American Forces Network television will begin running an animated show to encourage children to learn a foreign language and culture.
The show, "Slangman’s World," is slated to debut Monday, on AFN, the show’s producers and the military TV channel’s officials said last month. AFN reaches almost 1 million viewers in 175 countries.
"AFN agreed to televise Slangman’s World because it’s great entertainment for kids and it provides education opportunities for AFN families to learn about different languages and cultures," AFN spokesman Larry Sichter said.
AFN will be the first to air the 5½-minute programs. The plan is to broadcast several episodes a day to help children learn a language and culture. The goal is to eventually get sponsors so the show can expand to a half-hour, said David Burke, the show’s creator.
Burke has also produced 90 books on languages, including publications that use fairy tales to teach children a foreign language. Those books have been available in some Army and Air Force Exchange stores since 2007.
Burke will host the show on AFN and perform the voices of all of the characters.
"Slangman’s World" makes learning languages such as French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and others fun by teaching it with songs, dances and characters, Burke said.
"Each show will focus on a particular language in which maybe six new words are introduced. We are trying to get kids used to a foreign language at an early age so it is innate," Burke said.
"Slangman’s World" will air on AFN|Family on weekdays at 10 a.m. and 10:58 a.m. Central European Time and Japan/Korea Time. It will also be shown at 6:24 p.m. weekdays, after "SpongeBob SquarePants," and at 5:24 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
