Genki English Newsletter

November 2000

 I'm writing this newsletter in the hotel where the Aomori JET conference is taking place, I think people were pretty surprised at just how genki Genki English is!! We're just about in the middle of the tour, it's very tiring, but a lot of fun!! Thanks to everyone who has helped us out!! The highpoint so far? The Genki English show in Chippubetu, with a load of kids, nearly 100 ALTs, a dancing castle and a dancing leek, all singing "What's your name?" and doing the "left and right" dance!!!!

New Videos

Wanna see what our shows involve? We took some video last week and now have them on the homepage! The kids learnt these songs in only 10 minutes! Check out What's your name? Left and Right, What time is it Mr Wolf?, and the Thank you song!

New Game - Doctor Doctor

This month's new idea is the Doctor Doctor Game! A fun way to practice body parts (and some first aid?). On the homepage there is a more detailed description with pictures, but here's a brief run down!

1. Split the kids into pairs. One is the doctor, one is the patient.

2. Give each doctor a metre or so of toilet paper.

3. The teacher, or the students, choose a body part.

4. Everyone shouts out together "Doctor, Doctor my (body part) hurts!" e.g. if you chose "head", everyone would shout out "Doctor, Doctor my head hurts!".

5. Each doctor wraps their patient's corresponding body part!!

6. Patients and doctors exchange roles.

7.Repeat from 3

It's fun, and can get very artistic!

Kawaii Eigo

Can High School kids use Genki English? Well, yes they can! We've just made a new page called Kawaii Eigo (or "Cute" English - Japanese kids love anything that is "cute"), which collects together all the taking pages on Genki English. The page is very pink and I'm sure your kids, whether elementary or High school, would love to play around on it!

Teaching Hint

Speaking of body parts,  this is a new twist on "Heads and Shoulders" that I heard the other day. Split the kids into groups. Each group has to think up new words for "Heads and shoulders". For example "Ear, leg, hand and cheek" or something! They then get to perform their new version- with the actions of course!

Teaching Hint 2

When teaching songs I always used to teach the target English, practice with a game and then go through a song. This worked great for a 40 minute lesson. But now with the Genki English Shows I'm having to teach a whole new set of English to several hundred kids at a time in 10 minutes!! So the best way I've found is to just teach the song first! I go through each line, singing along with the kids and doing the actions. Then we do it together with the recorded music. I briefly mention what the meaning is, but leave it up to the kids to figure it out, and they do get it quickly! This means that I can teach the Left and Right song, The What time is it Mr Wolf? Song, the What's your name? Song and the Thank you song all in one 45 minute lesson!! Have a go, teach the song and then if you have time practice the language with the games afterwards! And remember the golden rule of elementary school "Genki is as Genki does"!

Egg

I heard this game the other day from Debi in Hokkaido. It's basically the same as my Rocket Launch game, but a bit cuter! All the kids crouch down and fold their arms above their head in an egg shape. Everyone counts from 1 to 12 (remember it's more useful to teach 1 to 12 as you can then easily teach time), and when you reach 0 the chicks hatch out of the eggs!

CD Manual

A lot of people have been asking for a compact, printed out set of instructions on how to use the Genki English CDs. So I've condensed  the info on the homepage into two A4 sheets, one for CD1 and one for CD2. You can get them on the page as html files, or Word files. Also, if you have bought the CD and would like me to send you a copy of the sheets, then please get in touch!

Genki English in the Media

Well, this is probably a silly paragraph as I think we've been in just about every Newspaper you could name! In Hokkaido we also got a spot on NHK radio - very fun! And lots of our shows in Aomori were shown on TV! Also check out Genki English in the November 8th issue of "New Kyouiku and Pasokon" magazine, and my own column in the new "Kids Com" magazine which will be out in December!

Going Snowboarding?

This isn't really anything to do with Genki English, but may be of interest to  JETs (teachers on the Japan Exchange and Teaching programme). A mate of ours, Scott, runs a mail order business in Aomori  selling skiing, snowboarding and other outdoor gear. He's promised to give JETs some good deals, so if you need some stuff for the winter, give him a mail on powderhound38@hotmail.com and tell him Genki English sent you!


And Finally...

We still have a few slots free in our tour schedule, and remember that  our seminars are available for anyone to join in! Just give me a call or an email! And don't forget Will's tour diary - find out about our adventures, and a bit about what it's like being a JET teacher in Japan!

See you later,

be genki,

Richard! 

====================== 
Richard J. Graham 
Primary School English Games, Songs and Activities 
Email: richard.j.graham@iname.com 
www.genkienglish.com


Previous Newsletters: 

September/October 2000 Newsletter
August/September 2000 Newsletter

July/August 2000 Newsletter
June/July 2000 Newsletter
May/June 2000 Newsletter
April/May 2000 Newsletter
March/April 2000 Newsletter
February/March 2000 Newsletter
January/February 2000 Newsletter

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