DEHRADUN: For teachers in Uttaranchal, it is virtually back to
basics-ABC when it comes to learning the English language.

And they don't mind learning the language in a classroom at Dehra Dun
especially when teachers are from Ireland.

"We are learning how to improve our English especially at the basic
level," said Pushpa Bisht, a primary school teacher at Khasonsi, a
remote village in Jaunsar tribal area in the hill state.

Bisht admits she did not know much English though she teaches the
language to village children.

Like Bisht, there are hundreds of teachers who are still not very good
in English, officials said.

For improving the English skills of these teachers, a group of
teachers from the prestigious John Scottus School of Dublin, Ireland,
have volunteered to teach the modern English.

These school teachers are teaching the English language using
techniques like phonetics, visual aid, books and audio cassettes.

"The English is changing. It is more of an American English than the
queen's language," said Rutger Kortenborst, an English teacher, who
graduated from the prestigious Trinity College of Ireland.