Accent Training Module

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ACCENT TRAINING No.of Days : 8

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Day 1

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AMERICAN CULTURE Knowing More About America

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Salient Points On America The United States is a varied land – of forests, deserts, mountains, high flat lands and fertile plains. A jet plane crosses the continental United States from east to west in about five to six hours.

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Salient Points On America ……

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The US has long been known as a “melting pot” because many of its people are descendents of settlers who came from all over the world. The American people are always on the move – from one part of the country to another, from one city to another. Today three out of four Americans live in towns, cities or suburbs : over 57 million live in rural areas.SEAMLESS

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Salient Points On America…… New York City is America’s largest city. Each city has a downtown and suburbs. Downtown is where the largely affluent and yuppie crowd stays. It is more expensive than living in the suburbs though the suburbs have large bungalows.

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Salient Points On America…… New York City is America’s largest city. Chicago is the second largest city, Los Angeles is third, and Philadelphia is the fourth largest.

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Salient Points On America …… The nations capital, Washington D.C is seventeenth in population. Specially planned and built as a national capital, Washington was laid out by a French architect in the 18th century. A city of great beauty and a center of world affairs, it is becoming a leading cultural center. SEAMLESS CONNECTIONS

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Salient Points On America …… Living Standards : Americans spend money freely and make purchases on credit when necessary to buy things they want. Most pay off these debts on a regular monthly basis. The buying habits of Americans have changed in recent years. Since World War II, the demand for household goods has slowed down. More money is being spent on education, medical care, services, travel and recreation while a smaller percentage of income goes for food, clothing and SEAMLESS automobiles.

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Salient Points On America…… Living Standards : The majority of Americans live in apartments or individual houses that have electric lights, central heating, hot and cold running water and inside toilets. Because of the general rise in family incomes, factory workers, owners of small businesses, school teachers and sales personnel can be found in the same suburban communities, in homes very much alike.

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Salient Points On America ……

Education : Americans take great pride in their schools and want their children to have the best possible education. Only one percent of the population cannot read or write. New methods of instruction that encourage children to develop their creative abilities are being devised and tested in schools. Today, there is a strong emphasis on science, mathematics and foreign languages and an effort is being made to broaden the students’ knowledge of other people and SEAMLESS cultures.

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Salient Points On America ……

Education :

Today, about half of the young people who graduate from secondary school go to colleges or universities. The Americans popularly refer to even colleges as Schools. And instead of class or division they call it Level or Grade.

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Salient Points On America……

Youth :

Young people in America have a wide variety of interests apart from their school curriculum. Schools offer a wide range of activities. Apart from that most houses at least have a basket ball court. Also, most parks have tennis/squash/golf facilites and taking-up a sport in US is very easy. Many young people hold SEAMLESS part-time jobs after school hours. Thousands

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Salient Points on America …… Youth : Majority of young Americans at the age of 18 get a car to drive which could be second hand. The loan systems are very comfortable for people to buy homes and cars at an early age.

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National Celebrations

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Americans share three national holidays with many countries: Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Easter, which falls on a spring Sunday that varies from year to year, celebrates the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Christians, Easter is a day of religious services and a family gathering. Many Americans follow old traditions of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving children baskets of candy. On the next day, Easter Monday, the president of United States holds an annual Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn for young children. SEAMLESS

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National Celebrations …… Christmas Day, December 25, is another christian holiday; it marks the birth of Christ. Decorating houses and yards with lights, putting up Christmas trees, giving gifts, and sending greeting cards have become traditions even for many non-Christian Americans. New Year’s Day, of course, is January 1. The celebration of this holiday begins the night before when Americans gather to wish each other a happy and prosperous new year.

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Political Parties And Elections … … Americans regularly exercise their democratic rights by voting in elections and by participation in political parties and election campaigns. Today, there are two major political parties in the United States, the Democratic and the Republican. The Democratic Party evolved from the party of Thomas Jefferson, formed before 1800. The Republican Party was established in the 1850s by Abraham Lincoln and others who opposed the expansion of salary into new states then being admitted to the Union.

