Teaching English by speaking English
A character-based mini series teaches Asian kids how to speak better English. |
In many Asian countries, students are very proficient in written English, but their speaking and listening skills lag behind. We Learn Here, Inc. is a Korean/American company that teaches spoken English with video-based interactive lessons. They sell subscriptions to these lessons to private academies, and have deployed their first product offering in South Korea because of its extremely high rate of broadband penetration.
To keep the lesson pipeline full, Angle Park delivers regular batches of 3-minute character-driven videos. The videos feature fictional middle school characters and follow a simple narrative arc, much like a television series in miniature. We produce the videos entirely in American English, and try to give Asian kids a glimpse of what American junior high school life is like.
We Learn Here contacted us near the end of their pre-launch phase, and we've helped them work out the video production-side of their business process, including connecting them with some of our vendors and freelancers. With the big picture in mind, we keep the crews small and work fast so that We Learn Here can contain their costs and get their product to market fast. But they also recognize that a high-quality final product is what they need to differentiate their product from other providers. So far, it has been a very successful partnership, and that's the way that we look at it.
Martin shoots and directs, Alexei produces, and Liz does a little of everything, including shooting stills. We pick up a few extra crew people for the shoots, but finish all post-production (including 800 vocabulary words and phrases per set of videos) in house.
Interactive Video Lessons
Client: We Learn Here, Inc.
Project Date: 2003
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Michelle, Max, and Claire are three not-so-likely friends.
We have shot on location in Glen Ellyn, Oak Park and River Forest, Illinois.
We produce these videos in English, but we are curious about the Korean word for cheerleader.
The right locations say a lot about characters. Max is an artist, and we found an attic in River Forest that fit the bill perfectly.
Max, with his slimy friend Ralph.
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