Photo by dominikkustra

Today is “Respect for the Aged” ( 敬老の日 keirou no hi) public holiday in Japan. “Silver” English lessons, as they are politely called here, are hugely popular. With one million people expected to be over hundred by 2050 they’re going to get even more popular.

So what do you teach older students? Genki English of course! The old ladies in my adult classes used to go crazy for things like karuta or any game involving running around and knocking down all the other old ladies in class!

Sometimes middle aged people complain at the amount of jumping up and down in Genki English. But as one of the very old ladies at my workshop in Nagasaki said a while back, doing Genki English everyday won’t kill you, it’s not doing Genki English everyday that will!

Enjoy the holiday.

Be genki,

Richard