A project supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The English 400 Reading Programme is prepared by experts from the Department of Materials Production, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), using a carefully researched vocabulary list. It provides graded reading material for beginners as well as advanced learners, exposing them to a variety of writing styles. This is an imaginative teaching aid, and the cards are specifically designed for independent, self-paced reading. Each reading card is like a four-page book which contains a complete, self-contained text. The texts are wide-ranging, with passages on science, people, places, folktales and stories from real life and mythology with lively and imaginative illustrations to accompany them. At the end of the text, simple comprehension and vocabulary exercises enable self-evaluation. In short, English 400 is an exciting new teaching aid where learning becomes part of leisure activity. The programme consists of two boxes of 250 cards each, a teacher's booklet, answer keys and placement tests.