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Political Parties And Elections … …

The Democratic Party is considered to be the more conservative of the two. Democrats generally believe that government has an obligation to provide social and economic programs for those who need them. Republicans are not necessarily opposed to such programs but believe they are too costly to taxpayers. Republicans put more emphasis in the belief that a strong private sector makes citizens less dependent on SEAMLESS government.

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The American Economic System

The United States declared its independence in the year 1776, the same year that Scottish economist Adam Smith wrote The Wealth Of Nations, a book that has had an enormous influence on American economic development. Like many other thinkers, Smith believed that in a capitalist system people are naturally selfish and are moved to engage in manufacturing and trade in order to gain wealth and power. Smith’s originality was to argue that such activity is beneficial because it leads to increased production and sharpens competition.

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Political Parties And Elections …… As a result, goods circulate more widely and at lower prices, jobs are created, and wealth is spread. Though people may act from the narrow desire to enrich themselves, Smith argued, “an invisible hand” guides them to enrich and improve whole of society. Most Americans believe that the rise of their nation as a great economic power could not have occurred under any other system except capitalism, also known as free enterprise after a corollary to Smith’s thinking: that government should interfere in commerce as little as possible.

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The Stock Market

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Very early in American history, people saw that they could make money by lending it to those who wanted to start or expand a business. To this day, small American entrepreneurs usually borrow the money they need from friends, relatives, or banks. Larger businesses, however, are more likely to acquire cash by selling stocks or bonds to unrelated parties. These transactions usually take place through a stock exchange, or stock market. Europeans established the first stock exchange in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1531. Brought to the United States in 1792, the institution of the stock market flourished, especially at the New York Stock Exchange, located in the Wall Street area of New SEAMLESS York City, the nation’s financial hub.

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Newspapers

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The top five daily newspapers by circulation in 1995 were the Wall Street Journal(1,823,207), USA Today (1,570,624), the New York Times(1,170,869), the Los Angeles Times (1,053,498), and the Washington Post (840,232). The youngest of the top five, USA Today, was launched as a national newspaper in 1982 after exhaustive research by the Gannett chain. It relies on bold graphic design, color photos, and brief articles to capture an audience of urban readers interested in news”bites” rather than traditional, long stories.

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Magazines

Magazines on virtually any topic imaginable have appeared, including Tennis, Trailer Life, and Model Railroading, Other magazines have targeted segments within their audience for special attention. TV Guide, Time , and Newsweek, for example, publish regional editions. Several magazines are attempting to personalize the contents of each issue according to an individual reader’s interests.

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Television: Beyond The Big Three

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Three privately owned networks that offered free programming financed by commercials - NBC, CBS, and ABC - controlled 90 percent of the TV market from the 1950s to the 1970s. In the 1980s the rapid spread of pay cable TV transmitted by satellite undermined that privileged position. By 1994, almost 60 percent of American households had subscribed to cable TV, and non-network programming was drawing more than 30 percent of viewers. Among the new cable channels were several that show movies 24 hours a day; Cable News Network, the creation of Ted Turner, which broadcasts news around the clock, and MTV, which shows music videos.

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25 … Television: Beyond The Big Three … In the meantime, a fourth major commercial network, Fox, has come into being and challenged the big three networks; several local TV stations have switched their affiliation from one of the big three to the newcomer. Two more national network - WB and UPN - have also come along, and the number of cable television channels continues to expand. There are 335 public television stations across the United States, each of which is independent and serves its community’s interests. But the stations are united by such national entities as the Public Broadcasting Service, which supplies programming.

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STATE CAPITALS ……………26 …. Alabama - Montgomery Louisiana - Baton Rouge Alaska - Juneau Arizona - Phoenix Arkansas - Little Rock California - Sacramento Colorado - Denver Florida - Tallahassee Georgia - Atlanta Hawaii - Honolulu Idaho - Boise Illinois - Springfield Indiana - Indianapolis Lowa - Des Moines Kansas - Topeka Kentucky - Frankfort

Maine - Augusta Maryland - Annapolis Massachusetts - Boston Michigan - Lansing Minnesota - St. Paul Mississippi - Jackson Missouri - Jefferson City Montana - Helena Nebraska - Lincoln Nevada - Carson City New Hampshire - Concord New Jersey - Trenton New Mexico - Santa Fe New York - Albany

