaching programme allows students to take a lesson in conversation, pronunciation and basic English and involves them dialing in five days a week for 18 months.

It is already being hailed as a hit.

"We are simply overwhelmed," said Sara Chamberlain, head of the programme at the BBC World Service Trust, an international development agency which uses the media to reduce poverty, promote human rights and improve lives.

"We had expected no more than 25,000 calls on the first day... but we were swamped with 84,000 and it's growing," she said.

Chamberlain said in the six days after the launch, 400,000 people phoned in for lessons.

"It shows how hungry the young people are here to learn English," she said.

A recent nationwide survey carried out on low-income people by the charity showed that some 80 percent were willing to pay for English lessons on their mobile phones.

Bangladesh's export-oriented textile sector, as well as smaller service industries such as banking, require English-speaking employees whose basic pay can reach up to 500 dollars a month -- in a country where the minimum wage is only 25 dollars.