Chasing Time Prods Release Drama with Language Learning Tool

New Zealand production company release cutting-edge English-language learning drama

Kiwi production company Chasing Time Productions today launched their ground-breaking drama series Fortune, created specifically for English language teachers and learners.

Fortune is a six-part drama series filmed in New Zealand which combines a thrilling storyline, professional production value and leading-edge English language learning tools.

Chasing Time Productions co-founder Scott Granville wrote the narrative to ‘stand-alone’ as an entertainment piece, before Jonathon Ryan, an English teacher with over 20 years’ experience and a PHD in applied linguistics, alongside a team of education professionals, designed teaching materials for learners of different levels.

“In my 20 years of teaching English, I’ve never seen anything like Fortune,” said Ryan.

“I often looked around for materials like this when I was a teacher. I was really keen on film and often tried to adapt existing films, but it never really worked, because the films were pitched to a native speaking audience and it was hard work trying to adapt it to the classroom.”

Fortune’s viewers are able to choose their level of language-learning proficiency (English as a second language or English as a foreign language), designed by highly qualified TESOL education professionals with extensive knowledge of the language learning landscape.

“It’s such a rare thing to have dramatic narrative for English teaching,” said Ryan. “If you look on YouTube, you can find some content but it’s really corny and amateur. They’re either budget or outdated. So I’m pretty excited about this, I think it will be so easy for teachers.”

“Scott’s modified the scripts to fit two levels for comprehension purposes, and then we made two completely different sets of teaching materials to suit them. There’s a really big gap in the market for this.”

Fortune will be hosted on the Chasing Time English website and teachers and learners are able to watch and trial the first episode materials free of charge.

The full series will also be streamed on YouTube and Youku and is free to watch; while there will be a charge for the additional learning materials.

Teachers can buy the materials for each level of learning for $USD 7.99 each, or both levels (over 60 hours of classroom teaching) for $USD 11.99.

Independent learners (people studying English in their own time at home) can purchase both levels for $USD 3.99. “One of our main objectives when we set out was to make these materials accessible and affordable for people around the world,” said Granville.

“The overall goal for season one is awareness of the product. We want as many people as possible around the world to be able to look at this. We’re confident that if they do, we’ll keep them as learners.”

ENDS

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