UPDATE: Thank you very much to everyone who helped test the software! The Beta Test is now closed, but the CD10 Software is now available for everyone to purchase.
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The CD10 software is now ready for beta testing!
What you get:
1. You get to have the CD10 software before anyone else.
2. You get to use it in your classes before anyone else
3. You don’t have to pay for it.
4. Unlike Microsoft who make you buy the product once the beta test is finished, if you make a comment on the blog you’ll be free to keep it as long as you like!
What I ask in return:
1. You play through all the songs, mini lessons & karaokes for every theme
2. You play around with the “words”, game and “words 2″ sections of each theme.
3. Tell me on the blog if there are any mistakes/things that don’t work.
That’s it, really simple! It will probably take an hour or so to do.
At this stage it’s things like spelling mistakes, typing mistakes, buttons that make the wrong sound, crashes or buttons that don’t work type mistakes that I’m looking for i.e. real mistakes.
It’s unfortunately a little too late for things like changing lyrics. pictures etc.! Sorry! Once you’ve gone through everything, setting kids loose on the software is always the best test!
Stress Free
Making the final CD master is always very, very stressful for me so if you could help by checking the themes and then posting your findings on the blog below (even if it just says “everything is OK!” although if you do have any words of praise that would also be great to hear !) it would really help me out and I’ll be able to send the CD off to the factory and get back to making the mini cards, printable games and maybe even picture books for the themes as well as lots of new stuff!
You can download the file from this link here: (The beta test has now closed) and can make comments on the blog here.
Thank you so much!
Be genki,
Richard
P.S. I need to get the finished version to the factory by Friday, so any comments well before then would be great!
P.S. The Download Pack will (hopefully) include CD10 from next week and hence will increase in price. But… if you buy it today you’ll pay the current price and be able to get the CD10 Beta Test software from the link above!
Earn More From Your Passion For Teaching English!
I’ve only looked through quickly so far (ill go though everything later when i have a little more time!) and the only thing i noticed was that the “new year” video seems to have a “stop” button half behind the “quit” button on the bottom right corner which i assume shouldnt be there.
Wow! Full marks for being super quick and full marks for being super observant! Thank you!
Ah, also, i can’t find the hot-keys for “zombie-zucchini” or the scary “trick or treat” on words 1 for that theme. I can see why those bits are hidden, but the hotkeys are a little confusing.
Thanks for this as well, yeah I was keeping them sort of hidden. With the keyboard they operate just like the other 12-word themes i.e. it goes up to 8, 9 then 0, – and ^ Then “q” (question q) for “Trick or Treat”
OK, just fixed the hidden “stop” button!
Richard,
thanks so much!
Baby Monkey just fits in so perfectly. I love it. I was wondering how you would design the “Get well soon” song. It is super cute.
I also don’t have time to look through carefully until our sports fest is going to be over tomorrow night.
But I noticed that when quitting and it says “Are you sure you want to quit” nothing happens when pushing the “Yes ” button.
Well actually it wasn’t me but my daughter noticing.
Dear Richard
I’d like to get it and help you but i can’t find the way to get it. Can you help me ?
Hey there Richard. Wow thanks for this great present. Asa always a wonderful job well done. I will try the songs out and also the software.
Great CD! I haven’t had a thorough look through yet, but here are a few comments, not really mistakes. In the What Color song, the hot buttons skip 9 is this intentional? Also is there a reason you chose to use 0 instead of for example Q or W for Merry Christmas?
Is the small case “new year” intentional? I can see why you may have chosen small case but whenever I use Happy New Year as a greeting, I always capitalize N and Y.
Also for the Xmas present song, you only have numbers for the first word menu. Might it be easier if you included a key word like CD player, table, toilet etc?
And a marketing comment. This is an excellent CD to heavily market as a stand alone product. There is always a market for holiday songs. Even if you have one, you end up looking for something new after a couple of years. It is a wonderful sample of your materials without having to buy the whole set. The videos are always a plus but I really like the ones on this CD. They tell a story which is much easier to do via video than flaschcards. Once buyers realize what you offer, they will be more willing to pay for the whole set!
Ah, i just checked on my (Japanese) laptop and it’s fine – my American desktop system doesnt have the “^” button though – so it doesnt work. Not a problem there, though ~
Well sadly as with CD9 I am unable to download the files!! Sorry I cannot help. I am rather miffed as I wanted to use the house song next week and of course the Halloween song too!!! Having the graphics would have been great. Oh well I will just have to order the CD when it comes out. Boo Hoo!!
@Flossy & Sevy: Where does the problem occur?
@Margit: Yes, the quit button doesn’t work on the mac version. You just close it using the “x” at the top.
@Gumby: The “Happy Christmas” got left in as a left over from the Xmas theme, I just left it in as a bonus. The numbers for the presents theme was a tough one, “CD Player” was just too long to fit in!
