The primary purpose of the spelling drills is comprehension, not pronunciation. Obviously, they also help pronunciation, though, since a person who can’t hear the difference between “sit” and “seat” won’t be able to speak them clearly either. In many cases, phonics problems can also lead to confusion about grammar and slow down the acquisition of new vocabulary. The ability to see a word and know about how to say it, or to be hear a word and be able to find it in a dictionary really is useful. The inability to do that with Chinese is one reason why it’s a difficult language to study.

Believe it or not, most first and second grade programs are more hours than mine is. Nobody I know of really gives 1st or 2nd graders much homework, but many programs include 2 hours of class every day! Most public schools teach at least 5 hours a week and get very, very minimal results. My students get through six levels of Up & Away, do the related workbooks, read 24 readers that go along with the series, read 12 Dr. Seuss books, and one extensive reader (usually Oxford Bookworms) in one year. They learn thousands of words, but most of it is passive vocabulary.

6 hours a week (in class plus extra time for homework?) within 10 months is quite a while. Are they fluent already?:-)

By the way, if you teach students from zero level didn’t you try to count their vocabulary somehow? How many words would they now in 10 months of such intensive study? In 2 years, in 3 years?

If they study like that for several years they’d better use their English skills later on otherwise too much resources will be wasted. I think in 20 or 30 years it would be interesting to compare how successful these kids become comparing to average person. But too long to wait:-)