Hi everyone,
Hope you’re doing really great today.
As you might have seen the blog ( and parts of the website) have got a bit of a new look.
This is only the first stage of a whole new redesign (and there are thousands of pages yet to do) Β where I’d love to make the site even easier for you to use.
I’ve got lots of ideas about integrating the VIP member areas, lessons plans etc. etc. Β but I’d love to hear your feedback about what you’d love to see in the website.
What would you most like (or hate) to see in the new website design?
Do let me know in the comments.
Basically everything has to be changed so the sky is the limit with your imaginations! π
Be genki,
Richard
P.S. Β One of the main reasons for the change is to make the site look great on mobile phones, so do give it a try.
P.P.S. Β Once I get this out of the way I can get back to work on making the new lessons for you, Β Little Red Riding Hood anyone? π
WOW! Richard! I’m loving it!
It looks very professional and sophisticated and wonderful!
I’m teaching Japanese in Australia, and the students are eating up the Japanese games and songs for breakfast! The ones that aren’t in Japanese we just translate from the English Karaoke songs, and translate the games into Japanese before we can click on the answers. I love the random quiz style of all the games, and it really helps them remember.
If you get the chance to do more Japanese translations of songs and games online I would love it. Also some specific Japanese words like Ojama shimasu, itadakimasu, gochi sousama deshita, ite kimasu, okaerinasai would be so helpful… OR do I need to write a song like your Chinese friends did?
I love the Genki Chinese page! It inspired me to learn all the vocabulary you’ve posted so far!
You are inspiring and amazing!
Hi Richard!
I admire your way of improving your products!
I love your idea of the background of the site and its colour: the more higher the more deeper.
And the tipe is eye-friendly and engaging. (Hope to read all the GE pages done like this :-))
I’m happy to be here and watch the good changes! Thank YOU!
I love it!
Congratulations!
Great updating!
All the best for you all, great teachers π
JJ
Murcia
Spain
Hi, it looks great, fresh and inspiring, I love it!!!
I like the new look. New and clean and unified…eventually. I’m having trouble finding the blog easily, though…I think it should have its own link button the top row.
Just love it! π
Hi Richard,
love the graphics, the colours are good and bright and the site isn’t too cluttered. However from the last menu bar to access the Teacher’s set there doesn’t seem a way to return to the Home page or other pages. Can this be fixed?
It’s beautiful Richard! It’s bright and cheerful, just like your product, but I hope the renovations are too troublesome.
It works definitely better with a mobile phone. And it looks really cool! Thank you!
Thanks everyone for the great comments – yes it has been a lot of work!
And do keep commenting when you’re actually using the site as that’s the no. 1 thing. π
@Mark: Yeah, I’ll try and find somewhere for the blog – going down from 100 menu items to just a few is hard! I also need to find a space for a Members page too.
@ Irene: From the Teacher’s Set, yeah I just want you to hit “buy now” rather than go back! π
Really like the new page, apart from looking fab it also looks easier to manage. I haven’t had chance to go through everything yet, but it looks superb!!!
Hi Richard, Your new blog page layout looks great. Not that there was any problem before. While I was reading through your main page, I saw what I think is a typing error. It says, “If you are not reading for the Teachers set right now, sign up for your newsletter.” I think it should say, “If you are not ready for the …..”
I have not purchased the set yet, partly because I teach High School and Adults, but I love getting your e-mails, have learnt a lot, thank you. I have however forwarded your e-mails to many other people to introduce your site, software, etc. I tried to convince the company I work for to buy a set for their Language Training school, but Chinese people are a bit stubborn if it was not their idea. Still working on them.
I have been tempted to order a hundred times, only reason I haven’t is because of the age group. However, my High School kids loved the “How many days to Christmas” song. I used the same tune to write a song called “What do you want for Breakfast” in which I teach a lesson about Western Breakfast foods and habits. Hopefully I will become a signed up VIP member sometime this year and simply use what I can for the High School students and adults.
Thanks for sharing so much of your experience and great ideas with everyone. You are a Super Hero.
γη²γγγΎοΌREally!
The outfit looks great and Genki.
I just am not used spending so much time to find things.
Now I realize how well I knew the site before. I’d go on the site 5 minutes before class find exactly the sheet I want in half a minute and print it.
This takes me half an hour, at least, now.
So, emergency list; links I’d need always:
Blog
Forum
evaluation worksheets
imagination worksheets
it is very very hard to not have a pull down menu, but I understand, it is not possible anymore~any ideas for something else here?
All in all, there is so much to scroll down compared to the old version.
eg “Lessonplan”
Is there a way to get things to see on one view?
Another thing, this might be my own problem:
Researched by Harvard University Graduate School of Education
& The University of Oxford Department of Education
Licensed by the British Council around the world.
The font you are using here (or at other similar sections) I find pretty irritating. Maybe my eyes are used to simplicity.
Man your eyes must be dancing. Can you sleep well, these days? I really hope, watching it on a smart phone will be worth all the trouble.
@Sophie: Thank you!
@Mark: Yeah, I think I should stop using the word “kids” in the site because we have so many people using the course now in high school and universities. I’d love to hear more about what sort of things you’re looking for, or maybe how I can make the site more appealing to high school teachers?
P.S. You might also like the breakfast lesson!
@Margit: Yep, this is the hard part! As soon as I add one more link in, it kills the usability. This is just an “emergency” first stage of the renovations, the next step is to migrate everything to a whole new (and very expensive π ) platform so we need to take all this into account for the next version – we should have a skype about it! If you want the old page you can always go to http://genkienglish.net/index2015.htm
@Margit
If I’m not mistaken it is still pretty easy to find all the lesson related materials by going to the Lesson Plan page. The lessons are listed in Curriculum order and contain all the additional materials related to that lesson.
Looks great, Richard. It will take me awhile to figure out how to find everything. Just one question. Will you be changing the format of all the pages? I made a “HOW TO” guide for the ES teachers including pix off the Japanese website. I will need to tell them to expect to see a different format if the changes will be happening this school year…
@Margit: I’ve just added a few options to the “Help” menu at the top, including a VIP printables page http://genkienglish.net/teaching/vip-printables/
Does that help?
@Gumby: Yes, all the pages have to be changed. How long it’s going to take me to do all 20,000 of them….. I’m not sure!
I’m not well-versed in web-design anymore. I know that changing the layout and everything of 20,000 pages the old way of using HTML for everything would take FOREVER. Of course, my hardcore web design days were back the early 00s, when I was a middle and high schooler.
Great addition to the help menu. Much easier to find things like the blog.
I like the new VIP page. Thank you for thinking of us old folks who still use the old CD menu. It helps considerably, especially when passing the information to the schools. I had the workshop yesterday and luckily the format hadn’t changed so much that I couldn’t use the materials I had prepared. Now, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the addresses of the themes aren’t going to change…
@Martin: Actually it would have been easier with hmtl, just using includes! Now everything needs re-wrapping and re-writing so it’s taking ages!
@Gumby: No worries about the links they’ll always work (well, except for the odd time I make a typing mistake!) e.g. http://genkienglish.net/songs.htm is the old songs page which now re-directs to the new page. And yes you are the core of Genki English and the reason why it exists hence I want to try and making it even easier for you if possible!
I just added a fold out menu to the right side of the blog pages.
Does that help?