One of the reasons that Genki English is successful is not just because of the songs, games and projects, but because of the “I can do it!” and “Try again!” philosophies beneath it.

In high school this becomes even more important. With more and more children in developed countries having a lack of personal goals and a lack of belief in what they can achieve, I firmly believe in using positive English and positive thinking in every class. Sometimes just a few changes of words can make a big impression. For example last month I showed the video of “Why kids? + creativity” ( have a look further down the page), here’s another one from the same TED conference, this time focussing on success in “8 words and 3 minutes”. How many of these words do your students know?

(Here’s a link to the final slide with all 8 words )