Page 32 - ELG1807 July Issue 459

REVIEWS .

Short

and

sheep

In a terrifying online
world of Peppa Pig porn
and terrorist recruitment
videos, Learning Time
with Timmy is a reassuring
YouTube series for young
learners of English, Irena
Barker writes

ince Aardman’s stop-animation
characters Wallace and Gromit first has developed the series of 26 five-minute LEARNING TIME WITH TIMMY (ONLINE TV
launched their rocket to the moon episodes with Aardman animations and SERIES), British Council with Aardman
Sin 1989’s Grand Day Out, they have educational experts. tinyurl.com/y9xptxaa
become national treasures in the UK and It is based on the British Council’s Learning The really popular aspect of the YouTube
international superstars. Time with Timmy course which it already channel will surely be its video clips with
And they have spawned several spin-offs, teaches in venues around the world. learning songs. The first one available, Guess
including the much-loved Shaun the Sheep. A press release handed out at the launch of the Colour (60,000 views), is very clear and
But if you don’t have young children, you the series says that young children’s brains can repetitive, and children will want to play it
may not have heard of one of them – Timmy only properly follow a ‘frame rate’ which is 10 again and again. I can imagine its lively tones
the Lamb, the loveable star of Timmy Time, a times slower than that of an adult. driving parents round the twist from Bordeaux
stop-animation for pre-school children. It may be exciting and stimulating, but a to Bangalore.
The aim of the series is to teach children lot of fast-paced YouTube content is simply Above all, this new YouTube series will
about sharing, learning from mistakes and too much for early years children to take in mean parents have a new, reliable source of
making friends. properly, it claims. English language content that they know
Now, though, Timmy has a new (woolly) Learning Time with Timmy, it says, has been is aimed specifically at children, with clear
string to his bow: teaching English via specially designed to avoid this problem. learning goals. It is harder than you think to
YouTube. find appropriate videos for children where
Earlier this month, the British Council It is aimed specifically there is a good risk of them actually learning
launched its new Learning Time with Timmy something.
animated series on the platform, which aims at children, with clear In a world where parents lie awake worrying
to teach English as an additional language learning goals their children are going to stumble across the
to children aged two to six around the dreaded Peppa Pig porn or an Isis recruitment
world. Joining in the global craze for pre- video, this British Council offering is a breath
school English teaching, the British Council But is it any good? Well, the launch event of fresh English air.
was certainly promising, with Timmy himself As the channel is updated over the coming
putting in an appearance. And my kids were weeks, it should become a really useful bank
instantly entranced by the short clips. The of clips to show kindergarten classes and
English heard comes via a very clear and jolly individual children in their own homes.
female voiceover. As an adult viewer, I quickly While I would prefer children to stay off
found my mind wandering. their screens and learn English by playing
I lost the thread of the (very simple) plot board games with their au
and started to wonder how great it would be to pairs, Timmy might offer
work as an animator at Aardman. But my kids, the next best thing.
aged three and six, were glued. The very clear
language and constant repetition mean the Irena Barker is the
commissioning editor at
words introduced are imprinted on the brain. EL Gazette
32 July 2018

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