Here’s the new Genki Disco Warm Up in Japanese!
The question is, what age group do you think this is most popular with?
Yep, according to Youtube the biggest age group for these songs is 13 to 18!
And just have a look at the comments they are making.
Hope you enjoyed the work out…
Is that you doing the squeaky voice, Richard?!?
I notice that you don’t have ‘cheer’ in the Japanese version. Why’s that? I have noticed some confusion over the word when I do the English version. Isn’t there a direct translation?
I can well believe it. If we’d had something even remotely simular in my secondary school french classes, I might speak some French now!
No that’s not me singing! π
There isn’t really a word for cheer to I took it out. I always introduce it as the “cheer” from “cheerleader” which gives some of the meaning, but there’s often not a direct translation.
Genki French is coming soon…..
The thing is that after such an amazing reaction from the kids, how do we get more English teachers to cut down the grammar and at least give them a try!
Experience a GE workshop!
After that teachers will understand what it means to teach English and not Grammar!
I didn’t do much grammar at all, but I was tempted to start focusing on it more with my 6th graders, because the grammar is getting more difficult . I also thought that they want explanations in that age.
But after talking to you last summer and experiencing your workshop,
I put away even the last bits of grammar I had taken out, with best results.
I’ve started to teach German this way to some adult students, too.
I taught them years ago with the typical stuff, and now they are surprised of how easy and fun it can be.
It’s much more preparation, but maybe it will end up in a textbook.
Margit you are so right. I think this was such an important point that Richard made at the Austrian workshop too. Younger children never ask why is it x, y or Z. They just use the words from the songs they have learnt and do not question why.
I really hope that future governments will recognise the importance of speaking more. Here in Austria it seems to be going more towards this direction, at the moment. Learning grammar rules just to pass tests is so invaluable for most students. I am not saying that they do not have to learn the rules, as the level of english gets higher! I just mean that there are children who can pass tests but do not understand what they are writing or are able to communicate using the structures.
I do not have the answers, but know from personal experience that being able to speak is the number one priority. I also think whilst learning another language that you have to be motivated, to try again and to not worry about making mistakes. This is the hardest part in the beginning!! I know!!