The Hello Project connected students living over 6,000+ miles away from each other. It paired beginner music students in New York City with English language learners in Gifu, Japan. I have taught at both of the schools involved, making this one especially monumental for me, personally.
The project resulted in a hip-hop song that featured hundreds of student voices singing in a set of variations. The variations include Japanese, Spanish, and English..
Beginner music students learned how to sing in a steady, standard 4/4 time signature during their first month of general music class. They also became teachers themselves by sending their recordings to Japan for their English language learning penpals to replicate. Everyone had a chance to reflect on the experience.
ELL students learned how to fluently ask the question, “Hello, how are you?” and respond with “Im fine, thank you”. They were introduced to the universal reach of English by seeing and hearing their peers speak it from the other side of the world.
Thank you to the participants at Success Academy, Kensington English School, and Sakahogi Kindergarten for proving again that music has the ability to bring the world closer together, and for adding another building block onto the growth of this organization.
