Chinese kids learn English through cartoons

Mickey Mouse, AristoCats and additional cartoon characters have now got a new job -- to teach kindergarten tiny tots in China to speak English.

English learning centre’s run by the US-based cartoon movie maker Walt Disney Company are open for children between the age faction of five and seven years.

A huge number of children attend classes where they imitate American accent shown by characters such as the AristoCats, Mickey Mouse and Snow White, according to China Daily.

Walt Disney opened its first English language centre in Shanghai in 2008 and has since prolonged to 14 such centre’s on the mainland. The classroom also comprises touch-screen boards, props, games and online media.

As soon as the words appear on the big screen, the teachers will say 'Go' and they will tell you what they want. When you reach for the correct object, the screen will say “Hurrah You has won”.
Disney has also plans to double the number of such schools in a year. As of now, Disney English has 10 centres in Shanghai and four in Beijing, with plans to expand the program to China's tier-two and tier-three cities.

"It's been very positive both in terms of our enrollment figures and the responses we've got from parents. We have enrolled several thousand since 2008 and are expecting triple digit development.

English values in China have remained poor even with compulsory English education in schools. Most lessons are taught in Mandarin.

Yet, with China's swift economic development, there has been a drive for English-language education, especially in the big cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.