What sets the Helen Doron global franchise apart from its competitors? It’s the unique methodology that incorporates music in its soul.
Songs have been a central theme in all Helen Doron programmes since day one of the past 35 years. CEO and Founder Helen Doron set out to try an innovative new way of teaching language, which evolved into a revolutionary methodology. Music is a powerful instrument and an integral part of the method; an exceptional tool featuring a massive variety of original music that no other company shares. Helen’s love of music and singing is reflected in every course, while her humanitarian values are taught through song lyrics and in the music itself.
A household name in much of Europe, Israel, Asia and Central America, Helen Doron has become synonymous with English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from very young babies up through the teenage years. A linguist by profession, Ms Doron pioneered the internationally renowned Helen Doron methodology of teaching English to young children in the same way they learn their mother tongue. Decades later, her very successful methodology is franchised in 38 countries, and over 3 million children have learned to speak English, thanks to her pioneering approach.
Throughout the world, children have learned English easily and naturally through original and updated songs. Even today, Ms Doron and her music partners continue to compose and create original tunes for new programmes.
Helen Doron explains the importance of music in all of her courses, “Music is an integral part and the essence of my methodology. Anything that includes rhythm and rhyme, we know from empirical and academic research, boosts the ability to absorb the language’s phonological system, and children eventually become better readers and learn much faster. Even beyond the research, we remember songs from our childhood and our teens—every word of them that we loved so much and sang countless times while still in our formative years.
When using traditional songs, we change the words to teach for phonetic points, vocabulary points and/or grammar points. However, most of the over 1,000 songs in our programmes are totally original, and we write them to teach vocabulary, rhyme and grammar, whether the child is 3 months old or 18 years old.”
The music presented in each programme is extremely varied, using as many different styles as possible and comprise a full range of ethnicities and styles including African, Samba, Oriental, Middle Eastern, Latino, Rock, Twist, Pop, Rap, Tango, Folk, Hip-Hop, Yemenite and more.
As an integral part of the 35 Years of Helen Doron milestone, sub-campaigns have been created to celebrate the events around the music theme. These include The 35 Years of Helen Doron Anthem song and dance presented in an exciting video, offering students an engaging opportunity to upload videos of themselves singing and dancing. The 35 Years of Helen Doron Song Chart highlights a shortlist of the top 135 songs, presented in age-appropriate YouTube playlists, so everyone can vote to choose the top 35. Both campaigns will feature prizes.
Helen Doron concludes. “These songs serve the purpose of making sure the feel of the language is captured, so the students learn effortlessly and love what they are learning”.