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STATE CAPITALS New Carolina Raleigh North Dakota Bismarck Ohio - Columbus Oklahoma Oklahoma City Oregon - Salem Pennsylvania Harrisburg Rhode Island Providence South Carolina Columbia South Dakota - Pierre

Tennessee - Nashville Texas - Austin Utah - Salt Lake City Vermont - Montpelier Virginia - Richmond Washington Olympia West Virginia Charleston Wisconsin - Madison Wyoming - Cheyenne

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PRONUNCIATIONS

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ACCENTS

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Learning Accents …………… … What is Accent ? Accent is a combination of three main components : intonation (speech music – how it sounds), liaisons (word connections) and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants and combinations)

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Learning Accents …………… … Difference between Grammar and Accent Grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured. Accent on the other hand is free form, intuitive and creative.

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So thinking of music, feeling and flow, let your mouth relax into your American Accent.

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Learning Accents …………… … Many people equate accent with pronunciation. This is not true at all. America is a big country and while the pronunciation varies from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the southern to the northern states, two components that are uniquely American stay basically the same – the speech music or intonation and the word connections or liaisons.

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Learning Accents …………… … In the next eight days, you will be given the following tools to learn accents better : -- Audio tape/CD as a support -- Video cassettes / VCD : Relevant English movies to watch to recognize accents and get familiar with the most commonly spoken words and phrases.

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Learning Accents …………… … The main objective is to get familiar with accents and recognize key words , sentences and conversations.

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Learning Accents …………… … FOR THE TRAINERS Audio : -- after each Audio Piece, please make each student repeat the audio exactly the way its said. Video : -- after watching every movie : each team will fill-up the questionnaire for that day in the workbook.

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Learning Accents …………… … FOR THE TRAINERS Video : -- Except 1American movie & 1 British movie which will be watched in full in the first two days, on all the other days, the group will watch only a part of the movie (say the first half hour) -- Collect all the words and phrases from each team and make a comprehensive list at the end of the Accent Training module.

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Brief for the Trainers ………… ….. A c c e n t T ra in in g M o d u le C o n s is ts o f :

A u d io T a p e s -2 A u d io T a p e 1 - S id e A a n d B

A u d io G u id e in th e F a c u lty W o rk b o o k

V id e o C a s s e tte s - 10 A u d io T a p e 2 - S id e A

7 A m e ric a n A c c e n t b a s e d m o v ie s

W h e n to w a tc h s c h e d u le in th e P o w e r P o in t s lid e s

3 B ritis h A c c e n t b a s e d m o v ie s

H o m e A s s ig n m e n ts

S tu d e n ts to w a tc h p ro g ra m s o n T V o n a re g u la r b a s is

2 H o m e A s s ig n m e n ts to b e d is c u s s e d in c la s s

P ro g ra m G u id e in th e S tu d e n ts W o rk b o o k a n d F a c u lty W o rk b o o k

D e ta ils in th e P o w e r P o in t s lid e s and A ssessm ent S heet in th e S tu d e n ts W o rk b o o k

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Movie

Video --- Watching a One Movie - American - in full

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Day 2

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Each team will be informed at the outset that they will need to choose a part of the movie of their choice for a skit that will take place on Day 8

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PRONUNCIATIONS

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NOUNS AND PRONOUNS

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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SYLLABLE PATTERNS

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Movie

Video --- Watching a One Movie - British - in full

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Home Assignment DO IT YOURSELF Going through the program guide : 1.1 Following a list of all the programs that need to be watched 1.2 Getting familiar with words used in the programs

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Day 3

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Open-house Discussion The programs the students have watched Few basic words and phrases the students have identified

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PRONUNCIATIONS

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STAIRCASE INTONATION

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Not present in the Workbook

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STAIRCASE Vs QUESTION INTONATION

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Not present in the Workbook

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Movie

Video --- Watching a Parts of two Movies -1 American Movie -1 British Movie

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Filling-up The Questionnaire

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Home Assignment Watching CNN and noting down key words on two levels : 1.1 the most commonly used words 1.2 differently pronounced words Each student must write at least 5 words of each type and watch CNN for a minimum of one hour

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Day 4

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Discussion of Home Assignment Completed on Day 3

