Hi, friends!

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Hi, friends.jpg

The Hi, friends! English textbooks replaced Eigo Notebook to become to standard textbook for 5th and 6th grade elementary school English between April 2012 and March 2018.

Hi, friends was replaced with the We Can! textbooks in April, 2018, the first run of which may contain each of the Hi, friends! textbooks. At the same time the Let's Try! textbooks were also introduced for 3rd and 4th grades.

Content

The current edition of Hi, Friends! textbook has new characters, features redesigned content, and has only minimal amounts of actual text. At the same time, it retains many similarities to the previous edition. Up through the 2018 academic year, elementary schools will have received student copies, a teacher's book (featuring lesson aims, phrases, points to consider etc.), as well as digital studying materials (contained on DVDs which can be installed on your computer in the form of an interactive textbook). Also available online are yearly lesson programs, lesson plans, and worksheets.

Unfortunately, like with Eigo Noto, English translations of the lesson plans for the new textbook will not be provided from MEXT. However, such materials may be purchased for ¥3,500 each (inquire with your school/BoE). Below are original translations of all of the lessons.

Hi, friends! 1

Lesson Title Hours
1 Hello! 1 2 - - -
2 I'm happy. 1 2 - - -
3 How many? 1 2 3 4 -
4 I like apples. 1 2 3 4 5
5 What do you like? 1 2 3 4 -
6 What do you want? 1 2 3 4 5
7 What's this? 1 2 3 4 -
8 I study Japanese. 1 2 3 4 5
9 What would you like? 1 2 3 4 -

Hi, friends! 2

Lesson Title Hours
1 Do you have "a"? 1 2 3 4 - -
2 When is your birthday? 1 2 3 4 - -
3 I can swim. 1 2 3 4 - -
4 Turn right. 1 2 3 4 - -
5 Let's go to Italy. 1 2 3 4 - -
6 What time do you get up? 1 2 3 4 5 -
7 We are good friends. 1 2 3 4-5 6
8 What do you want to be? 1 2 3 4 - -

Software

Role Playing Skit button circled in red

Each school that uses Hi, friends! will also have software that can be installed on Windows. The companion software acts as a digital version of the textbook, with animations, sounds and videos.
Sometimes this software runs slowly and the animations to a chant may not be in sync. Some ALTs have found that the following fix may be of help:

  • Click a Role Playing Skit (ロールプレイングスキット) button.
  • On the following page play a video for about 10 seconds.
    This will need to be done each time the software is used.

Applications

iOS

iPad iPhone Price In-app Purchase
Hi, friends! 1 ⭕️ Free ¥840
Hi, friends! 2 ⭕️ Free ¥840

Android

There is no app for Android. But it is possible to copy the software from the DVD to your Android device. For instructions follow this link.

Windows 8

Price
Hi, friends! 1 ¥700
Hi, friends! 2 ¥700

See also