Activity

Kawasaki Munenori Ganbatte Pump Up!

A short presentation featuring a Japanese baseball star designed to encourage students.

If you're not aware, there's a Japanese baseball player named Kawasaki Munenori who is just a plain entertaining guy, on and off the field. He played with the Toronto Blue Jays between 2013-2016 and gave some really memorable interviews during that time. Look him up on YouTube for a laugh.

Anyway, even though his English isn't perfect, Kawasaki really gives it his all. I think he offers an encouraging look at someone trying hard to learn a foreign language. I felt my students could benefit from his encouragement and get them to take more risks in class.

The presentation has a little introduction to Kawasaki and then a short, edited clip where he says some funny but encouraging words. You can ask the students what they hear in the video and try to drive the Kawasaki's last point home: “I can accept failure but I can’t accept not trying.”

This can be used at the beginning or ending of a class just to stimulate the students in a fun way. I think they appreciate seeing a fellow citizen struggling to overcome the mountain that is the English language.

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  • Kawasaki Munenori Ganbatte.pptx (104 MB)
  • 2
    Submitted by barronator May 18, 2021 Estimated time: 5-10 mins

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