Will's tour diary - What? Why? When? Where? - Shows - Seminars

What was the Genki English Tour of Japan?

Well, we went around Japan visiting elementary schools giving fun, genki English shows and training teachers on how to teach in a fun, genki way!

Where did we go?

After finishing the JET programme in July, I spent a month doing shows in Ehime and Kyushu. In September I teamed up with another ex-JET Will Jasprizza, who had just returned from China and  we started off  through Shikoku, Honshu and to Hokkaido, talking to schools, and arranging a schedule. We then went back down the country teaching our shows and seminars! We travelled from Abashiri in the north, to near Sakura Jima in the south!

When did we do this?

We finished up in Southern Kyushu in December - ready for a much deserved break over Christmas!

How did we travel?

To do things in a bit of style, we travelled round in a VW camper van (until the engine blew up)! Accommodation was via nice people who asked us to homestay, or alternatively a night in the camper van! This got interesting in the sub zero temperatures of Hokkaido!!

Why did we do this?

The main reason for doing this was that we have 3 years experience of designing this type of teaching method and resource. If we left now then we feel it would be a shame to let all that knowledge go to waste! When we first started we would have loved the chance to have a Genki English show or seminar! The idea is to make sure that kids get a chance to learn English in fun, enjoyable and effective way. Plus we also got the chance to travel round Japan and meet a lot of interesting people!


Why did we do it for free?

We went to some pretty out of the way places and those type of schools probably don't have the resources to bring this type of event to them. So we did it for free and supported ourselves by selling our CDs and doing lots of homestays!! This is a new type of education and not everyone will know just how good it can be, so we did it for free and they can have a go with no risk! That way everyone can see our Genki way of teaching, and if they like it a lot they can use the CDs to bring that energy & enthusiasm to the kids themselves!! We lived off our savings during the tour, that's why it was a 3 month only chance in a lifetime to have us come visit! We were so confident that people would  love the shows that if we did actually charge we'd offer a money back guarantee!


Thanks to everyone for their support! The thousands of kids that benefitted from the shows, and the hundreds of teachers that benefited from the seminars all appreciate it!

We are now planning on doing the shows and seminars on a much larger scale. If you would like us to attend somewhere near you, then please get in touch!



Be genki,

Richard

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