The creative idea was conceived from the fact that native Arabic speakers mispronounce words with the letters “B” and “P” because they couldn’t differentiate between these two letters. Therefore, a visual cue would most certainly help in demonstrating the difference. This was achieved through the creation of a special yet basic practice sheet.

The sheet was simply a thin piece of paper printed with indication marks. There were two spots for holding and a spot for speaking. This practice sheet when placed in front of the mouth flutters when the letter “P” is pronounced and doesn’t, with the letter “B”. As more and more native Arabic speakers begin to put this simple technique into practice, it is envisioned that the confusion between the letters “B” and “P” would be on the decline and this linguistic problem would be eradicated altogether eventually.

The “No Broblem” kit was designed to incorporate 2 very basic elements – a DL-sized leaflet which explained why native Arabic speakers find it difficult to differentiate between the letters “B” from “P”, and a 3-step Practice Sheet which demonstrated a self-learning technique.

The kit was packaged as a simple dimensional box and distributed to the British Council’s Arabic native speaking student-base (Beginners and Pre-intermediate levels of English) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2 weeks before the commencement of the courses in December 2015.

In support to this, a simple case study video was uploaded online and was extensively shared. Response for the courses were overwhelming as it achieved 75% more enrollment than the projected target. More courses are now being planned for other Saudi cities and the kit is currently being used as a B2B tool.

The self-learning practice sheet offered a simple and ‘live’ experience of the services offered by the British Council’s English conversational courses. On top of this, it clearly demonstrated the British Council’s understanding of the region’s linguistic needs and problems. The kit also achieved: (1) 75% more enrollments than the projected target. As a result, an additional class was run to accommodate the extra students (2) The self-learning technique video was viewed more than 74,000 times in just two weeks (3) Impressions reached 379,395 in two weeks (4) The idea was highly appreciated by Arabic native speakers and English speakers alike as it addresses a regional linguistic problem (5) The conversation courses will be launched in other Saudi cities (6) The kit also became a promotional B2B tool (7) Positive social media comments with light-hearted and deliberate misuse of the letters “B” and “P”.