About Pingu's English

Give Your Child A Head Start In Life With Pingu's EnglishPINGU’S ENGLISH LAUNCHES IN TURKEY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday 16 September 2008

Dodo Child Development and Play Limited is delighted to announce that they have secured the exclusive rights to develop Pingu’s English throughout Turkey, from the Linguaphone Group, the world’s leading provider of language training solutions.

Designed for use within Pingu’s English approved schools and also by parents and children at home, this innovative course will open initially in Istanbul in October. The first center will be located on the Avenue of Baghdad in Saskinbakkal. The company is planning to open 10 centers throughout Turkey in the next 4 years.

Pingu’s English is a 3 level course and will teach English to young children of 3-10 years. Pingu’s English also provides valuable lessons in socialization, numeracy, music, art and computer skills. The program is unique in terms of the multimedia and support materials it provides. The course is based on the hugely popular television character, Pingu™, the mischievous but loveable penguin, and centres on his true-to-life everyday adventures in the South Pole.

Announcing this exciting new partnership, Dr. Hatice Karahan Piskin, Director of Dodo Limited said:

“Academic research has shown that learning a second language in early years has a positive effect on intellectual growth and achievement at school. It also improves reading and mathematical skills and gives a child greater confidence. Moreover, the child can have a natural sounding accent. It is also proven that being bilingual enhances proficiency in the mother tongue of a child. Pingu’s English offers an effective course in a safe, quality and fun environment. We are happy to offer children in Turkey this unique English course that is the product of years of experience and expertise.”

Derek Price, Chief Operations Officer of the Linguaphone Group said

“Pingu’s English is a fun and imaginative way for young children to learn English and gain a better start in life.  We are delighted to welcome Dodo Limited to the Linguaphone Group, and look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

Ends

For all media enquiries in Turkey please contact:
Hatice Karahan Piskin, Director, Dodo Child Development and Play Limited
E-mail:           info@pingusenglishturkey.com
Tel:                  +90-216-4785153
Web:               www.pingusenglishturkey.com


For all other media enquiries please contact:
Sarah Cole, Head of Marketing, Linguaphone Group
E-mail:           sarah.cole@linguaphonegroup.com
Tel:                  +44 (0)20 8687 6115
Mobile:           +44 (0)7799 723 218

 

Notes to editors

  1. To find out more about Pingus’ English please visit www.pingusenglish.com
  2. For more information on Unit Licensing  or employment opportunities across Turkey please email info@pingusenglishturkey.com
  3. Pingu’s English offers an array of creative learning activities and exercises using high quality, multimedia materials and teaching resources. Developed by leading English language and child education specialists, each student will receive a course pack consisting of DVDs, study books, song and story books with CDs plus interactive online learning materials. Students will also receive an activity pack which includes supplementary materials such as character figurines, colouring materials and friezes. There are also extensive teaching resources to assist teachers with each child’s learning and development. 
  4. The Linguaphone Group is the world’s leading provider of distance and classroom-based language learning solutions, which operate under the internationally recognised Linguaphone, Direct English and Pingu’s English brand names.  With over 100 years of experience, the Group has an extensive network of 200 learning centres in 25 countries.  The Group also has a wide-ranging portfolio of self-study products sold in over 60 countries to more than seven million customers.  For more information visit www.linguaphonegroup.com .  Pingu’s English will launch in locations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East in the coming months.
  5. The Linguaphone Group has licensed the popular children’s character Pingu from HIT Entertainment. HIT Entertainment is owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners, is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment’s Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America and Japan.  HIT also acts as a worldwide representative for The Jim Henson Company’s library of classic family brands and as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan.   HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM, and international preschool channel JimJam, (outside of the US, UK and China). For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com