Learn English from Earth

Disney’s new Earth movie is visually stunning.  Cascading waterfalls, tremendous oceans, golden deserts, and crisp arctic snow…what a wonderful way to spend an evening, and what an amazing glimpse into the natural world!  From a language trainer’s perspective, the movie is also an excellent opportunity for nonnative speakers of English to improve listening skills. It offers three elements which are not commonly found in movies today, and which together create a controlled environment for learners looking to improve their skills:

A Single, Clear Voice, With Visuals, that is Paced for Learners.

1. A Single, Clear Voice

Many of our clients who have recently arrived in the U.S. from overseas complain about the difficulty of comprehending American English conversation.  When they are speaking with one other person, comprehension is excellent.  Add an additional person, and comprehension decreases almost immediately.  Put the client with 5 Americans in a meeting, and comprehension can be almost zero.

Comprehension can be improved, and James Earl Jones’ voice in Earth is an excellent place to start.  Opportunities to listen to a single native speaker, for an extended period of time, in a relaxed environment are few and far between.  The visual cues in Earth offer hints of what Jones is saying in his narration, but the narration is often witty, attributing human qualities to the animals on the screen.

This presents a challenge to the nonnative speaker who is forced to reconcile the dialog with the visuals, but it is a manageable challenge because there is only one voice.  As the movie progresses, the voice stays the same.  For the learner who is listening carefully, comprehension should increase as the move movie progresses and the listener becomes more accustomed to Jones’ voice.

2.  A Voice with Visuals

Nonverbal communication plays a significant role in comprehension.  We have a natural desire to communicate with our face as well as our voice.  Nonnative speakers especially rely on nonverbal cues because they offer additional clues to comprehending the message being conveyed.  Even most native speakers of English have greater difficulty communicating over the phone than in person, which is probably why we are so excited about the opportunities presented by video phones.

In many classroom listening activities, learners hear a voice with no visual input. Learners are faced with the option of staring at a CD player,  their desk, the ceiling, or their gap-fill exercise. Most real-life situations call for visual input, and learners need to learn that listening is indeed visual.  In Earth, the voice is faceless, but the scenery adds additional input that the listener can use to “check” his understanding.

3. Paced for Learners

Much of the native speech that learners hear on a daily basis is intended for either conversation or news reporting.  While listening to podcasts and watching television dramas are great tools for improving listening skills, learners often get frustrated at the small amount that they actually understand.  On the other hand, audio that is intended for learners is often too slow, and many intermediate or advanced speakers feel that it is too far from the natural English they hear every day.

The pace of the audio in Earth is much slower than a newscast or a reality TV show.  It could be labeled a “story-telling” pace — fast enough to keep your interest, but slow enough to let it sink into your imagination.  It is intended for native speakers to understand and enjoy, and because of this, it’s a good speed  for a nonnative speakers.

Taking it Further

In addition to being a great movie for listening practice, Earth is also a movie that can be a catalyst for a discussion of our planet, the environment, and animals.  These topics could easily be expanded into other activities such as debates, speeches, reading assignments, and essays– not to mention getting learners excited to watch another famous environmental movie by a former Vice President.

To learn more about the movie, go to: http://disney.go.com/disneynature/earth/

(There are additional “educator” materials (not ESL) on this site, as well.)