Richard
I have no problem to save but then to open I get the error message as follows :- Adobe reader coud not open ‘CD10(1) zip’ because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged!! It is just the same as last time. I also get this message sometimes with other downloads not just GE. I have lots of security on my pc so I am not sure if that is the reason?? Hope you can help as I do not want to miss out again!!
@Flossy: It looks like Adobe reader has hijacked your zip files! Pop over to download.com and download a free (or free to try) “Unzip” programme (maybe this one), that will get your machine back to normal!
I really love this CD.
I have checked 5 songs. So far I have noticed that in the game of Gingerbread house, when I hit the front side of the wall, it doesn’t say anything.
I’ll keep on checking the rest of the songs from now.
Talk to you later.
@Yumiko: Thank you! Well spotted, I couldn’t get it to work with the front walls!
Still no joy even after downloading zip genius!! I could see the title page but not access anything. I will keep trying, but need to take a break as my eyes are turning screen shaped!!
@Flossy: We’re getting nearer! You need to open the zip file then copy the folder that’s inside onto your desktop. Then it should work OK!
What does everyone else think regarding Happy New Year vs. happy new year? Originally I had it capitalized, but was advised against it. Looking now though it seems that capitals might be the only way??
HOORAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have managed to open the files or should I say my 15 year old daughter opened them!!! I will now check them all through and give any remarks.
Happy New Year would be my preference.
PS Richard thank you for your help, I just wish I had mananged to do the same with CD9!!!!!!
This is such a great CD. I like the background music during the games. The graphics are amazing. The games are all so different and enjoyable. I was not so keen on ‘The colour of Christmas’ when I first heard it. I really think with the pictures it is so wonderful and magical too. Get Well Soon and Happy New Year are both short but really catchy and contain such valuable content. Trick or treat looks so good with all the black!!
Thank You Richard for yet another amazing creation. I am so pleased I have managed to open the files as I can now use the Halloween theme, Great!!
I tried all the songs and games. I enjoyed them like a student. They are really really great!
Other thing I noticed was in the mini lesson of Where are the Christmas presents? The subtitle misses “the” in front of snowman. It goes Are they behind snowman?
One more thing is Mr Rabbit in the game of Happy New Year! song. At first I wondered why it’s a rabbit instead of a tiger (According to the 2010 zodiac, it should be Mr Tiger.) But there appeared Ms Sheep in Get well soon! song, so maybe it doesn’t matter.
While listening to these songs, I remembered all the wonderful videos Flossy and her daughter made. I also remembered my daughter’s and other forum members’ sufferings. (How many times have we exchanged “Get well soon” messages each other?) That may be the reason why these Christmas songs sound especially emotional.
Thank you for making another great CD, Richard!!
I loved it. It took me a while to manage the download part…I only did it about 4 times!
I went through every part. My favourite ones are the Christmas themes…in what colour is Christmas when you get the words 2 and white comes out you loose the number menu, it practically dissapears because the numbers are white. I was also suprised in the gingerbread house game you can’t touch the front wall…it only lights-up the side wall…any wall should light up just like in let’s build a house.
The one thing I can complain about is that in the song “What colour is Christmas” the word Christmass isn’t audible…at least I hear Christ…
Regarding the Happy New Year go with the capitals!!!
thanks again Richard
I can’t see any mistakes,That’s fine..I really love Genki English,I love the colors,characters etc..That’s wonderful
I think this is the best place to start with..teaching English and learning English too.You don’t have to surf the internet for your lesson planning..Genki English is almost complete..Ideas,how to teach it and so on…Not only the childrens learning even the teachers too.Keep up the good work
It’s midnight here and I’ve only just seen the download. I’m downloading it now and I’ll check through it all tomorrow mid day when I get back from school.
Many thanks for all the excellent materials. I can’t believe how many great songs, animations, games, exercises etc… are available on your site.
Just had a look at a few bits, and can’t add much to what has already been spotted by the eager proofreaders here.
I would say that the Halloween pair matching game gets a bit confusingly noisy if you try to go fast because of the way you say the long-ish phrases quite slowly. Not sure how you could deal with that though, other than speaking normally, which spoils the fun!
Oh, and why do the keys on the word page for the Halloween song only go up to 8? Hang on…that’s what Julian-K asked, isn’t it?
Finally, I’ll add my vote to the capitalisation of New Year.
All great stuff though. Very impressive.
Thank you everyone! I’ve just updated the file with the capitalized Happy New Year and the “the snowman” mistake fixed in “Where are the Christmas presents?”
http://www.GenkiEnglish.net/clipart/CD10.zip
P.S. People have been asking in the states if they still have time, yes you do, I’ll keep it up till Thursday midnight Japan time, which is about 15 hours from now!
Thank you !
Just now I could get it ! Phew !
I had lost my way in my computer for a long time because I came from
analog planet.
Thanks for your comment sight,I can find a bright door and I’m happy now.
It took some time for me to download it as well. Wow, I love it. I especially like “Trick or Treat” and I am going to use it in my upcoming classes.
