How to add the new “First Look” songs to your menu

As an awesome VIP Member ( which you get with being a Teaching Set owner) you also get the chance to join me in testing out some of the very latest Genki English songs.   Everyone else will have to wait and pay for them.  And for you, in exchange for helping test out some of the key features, spotting mistakes etc. then  you get to download them whilst they are still fresh and in development!  Thank you everyone for the amazing reaction to the new songs this week – it is so heartwarming to hear! 🙂

It really is all your amazing feedback that keeps me going.

And …. lots of you have been asking how you can add these new “first look” songs to your Genki English menu.

 

If you’re up for an adventure and are great with computers, here’s what you do!

Keep in mind these are “first look” or “beta test” versions so there is no tech support here 🙂

  1. Backup ALL your software.  You know it!
  2. Download the new MENU.ZIP file.   Unzip it and drag it across to your Genki English folder, overwriting the existing MENU.SWF file.
  3. Then choose which of the following new “first look themes” you’d like to take a look at.  Download, unzip and drag them across to the software folder.

NOTE:  This menu upgrade will overwrite any logos or school names you have on your menus, so don’t use it yet for the superclass packs.  We’ll officially upgrade those once all the testing and mastering is done.

Your feedback is really important so please do let me know if you spot any tech errors, spelling/punctuation errors or indeed if there are parts you love, so I know what to change and what not to change 🙂

 

If you’re not good at computers …

If you’re not good at computers then please ask someone who is to help you out. 🙂   Genki English songs take a loooong time to test and develop.  The Red Riding Hood song we’ve been working on for 4 years now!   During that time we get to a point where they are 90% complete and that’s where these songs are now.   However it is that last 10% that takes 90% of the time and effort.  So rather than the songs sitting on my hard drive, I’m putting them out there for you to try them out, spot mistakes and give feedback.   However the flip side is that I can’t offer technical support.   If 200 of you write in to ask how to download a file then I can’t get anything else done. 🙂  Once the files are 100% finished and we’ve been through all the exhaustive testing and mastering,  then it will be ready for everyone to purchase and use.   Or just ask a friend who knows about computers to help you back up your files and get the new ones downloaded right now.  Does that sound fair?

Be genki,

Richard

P.S.  With all the amazing comments on here and Facebook how could I not do more…. so keep an eye out for something soon 🙂

Richard Graham

Hello, I'm Richard Graham. When I was a kid I found school to be sooooo boring... So I transformed my way of teaching. I listened to what the kids were really wanting to say and taught it in ways they really wanted to learn. The results were magical. Now I help teachers just like you teach amazing lessons and double your incomes!

12 Responses to “How to add the new “First Look” songs to your menu”

  1. Roy Melling

    Thanks. The previous dowloads didn’t seem to work but these do. Wow, looks like you are going to do 12 days of Christmas with baby monkey?

    Roy Melling.
    Back to teaching kids again (part time :D)

  2. Trevor Lawless

    Great new songs!!! Awesome mix of music genres. Does anyone teach their kids about the musical styles and origins in the songs?

  3. Aimee

    Richard,
    Thank you! You truly are incredible!! As you know the Japanese English requirements are changing soon and our town is getting a head start. I have had to rethink the curriculum and have gone over all the songs. I am amazed at how you put everything together with fun and humor. I am so GLAD that you are letting your creative juices flow freely again. You really have a true talent!!
    I love the Bremen song and just realized that it fits perfectly with many GE themes thus making it super simple for kids to let their creativity shine because they already have the language.
    I did a quick check and didn’t find any errors. I did find that number 7 “I get washed” on the word menu was harder to click. It may just be my computer but it seemed to have a smaller area in which I could click and activate the sound.

    Again my kids and I REALLY appreciate all your work. I had to chuckle when one of the homeroom teachers took over the teaching for the week and her students shone brightly with huge smiles. She told me it was easy since they still didn’t have to worry about getting the students to show mastery of the terms (that technically happens in the 5th and 6th year). She said she can just enjoy teaching and focus on her kids having fun. I smiled and said that I thought her kids were already demonstrating mastery! She had to think about that before nodding her head in agreement.
    It does take awhile sometimes but public school teachers can realize that learning doesn’t have to be painful in order to be effective!

  4. Richard Graham

    Thank you, thank you Aimee!!!

    And Trevor, yes there are a few music schools who use GE for music courses! And of course I do write them with the music education aspect in mind too 🙂

  5. Trevor Lawless

    The Bremen story is a great story, but I feel like the song or at least the animation needs the “happy ending”. To me it doesn’t have a finale at the moment. Maybe the animals just need to be having a party or something at the end. Just a suggestion.

  7. Richard Graham

    @Trevor RE Bremen: Yep, totally, this was designed as a “part 1” song and then you follow it up with a big party song like you suggest. I think Margit has been using Pharrell’s Happy??

  8. Liora

    Hello Richard.
    New songs! YES!
    I went over the software and it is just fabulous!
    Just a few things…..:
    1. The LRRH was great! I LOVE the song and tune.
    2. In the BM song it sounded as if the volume was low. after listening to the LRRH song the BM song was more quiet.
    3. In the three bears- the WORDS section had no speech, also, like the BM song- the volume was low.
    4. In the Bremen song- the echo in the song is barely heard- the voice is very low.
    I think this is it.

    Thank you SO MUCH for all of these amazing songs.
    Liora

  9. Julie

    This is so wonderful Richard : ) I’m so excited about all of these updates. Things I love… the songs are so diverse in genre and beautifully put together with the themes. I LOVE LRRH daily routines. She is so sweet. You really are a genius. All of the characters are wonderful and beautifully drawn. My wish list for next time is ….. the karaoke version for Bremen has English singing in the chorus. I DO understand why you put it there but it’s tricky when we sing it in Japanese : ) Also on my wish list … any chance of having the ‘What’s your favourite subject?’ karaoke version please? : )

  10. Richard Graham

    Thank you for the wonderful comments!

    @Julie: Yep, I’ll get the English taken out of the Karaoke for the final version. Favourite subject, I don’t actually have the karaoke!

    @Liora: Yes indeed, one of the final, and most expensive, steps is to have all the sounds professionally mastered so all the volumes will balance out. However with Bremen, check your right speaker, it is all recorded in hard stereo 🙂

    And 3 Bears is on the list!

  11. Nereyda Valle

    Hello Richard,
    The new themes and 12 days of Christmas didn’t work on my Mac laptops. Is there a way to fix this on Macs?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Nereyda

Comments are closed

© 2024 Genki English.