Four-year-old children at a Zabbar kindergarten are being exposed to spoken English in a pilot project to assess whether they will benefit ahead of formal teaching of English from Year One.

The project is being conducted by the English Speaking Union at Zabbar Primary School.

The children do not normally speak English at home, but the volunteers who are conducting the programme said this morning that their pilot project was being very well received.

The children could be seen happily singing in English this morning as part of activities held by the volunteers.

Officials of the English Speaking Union said the project will initially run to the end of the current term and will then be assessed with a view to its continuation and extension to other schools.

The English Speaking Union Malta Branch was set up earlier this year. It promotes the English language through literature, the arts and music as well as through public speaking, discussion and debate.

The ESU has a presence in 50 countries.