Oh My English! on Astro TVIQ

ASTRO HELPS MALAYSIANS IMPROVE CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH

Speak Better English with ‘Oh My English!’

Astro is launching a brand new learning initiative, Oh My English!, which aims to help Malaysians improve their spoken English as supported by the Malaysian Ministry of Education.    This new initiative is part of the company’s commitment to offer its customers not only the best of entertainment, but also content that goes beyond and helps to educate, inform and enrich lives.  As Malaysia’s leading integrated cross-media group, Astro recognizes the importance of our role in providing new and innovative opportunities to encourage lifelong learning among Malaysians. 

The launch of Oh My English! marks the continuation of Astro’s ongoing support for the Ministry of Education.  Since 2009, Astro has worked hand-in-hand with the MOE to bring world class learning content to schools nationwide under its CSR initiative, Kampus Astro. As part of this project, Astro has equipped  10,000 schools with flatscreen TV sets, Astro services and access to 17 local and international learning channels such as History, Discover, National Geographic, Astro Tutor TV, Astro TVIQ and more. 

Astro recognizes the importance of encouraging proficiency in more than one language, and Oh My English! is in line with the Ministry of Education’s objective to cultivate excellence among Malaysians in both Bahasa Malaysia and the English language under the “Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia Memperkukuh Bahasa Inggeris” (MBMMBI) policy. 

From top left to right:  Putri Yasmin Megat Zaharuddin (Vice President, GenNext Business, Astro), Lina Tan (Managing Director of Red Communications), Lisa Surihani, Zain Saidin, Dato' Sri Abd. Ghafar bin Mahmud (Director - General of Education, Malaysia), Mr Henry Tan (Chief Operating Officer, Astro) and  the cast of Oh My English!

Oh My English! is an educational comedy which aims to make viewers laugh and learn conversational English at the same time. Oh My English! airs every Sunday at 10am on Astro TVIQ (Ch 610).   

The storyline takes viewers on a hilarious journey with Kelas 3 Merah, while helping them to brush up their command of everyday, spoken English. Set in a fictional school called SMK Ayer Dalam, Oh My English! follows the adventures of the students from the infamous Kelas 3 Merah who are notorious for their mischief-making and poor academic results. Their worst subject?  English!  A dashing new English teacher, Henry Middleton soon arrives at the school from the UK to take on the challenge of teaching this rowdy bunch.  

With 20 exciting episodes, Oh My English! features a colourful cast that brings together household names with fresh faces.  The line-up includes popular actress and singer Adibah Noor, comedians and popular comedians from Maharaja Lawak Mega, Harun Salim Bachik and Mr. Os, as well as  Zain Saidin who plays Henry Middleton.

In addition to this, Oh My English! also features a line-up of rising young stars such as Izara Aishah, Addy Ashraf, siblings Ahmad Ezzrin Loy and Nurul Ezlisa Loy.  Rounding out the cast are fresh talent like Mohd Zhafir Muzani, Kaameshaa Ravindran, Amer Sharrif, Tan Teong Sik and Muhammad Akhmal Mohamad Nazri.  Also, there are unforgettable cameos from Malaysia’s top stars like Lisa Surihani, Rozita Che Wan and Nabil Raja Lawak who will add spice and surprises to different episodes.

The cast of Oh My English and Altimet & Liyana Jasmay (theme song for Oh My English)

What’s more, there are also a number of Oh My English short viral videos, featuring the likes of international superstars like Greyson Chance and Maher Zain.  These humourous videos have caught the attention of Malaysians and set the internet abuzz. 

Yasmin Megat, Vice President of the GenNext Business at Astro, said “Oh My English! seems to have struck a chord with Malaysians as we now have close to 50,000 Facebook fans and over  900,000 YouTube views. These figures are expected to grow even further. We are also among the top trending topics on Twitter ”.

Oh My English! takes a fun approach to language-learning.  Each half-hour episode of the sitcom centres around a conversational theme that can be applied in one’s daily lives, such as Introductions, Sport, Music or Food.  Every episode also contains 3 short English capsules and each will deliver bite-sized English lessons which explain the correct use of English in terms of grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure or pronunciation.

Furthermore, Astro has collaborated with the British Council in developing English learning content, including comprehensive materials and worksheets, which viewers can easily acces via the official Oh My English website.

The Oh My English! sitcom on TV will be complemented by a multimedia learning experience via online, on the red button, in social media, on radio, on ground through the official Oh My English workshops, in schools, in print and via games.  Visit the official Oh My English! website www.ohmyenglish.com.my to find out more about the show or learn English through games and other activities.  The latest short videos can be viewed at www.youtube.com/ohmyenglishtv .  Alternatively, log on to www.facebook.com/ohmyenglish or www.twitter.com/oh_my_english to join the friendly Oh My English communities, and share the experience of learning English together. 

Be sure to catch  Oh My English! every Sunday at 10am on Astro TVIQ  (Channel 610).

Oh My English! is also available for Njoi customers from 8th June onwards via Astro Prima (Ch 105),  every Friday at 9.30pm.