Thank you for sharing this.
Seems pretty good now Richard. Just wish we could replace the Eigo Noto CDs with these ones. Well, actually, I have already replaced several of the Eigo Noto songs with ones from GE. The GE Months of the Year song, complete with enka intro is a big hit.
Are there flashcards we can download to go with the Halloween song?
It’s ok now managed to get it downloaded! Sorry! Will let you know ;o)
Wow, it’s like an early Christmas present! All the songs are very colourful and really exciting. Talking of Christmas, when you play the “What Color is Xmas?” song there seems to be a tiny snow mark on the left of the centre of the screen… that’s such a small thing to pick up, if you can find it. Thank you very much Richard. Happy Halloween!!!
First of all thank you. You really outdone yourself again. I finally had a chance to proof read everything and I had difficulty spotting any mistakes. It seems all the corrections had been done already.
The graphics and voice-overs are all brilliant.
Well done Richard!
Ps. I like the capatalized “H” “N” “Y” in Happy New Year too.
Cheers!
@Andy: Sure, here are the pics! http://genkienglish.net/trickortreat.htm
Another fantastic CD, Richard. My kids are going to love it! My personal favorites are the scary Halloween song, and What Colour Is Christmas?
In the Gingerbread House game I also noticed that the front wall didn’t register. As well as that, the right side of the garden doesn’t work. I guess it’s not such a big deal though, because the kids would keep moving the mouse until they got the ‘OK?’ sign.
In the Gingerbread House song and karaoke music the words on the screen don’t change during the chorus… it might be better if it showed ‘a gingerbread house’ when we are supposed to repeat just that bit.
Another small thing I noticed was that in the Snowman game one of the noses was with the mouths. But maybe you did that on purpose…?
Anyway, thank you VERY MUCH from me and my classes!
I feel like I’m getting in here way after the others, but at least it’s not too late! I hope…
Richard this is a FANTASTIC cd!! It’s so bright, colorful and cheery. I just adore the graphics. I think the gingerbread house is really great graphics wise, of course I love them all!
The only things I noticed that haven’t already been mentioned are:
What color is Christmas song, the word orange is lower than the other words when it appears and is hard to read against the orange presents.
New Year – I’m assuming that the years will change automatically in the future? Yes caps are best.
Let’s Build a House- use of legos is brillant, but for the words when viewing before any other part of the software, I find garden ressembles a park more than a garden. Once you see the words2 or the song it’s ok…
Really super good job Richard! Bravo!! (cheers and applause)
Hello Richard,
I may be a bit late here with the comments, but i just got to work tonight checking things out.
In the Trick or Treat theme, julian mentioned the numbers only go up to eight, also i dont know if anyone has mentioned it but Zuchini Zombie is missing in words.
And in words 2 i cant find Zuchini Zombie on my keyboard. It works if i use the mouse to click the pictures but not if i use my keyboard.
Im using a brand spanking new iMac, i dont know if its missing something on the keyboard or…..
Anyway im off to check it again.
Jeph
Hi again,
Nope still cant find Zombie Zucchini, i can spell it correctly this time but i cant find it in words.
In words two the picture is there but have to use the mouse to hear it, its not anywhere to be found by pressing the number buttons et al.
Hope im not missing something due to this late hour and giving you undue stress.
Sincerely,
Jeph
Richard,
meanwhile I could check, and I can’t find any mistakes.
Man, this is just so beautiful, or better to say magic.
I must admit, I didn’t really like the “What color is Christmas” song in the testing, but watching this, it almost makes me cry.
I agree with gumby, this will be a CD also for people who don’t study English. You should make a market at some Christmas market in Germany. I think you could sell lots.
Oh no ; saying this I just imagine all of us getting dressed as Baby Monkey Santas singing GE songs. !!!
I totally agree with Margit on “what color is Christmas” – the software really brings it together!
Yeah, I was quite impressed myself how it turned out! In fact I was sort of wishing I’d re-recorded the vocals with a choir! Well, maybe for next year if we sell a load this year!
Oh, and I’ve just been trying the software on one of the new Hewlett Packard touchscreen Desktops (110,000 from Bic Camera) – wow – the software is so cool when you can just touch the screen!!
Downloaded it, but being a bit of a technical dunce, needing lots of time to open zipped files etc. I have not been able to open it yet. Sorry I couldn’t help before the deadline.
No problem, if you do find anything then let me know (I still have a few hours left!) if not simply enjoy!
one word… fantastic! thanks to all the early birds who did most of the work. Great timing Richard, now off to Central Asia?
Yep, Kazakhstan!
Richard:
Thank you for your good job.although I haven’t begun my new job in the kindergarten until the Nov,I can’t help trying the “new arrival” about the genki English”
Thanks again
Richard:
Thank you for your good job.although I haven’t begun my new job in the kindergarten until the Nov,I can’t help trying the “new arrival” about the genki English”
Thanks again