Today was a workshop at Yokohama’s Yashima Gakuen University. There were quite a few people on the bill, including a couple of big stars. The first one was Oosugi Sensei. He’s famous from NHK TV and radio and had a huge fan base crammed into the rather large room. He’s a nice guy, but his speech wasn’t the most riveting in the world (lots of people “concentrating with their eyes closed”) and the content really wasn’t there. But everyone seemed very happy to be there. The effect of being on TV, eh?
Then it was my workshop which went really well. I was asked to speak about elementary school stuff, but none of the teachers there were from elementary school (not surprising, seeing as it was a Sunday). Usually these types of gigs go down really badly if people don’t empathize with the problems. But one of the themes of today was how to build a curriculum from elementary school right up to university, so they were all very much into what I was saying and they were really, really good. Actually everything I said today is applicable right up to university level, that’s something I might have to PR further for future gigs. Content wise it was really cut down to the elementary school FAQ (Japanese) along with Come on and Genki Disco Warm up to warm things up.
The next big speech was by Koike Sensei, again another big name. His speech was very interesting as he was presenting the new data that has been collected regarding Japanese business people’s communication abilities compared with Taiwan, China and Korea. Basically he was saying it’s a “dangerous situation”, because without international business communication Japan basically stops growing. His numbers also totally blew away the myth that although Japanese people can’t speak they are good at reading and writing, as the data showed that compared with the other countries the Japanese level was way, way, way below in every skill, even in such areas as vocabulary. If you ever visit Korea or Taiwan then people’s English isn’t really that hot, but yes, it does really beat Japan where I don’t think I’ve ever been able to do real business only in English. Koike sensei was saying that whatever the politicians think about English education, reality is going to come up and bite them pretty soon, so a real improvement in English education in Japan will come about no matter what. All very interesting, especially from such a noted professor!
I also attended another couple of workshops and met a whole lot of new people which was great, then an evening out in the posh bayside area of Yokohama.
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Rosebud very kindly put a message on the request forum for individual A4 picture cards of the background items in the “Rooms of the House” theme. So here you go, 49 brand new picture cards!
You can either use them as vocab practice on their own, or link it in with the “Where is baby monkey?” question from the song by asking things like “Where is the sofa?” and the kids have to shout out “It’s in the living room!” etc. The files are saved in pdf format which means you can enlarge them with no loss of quality or put several on one sheet of paper.
The names of these items often varies between countries (or families even) so I’ve left them without any text:
saucepan, casserole dish, microwave, toaster, tin, oven, washing machine, kitchen sink, cup, widescreen TV, video game, banana tree lamp, sofa, bath, bathroom sink, window, toilet, shampoo etc., toothbrush & toothpaste, bunk beds, wardrobe, cupboard, pillow, teddy bear, books, make up, clothes, doll, CD player, dining table, dining chairs, light, saw, hammer, garden spade, garden fork, spanner, screwdriver, rocking horse, a green box, mirror, pictures, a red box, tree house, lawnmower, a snail & a slug, bunny rabbit, worm, flowers.
More requests to come next week!
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Today I’m very happy to introduce the DVD version of “Kids English“. It’s been a huge request and we now have a limited number of sets available to buy in Japan.
Kids English is basically a DVD version of 12 new Genki English lessons, plus there are hardback printed picture books, narration & song CDs and games for each theme. There’s also a ton of support for Japanese parents & teachers, especially ones who aren’t 100% confident with English.
Although there has been a slight price increase, the new DVD version is still amazing value and should make English a whole lot more fun! Click here for more.
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The big news today is that Leo Vargas, the star actor in our Kids English series, is appearing in tonight’s US season premiere of Fox TV’s “House“.
The big things that Genki English can lead to eh? ; )
The other big news is that we’re preparing the DVD version of Kids English. Check back later in the week!
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I’m working on some new songs at the moment, but before they get cast in CD stone I’d really like to hear your input. (I do have a tendency to just see the songs from the kids’ point of view, and find it tricky to see how other teachers would see them!)
So I’ve put up a few new free demos on the CD Owners Forum. You can of course simply download them and use them, but the deal is that anyone who helps with constructive comments (either positive or negative!) gets a free copy of the CD that song appears on. You also get to choose which songs you’d like to see and how you’d like them to be built.
This worked really well with CD7, so let’s see how we go this time!
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If you live in the States you might still be able to check out Genki English in Disney’s Family Fun magazine.
It’s the Summer issue though so it might be out of stock. ( Sorry, I only just got my copy).
I’ve also got a regular new monthly column for you in ALC’s “Kodomo Eigo” magazine, starting with the Halloween issue!
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