In its attempt at creating educational opportunities, The British Council is starting English teaching and learning in Nepal, using the radio. The launch of Learn English Radio is through Radio Kantipur (96.1 MHz & 101.8 MHz) from 2 February 2014 at 6:00 pm- 6:30 pm every Sundays and Thursdays.

 British Council is using radio because it can reach many more people across the whole country. The radio programs contain Learn English Radio featuring ‘Obla Air’, for young people. LER is a radio series for keen learners of English which focuses on English for social purposes. It is based on a drama series called “Obla Air” which is set in a work-place environment and is aimed at 14-35 year olds (school learner/adults).

 The program is available as a bilingual format with English and Nepali. Each episode is 25 minutes long which will feature a lively and engaging drama that allows for interaction between a small number of interesting characters, both male and female, operating in a context relevant for Nepali learners of English. The program is designed to help listeners improve their listening, pronunciation, verbal and basic English language skills.

 According to a press release of British Council, it is not just about listening and learning but interacting and winning as well. Every episode will have a question related to the episode, which the listeners can send in the answers (via SMS) and get a chance to win a goodie bag from British Council. “This LER series is a good quality and fun way of improving and allows for active skills based listener participation across Nepal and especially from the remote areas – so do join us wherever you are”, urges our Country Director Brendan McSharry, OBE.