by Sandunlekha Ekanayake
Timmy Time: The place where learning becomes a fun-tastic quest!
At the heart of any kid’s interest is cartoons, irrespective of where they live and what language they talk. Building on that very foundation, British Council, one of the most renowned English teaching centers in the world, along with Aardman Animations, has introduced a brand new YouTube channel known as Learning Time with Timmy. This essentially aids young children aged 2 to 6 who are learning English as an additional language to develop their reading and comprehensive abilities. In addition, it develops various other skills such as communication and emotional intelligence. This YouTube series is dedicated to Timmy Time, the famous cartoon character who happens to be a lamb. Owing to the fact that it is inspired by a comic television series, it is a guarantee that the kids will be a part of fun and engaging learning sessions which will have a familiar and friendly face for guidance!
However, if you are worried that this might not fit the local context, don’t be! The British Council branch situated in Sri Lanka highly recommends this channel for kids who are at the early stages of learning English and even for kids who already have a fairly satisfactory grasp of the language. While there are many apps/channels, local and foreign, which are developed to cater to language learning needs of children, especially that of English, Learning Time with Timmy appears to be a wiser option due to a few reasons. The most important one is that it follows a 'story-telling' structure which will keep the kids engaged and excited to learn the next new thing about Timmy and his friends.
Additionally, here are some more reasons why Learning Time with Timmy is a good choice:
- English Language learning is offered as a fun-filled adventure that requires unlocking new levels, collecting achievements and re-assessing them all at the end of every episode.
-Episodes are short, sweet, illustrative, colourful and most importantly they deal with various topics, e.g. from colours to new words (shapes, numbers, objects), to familiar nursery rhymes, to sing-alongs to solving problems right along with Timmy and his crew of highly enthusiastic friends.
-Learning Time with Timmy is placed in a play environment and it is a given that children learn the most when they are playing (here is why! )
-Timmy is always wanting to learn more! Which means your kids will be motivated to be curious too, curious to discover new words/phrases.
- Every episode brings something new to the table, where they deal with various aspects of language learning, ranging from one word at a time to longer sentence sequences. It is not just about how many words you learn per episode, but about how the child learn to tell a story using the words that were taught during that episode.
- To heighten the learning experience, in addition to the animal noises that the characters make, there is at times a child narrator and at times an adult narrator to lead your child through every adventure that all episodes offer.
-The series also pays attention to things like gesture, gaze, facial expressions and voice quality/pronunciation (of the narrator) that supplements the use of language! (Colourful visual aids are always a bonus).
-The YouTube Channel also has a number of episodes dedicated to parents, which provide additional tips on how to aid your kids in learning English in a more comfortably-paced manner.
However, because it is a YouTube series it could get monotonous, and kids between the ages 2-6 might crave for interaction and something that is a more “hands on” experience. If you see that happening, you can always turn to their app , which provides fun and interactive sessions of games that exposes the child to nearly 60 different words. These games enable them to discover words by popping balloons, sifting through snow and scrubbing away leaves! (surely sounds like an adventure that a kid would love to embark on!)
While this channel seems to encompass all things good and helpful, there is a significant concern as well:
The videos in the channel (despite it being designed for 'English as an additional language' learners) are partial towards speaking the British English variety (including the tv series which inspires the channel). Therefore, when using it in the Sri Lankan context this could create discrepancies because of the fact that it is unfamiliar in terms of how it is spoken and the cultural implications that come along with it.
Specs:
Since this is a YouTube channel, there are absolutely no limitations! It can be used on smart phones as well as on any other electronic devices, hassle free.
Date of origin: 2018
Number of subscribers (as of 2021): 151,000
Overall comment:
This YouTube series will not stop at merely developing your child’s learning abilities, it will spark their curiosity and invite them to be an active participant in Timmy Time's world of learning, excitement, fun and friends!