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SPEAKING SKILLS

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PRONUNCIATIONS

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Intonation

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Nouns and Verbs

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Adjectives and Verbs Words

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Adjectives and Verbs Sentences

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Reduced Sounds

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Tenses

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Intonations Paragraphs

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Not present in the Workbook

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Movie

Video --- Watching a Parts of two Movies - 2 American Movies

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Filling-up The Questionnaire

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Home Assignment 1.1 Tape your voice with a few key words discussed in class using the American Accent

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Day 5

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CONTINUING WITH PRONUNCIATIONS

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The Sounds Sounds of “A” and “E”

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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The Sounds The American “T”

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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The Sounds The American “EL”

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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The Sounds The American “R”

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Role-Play --- Audio Four consecutive pieces LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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The American and British Pronunciation of the most commonly used words and phrases

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Understanding the difference between American and British spoken English In terms of recognition

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Movie

Video --- Watching a Parts of two Movies -1 American Movie -1 British Movie

Compare the British Film to the American film

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Role-Play --- Video After watching the movie, each team should note down at least ten differences in words and phrases noticed between the two movies and the two accents

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Discussion and Collation of All Words and Phrases From All Teams

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Day 6

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CONTINUING WITH PRONUNCIATIONS Role-Play --- Audio Not present in the Workbook

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The Sounds Some more on the American “T”

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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The Sounds The Middle “I”

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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Intonation and Attitude

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Not present in the Workbook

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The Sounds Sounds of “V”

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Present in the Workbook

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The Sounds Sounds of “S or Z”

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Words Present in the Workbook Paragraphs Not present in the Workbook

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Pronunciations General

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Role-Play --- Audio LISTEN AND REPEAT Not present in the Workbook

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Role-Play --- Live Details in the Faculty Work Book - Practice through conversations Mock Session

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Movie

Video --- Watching a Parts of two Movies -2 American Movies

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Filling-up The Questionnaire

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Home Assignment Watching BBC and noting down key words on two levels : 1.1 The most commonly used words 1.2 Differently pronounced words Each student must write at least 5 words of each type and watch CNN for a minimum of one hour.

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Home Assignment Reminder on the Skit: home assignment A Question and Answer Session

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Day 7

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LEARNING TO PRONOUNCE THE STATES OF AMERICA Role-Play - Audio Listen and Repeat Present in the Workbook - Please refer to the map of America while doing this role-play

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Role-Play - Live The Trainer asks 5 -8 students at random to tell any 3 States of America - Practicing pronunciation through mocks

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Getting Better at Written Skills!!!!

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Written Skills ………………… … On the e-mail : --- Important to be crisp and short --- The message and content should not change --- Presentation should be simple

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Written Skills ………………… …

On the e-mail : Steps involved :

1. Subject : should be very clear, and concise 2. Name of the person : as Dear Patrick 3. Introduction : one sentence, should be appealing 4. Message/Content : this should not be more than 4-5 sentences with appropriate SEAMLESS paragraph

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Written Skills ………………… …

On the e-mail : Steps involved :

5. Closing : should be positive, with a reconfirmation of the next steps and a nice verbiage.

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Written Skills ………………… … On the e-mail :

There should be an effort to include a few of the most commonly used words.

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Discussion of Home Assignment Given on Day 6

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Day 8

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Video --- Watching a Movie Parts of two Movies -2 American Movies

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Filling-up The Questionnaire

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Preparation Time for Two Role-Plays Role-Play 1 : To write an e-mail to a friend in the US Role-Play 2 : Preparing for a skit

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Role-Play 1 --- Live An e-mail should contain the kind of words a friend from the US would understand right from the greeting to closing. -- Each team can select their own topic for the e-mail

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Time Taken Total : 1 Hour minutes

To write : 25 minutes To evaluate each : 25 team (this will be done verbally)

Each team will choose one person from the team to speak

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Role-Play 2 --- Live Each team will choose a part of any movie watched by them during the course of the week. They will spend one hour preparing for the skit.

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Time Taken Total : 2 Hours To write To perform

team)

: 25 minutes : 50 minutes (for each team) To evaluate each : 25 minutes team (this will be (5 minutes each done verbally)

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A Quick Recap of All The Days

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