Uyun wrote in to ask:
I taught my students using the free song you gave me.
Amazing, my students were really happy and were enjoying my class.
But the problem is they couldn’t remember all the words when I reviewed it in next meeting. They only remember the -how are you-, to say hungry, tired etc., they thought hard first. Thank you
Hi Uyun,
If they are remembering the “How are you?” that is a great first start, and because questions are more important than statements then it is actually the most important part of the lesson from the communication side of things.
So congratulations on getting that part done!
(Ninja Tip: Having kids being able to ask questions, as opposed to just single words, is one of the things that makes Genki English different from other courses.)
Also from the vocab side of things the questions cover all those small, but important, little words that make up so much of English.
How many words to teach in one lesson?
Now some English courses only do 3 or 4 new vocab words each lesson. And some even split those over several weeks. So when we have 8 answers in each Genki English lesson, that is there to push the kids and give the brightest ones a challenge too.
Not all the kids will remember all the answers, the idea being that they’ll learn the ones they like e.g. especially in things like When is your birthday? very often they’ll only remember their own birth month, which is cool as that’s the most important to them.
And after all if they could remember them all then we wouldn’t need to do reviews at the beginning of each lesson!
So as long as they remember the question plus one or two answers then they will have learnt today’s grammar construction, be able to use the question and then you’ll add in the extra vocab items as you review throughout the year!
Does that make sense?
Be genki,
Richard
Earn More From Your Passion For Teaching English!
This makes really good sense. I tend to go with the “magic seven” for vocabulary items at a time. The idea is that the human short-term memory basically can remember seven items at a time (plus or minus one). Grammar itself is a whole seven items I find.
So, part one: I tend to introduce the question with the default answer first. Part two: I expand with five or six more answers. Part three: if the kids are doing well, then I can add a few more answers (never more than six or seven, though — usually three or four at a time).
I find it takes at least 10 minutes for the words to start moving from short-term memory into long-term memory. So, I use the same “set” in a few different ways. Genki English has great songs (rhythm, sound) and activities (movement, sound) that use the same sets.
I would love to hear more about Richard’s approaches to getting vocabulary and grammar to move from the short-term memory box into the long-term memory bank.
This is right on. I’ve been doing some challenging Genki songs/topics with a class of 3-7 year olds. In our school’s books and lesson plans, for instance, the vocab and topics are scattered throughout 90 minutes and then repeated 3 straight classes. What I’ve started doing is targeting one topic covered in the lesson plan and doing Genki with it. So one day it was “Where are you from?” Now the lesson plan calls to teach the question and then the answer “I’m from China.” Well, we did the Genki song and now the kids answer with Japan, Canada, America, England, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, AND China…and they get a kick out of not answering China.
Great answer Richard. I totally agree 😉
Hi!
I am starting my new school and wondering about 2 points.
1) Should I charge a registration/ membership fee.
Most competitors have something but I am not sure.
My lessons will be paid monthly so no long contracts.
2) Does anyone have experience of flyering for a new school?
I am in a residential area and want to put leaflets through doors. I am considering what details to put on it. Price, schedules, etc? Or just bright with a map and contact details.
Thanks for reading!
I sometimes think I’m trying to teach too many new words at a time but sometimes the students already know nearly half of them so I need to make the lesson challenging enough without making them feel overwhelmed.
By the way, Richard, what do you think about vocabulary tests? Are they a good idea or should we just do reviews each lesson instead? How many new words should students learn each week? Also I could do with some tips on how to get students to do their homework every week when they keep ‘forgetting’ or coming up with excuses.
Thanks again for your help!
Thanks for the great comments everyone!
@Susan: Vocab tests are usually only useful if you are working towards exams with a large vocab component, otherwise I wouldn’t focus just on vocab. New words each week, well I recommend doing one new Genki English Theme per lesson so that comes out to be the 8 vocab words plus the question and answer. With the homework, set the *next* week’s lesson as this week’s homework. That way they are learning at home and have to do it otherwise they just fall far too behind!
@Ritesh: Memberships fees, it’s pretty split on this, some do and some don’t. They can be a useful tool as you can for example wave the fee if people introduce friends or for special offers at times of the year. Or sometimes people have them to cover the materials costs. In the big picture (compared with say pricing your lessons correctly) it doesn’t really matter either way, so go with which you feel the most comfortable. Fliers through doors doesn’t work, it creates too much badwill. Word of mouth is what you want. And if you do do fliers for people to pick up and hand to friends, first thing to have on there is a big smiley face, and then your “USP” – the “unique selling point” – what makes your school different from all the others out there? And remember this has to be something from the customers point of view e.g. don’t put “native speaker”, put “you’ll get the best pronunciation” etc. Maps and contact details (with postcode for car navis) are a must. You can read more here http://genkienglish.net/teaching/tips-for-starting-your-own-school/ Good luck!
@Mr Rainbow & Martin: Great minds think alike eh! 🙂
@Micki: You are correct, 7 is generally regarded as the optimum number. I just pushed it to eight because music comes in blocks of four! 🙂 Luckily I try to keep the last one either something really fun or something really easy, and it’s works out great so far. With regards the grammar into long term memory, that’s the melodies, in six months time they still keep popping back, usually with the grammar structure and a few of the vocab items attached!
Hello Richard.
In the kindergarten where I teach, (3 to 5-year old kids) very young kids can learn and say all the vocabulary from “Hello How Are You” Song in one lesson for, 30 minutes. The secret is that I use simple gestures with each vocabulary and the kids love it. You’ll be amazed at how much they remember when you get to the next lesson day and try to review the vocabulary. The gestures also let the kids get the idea of what they are saying in English, I have been teaching for ages and all levels (kids to adults) and kids learn a lot quicker when you incorporate gestures. After they get used to saying and using the vocabulary, then you can slowly get rid of the gestures. They also look cute really trying their best and doing the gestures. I hope this helps.
Mariia K.