At Helen Doron Early English (HDEE) schools, a franchise with nine locations nationwide, the emphasis is on exposing Czech tots to English, even if they can barely speak. By hearing English from such an early age, the company says, children can learn it as a first language, alongside Czech.

"Very young learners usually have a great sense for learning any number of languages they are exposed to; they have a great chance to acquire English on the same level they acquire their mother tongue," said Barbora Tošenovská, manager of the HDEE branch in Opava, north Moravia.

The Helen Doron franchise is part of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) industry in this country fueled by eager Czechs with hopes that English skills will provide advantages in business and education. As schools compete for students, catering to a niche market — parents who'll do anything to give their little darlings an edge — is a smart move, some say.

Earlier this year, Prague-based language agency Skřivánek released a study that concluded the growth of the country's language-school industry is not slowing down. Part of that growth, the report said, came from parents demanding instruction for younger children.

"These schools seem to be a great idea, businesswise," said Monika Černá, an education specialist from the Department of English and American studies at the University of Pardubice.

"The Czech Republic is quite a good place to introduce such projects, since many parents want their children to learn English."

'A better start'

The HDEE company was founded in 1985 by British linguist and English teacher Helen Doron. Since then, the chain has expanded to 21 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, with about 350 learning centers in total.

The franchise landed in the Czech Republic in September 2004, and has expanded to have some 850 students on its roster. There are also plans to open two more locations early next year, said Tošenovská.

At these centers, students aged 1—3 attend classes with their parents once a week, and, next spring, classes for babies as young as three months will be introduced. While the infant classes are the school's unique offering, HDEE also offers lessons for children up to age 13.

Each class consists of 30 minutes of song, dance, crafting and playtime, all conducted exclusively in English, Tošenovská said, with some but not all of the teachers being native speakers. Parents are also given CDs of English words and songs to play regularly at home.

A 10-month package of weekly lessons costs parents 7,000—12,000 Kč ($330—565), including books and CDs.

"[The parents] want to give their infants a better start," she said.

But how much can babies, for instance, actually be learning if they spend most of the lesson drooling?

"Based on my personal experience, it won't do the children any harm. It can only be beneficial," said Zdeněk Starý from the Institute of Linguistics at Charles University.

The University of Pardubice's Černá disagreed. These lessons are likely a waste of time and money, she said.

"We have to distinguish between language learning and acquisition," she said. "This idea seems absurd, considering that the children are so small. They compare this method to the acquisition of a mother tongue, but the input when acquiring one's mother tongue is whole segments of language, not just isolated words."

Ludovica Serratrice, a specialist in child bilingualism at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, agreed.

"Children who are exposed to a second language before one year of age could really learn two languages as their first," she said. "But there is a full-immersion requirement. Thirty minutes or so wouldn't be enough. You'd have to provide children with very rich language input in terms of quality and quantity."

Tošenovská says the Helen Doron method provides that input.

"Our students are exposed to soundtracks, recorded with native speakers, daily," she said. "They have everyday contact with English. Our method in fact imitates the system in bilingual families."

Even if English is heard in the home, children would need to be educated in a full-immersion system for mother-tongue skills to develop, Serratrice said. Otherwise, "The dominant [Czech] environment will take over. You need to do a lot of work to keep up the minority language."

Still, Serratrice agreed the lessons will have some benefits.

"It certainly doesn't hurt being attuned to sounds that are different. It develops understanding in general about how language works," she said.

"So [these lessons] may be a good way to kick-start language learning."