Dog learns English in cross-media show
Shoji Ichihara Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Starting March 31, NHK will launch a brand-new program for learning English, titled Little Charo. It will employ a new approach in which a continuing drama can be enjoyed simultaneously among various kinds of media from television and radio to the Internet and textbooks.
This kind of interactive "cross-media" approach has already been introduced in Europe, but Little Charo will be the first case in which NHK has used this approach.
For Little Charo, the public broadcaster will first create an English-language story arc, and then adapt it to various kinds of media, taking best advantage of their respective strong features.
Consisting of 50 episodes, Little Charo centers on an abandoned puppy. A kindhearted boy named Shota brings Charo home and takes good care of him.
When Shota's family travels to New York with Charo, however, the puppy gets separated from them. The puppy embarks on an adventure in which it makes its way back to Japan to be reunited with Shota. A dog full of curiosity, Charo gets involved in various adventures along the way but grows up as a character and also develops English skills through his encounters with many different dogs and people in the United States.
"We'd like to present a full-scale 'human-interest' drama that the students can empathize with to the extent that they may even forgot the fact that it's being shown in English," said Shinichi Nagano, a producer at NHK Educational Corp., an affiliated company that has been developing Little Charo.
When broadcast on the NHK Educational television channel, Little Charo will feature animated images and subtitles in Japanese so that it can be enjoyed even by beginning-level learners. on the other hand, NHK's educational radio channel will present the story in a radio drama format to help listeners develop listening comprehension skills.
Each of the television and radio versions will publish their own respective monthly textbooks, which will include some tasks to help the students develop writing skills.
The Web site version (www.nhk.or.jp/charo/), will feature tests to allow the students to check how much they understand the story. Test results will be stored online so that the students can understand at a glance how much their language skills are improving.
"Of course, we can develop English skills by studying through just one medium, but we can study the language much more effectively and improve our skills much more through a mix of various media," Nagano said of the merits of Charo's "multilateral" approach.
When it comes to such a cross-media program, its success depends in large part on how attractive the content itself is for the students. Nagano is confident on this point.
Little Charo is written by Efu Wakagi, a stage director and essayist. "She's full of ideas. The story features not only adventures, but also a love story. It can make the students both laugh and cry," the producer said. "I believe the program can encourage them to memorize all the lines out there."
Actress Risa Junna will offer the voice of Charo in both the television and radio versions. Yoshiaki Sato, a scholar of American literature, will be in charge of the translations into English. Sato also will write the words for about 10 original songs to be played in the drama. These lines are aimed at helping the students learn the rhythms of spoken English when they sing the songs.
(Feb. 7, 2008)
Shoji Ichihara Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Starting March 31, NHK will launch a brand-new program for learning English, titled Little Charo. It will employ a new approach in which a continuing drama can be enjoyed simultaneously among various kinds of media from television and radio to the Internet and textbooks.
This kind of interactive "cross-media" approach has already been introduced in Europe, but Little Charo will be the first case in which NHK has used this approach.
For Little Charo, the public broadcaster will first create an English-language story arc, and then adapt it to various kinds of media, taking best advantage of their respective strong features.
Consisting of 50 episodes, Little Charo centers on an abandoned puppy. A kindhearted boy named Shota brings Charo home and takes good care of him.
When Shota's family travels to New York with Charo, however, the puppy gets separated from them. The puppy embarks on an adventure in which it makes its way back to Japan to be reunited with Shota. A dog full of curiosity, Charo gets involved in various adventures along the way but grows up as a character and also develops English skills through his encounters with many different dogs and people in the United States.
"We'd like to present a full-scale 'human-interest' drama that the students can empathize with to the extent that they may even forgot the fact that it's being shown in English," said Shinichi Nagano, a producer at NHK Educational Corp., an affiliated company that has been developing Little Charo.
When broadcast on the NHK Educational television channel, Little Charo will feature animated images and subtitles in Japanese so that it can be enjoyed even by beginning-level learners. on the other hand, NHK's educational radio channel will present the story in a radio drama format to help listeners develop listening comprehension skills.
Each of the television and radio versions will publish their own respective monthly textbooks, which will include some tasks to help the students develop writing skills.
The Web site version (www.nhk.or.jp/charo/), will feature tests to allow the students to check how much they understand the story. Test results will be stored online so that the students can understand at a glance how much their language skills are improving.
"Of course, we can develop English skills by studying through just one medium, but we can study the language much more effectively and improve our skills much more through a mix of various media," Nagano said of the merits of Charo's "multilateral" approach.
When it comes to such a cross-media program, its success depends in large part on how attractive the content itself is for the students. Nagano is confident on this point.
Little Charo is written by Efu Wakagi, a stage director and essayist. "She's full of ideas. The story features not only adventures, but also a love story. It can make the students both laugh and cry," the producer said. "I believe the program can encourage them to memorize all the lines out there."
Actress Risa Junna will offer the voice of Charo in both the television and radio versions. Yoshiaki Sato, a scholar of American literature, will be in charge of the translations into English. Sato also will write the words for about 10 original songs to be played in the drama. These lines are aimed at helping the students learn the rhythms of spoken English when they sing the songs.
(Feb. 7, 2008)