Accent Training Module

1
SEAMLESS CONNECTIONS
ACCENT TRAINING

No.of Days : 8
2
Day 1
3
AMERICAN
CULTURE
Knowing More About
America
4
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.

5

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.

6

New York City is Americas 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.

7

New York City is Americas largest city.

Chicago is the second largest city, Los
Angeles is third, and Philadelphia is the
fourth largest.

8

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 18
th
century.
A city of great beauty and a center of
world affairs, it is becoming a leading
cultural center.

9
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
automobiles.

10
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.

11
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
cultures.

12
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.

13
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 part-time jobs after
school hours. Thousands earn money
delivering newspapers or being baby sitters.

14
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.
15
National Celebrations

Americans share three national holidays with many
countries: Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, and New Years
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.

16
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 Years 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.
17
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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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 government.
19
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.
Smiths originality was to argue that such activity is
beneficial because it leads to increased production and
sharpens competition.
20

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 Smiths thinking: that government should
interfere in commerce as little as possible.
21
The Stock Market
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 York City, the nations financial hub.
22
Newspapers

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 newsbites rather than traditional,
long stories.
23
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 readers interests.
24
Television: Beyond The Big Three
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.
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
communitys interests. But the stations are united by such
national entities as the Public Broadcasting Service, which
supplies programming.
26
STATE CAPITALS .
Alabama - Montgomery
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

Louisiana - Baton Rouge
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)
31
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.

32
So thinking of music, feeling and
flow, let your mouth relax into your
American Accent.
33
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.
34
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.

35
Learning Accents

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

36
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.

37
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.

38
Brief for the Trainers ..
Audio Guide
in the Faculty Workbook
Audio Tape 1
- Side A and B
Audio Tape 2
- Side A
Audio Tapes
- 2
When to watch schedule
in the Power Point slides
7 American Accent
based movies
3 British Accent
based movies
Video Cassettes
- 10
Program Guide
in the Students Workbook
and Faculty Workbook
Students to watch
programs on TV
on a regular basis
Details in the
Power Point slides
and Assessment Sheet
in the Students Workbook
2 Home Assignments
to be
discussed in class
Home Assignments
Accent Training Module
Consists of :
39
Video --- Watching a Movie

One Movie - American
- in full
40
Day 2
41
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
42
PRONUNCIATIONS
43
NOUNS AND
PRONOUNS
44
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
Present in the Workbook
45
SYLLABLE PATTERNS
46
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
47
One Movie - British
- in full
48
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
49
Day 3
50
Open-house Discussion
The programs the students have watched

Few basic words and phrases the students
have identified
51
PRONUNCIATIONS
52
STAIRCASE
INTONATION
53
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
Not present in the Workbook
54
STAIRCASE
Vs QUESTION
INTONATION
55
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
56
Parts of two Movies
-1 American Movie
-1 British Movie
57
Filling-up The Questionnaire
58
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
59
Day 4
60
Discussion of Home
Assignment
Completed on Day 3
61
SPEAKING SKILLS
62
PRONUNCIATIONS
63
Intonation
64
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
65
Nouns and Verbs
66
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
67
Adjectives and Verbs
Words
68
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
69
Adjectives and Verbs
Sentences
70
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
71
Reduced Sounds
72
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
73
Tenses
74
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
75
Intonations
Paragraphs
76
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
77
Parts of two Movies
- 2 American Movies
78
79
Home Assignment
1.1 Tape your voice with a few key
words discussed in class using the
American Accent
80
Day 5
81
CONTINUING WITH
PRONUNCIATIONS
82
The Sounds
Sounds of A and E
83
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
84
The Sounds
The American T
85
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
86
The Sounds
The American EL
87
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
88
The Sounds
The American R
89
Role-Play --- Audio
Four consecutive pieces
LISTEN AND REPEAT
90
The American and British
Pronunciation of the most
commonly used words and
phrases
91
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
92
Understanding the difference
between American and British
spoken English
In terms of recognition
93
Parts of two Movies
-1 American Movie
-1 British Movie

Compare the British Film to the American
film
94
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
95
Discussion and Collation of All
Words and Phrases From All
Teams
96
Day 6
97
CONTINUING WITH
PRONUNCIATIONS
Role-Play --- Audio
98
The Sounds
Some more on the American T

99
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
100
The Sounds
The Middle I

101
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
102
Intonation and Attitude
103
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
104
The Sounds
Sounds of V

105
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
106
The Sounds
Sounds of S or Z
107
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
Words

Paragraphs
108
Pronunciations - General
109
Role-Play --- Audio
LISTEN AND REPEAT
110
Role-Play --- Live
Details in the Faculty Work Book
- Practice through conversations
Mock Session
111
Parts of two Movies
-2 American Movies

112
113
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.
114
Home Assignment
Reminder on the Skit: home assignment
A Question and Answer Session
115
Day 7
116
LEARNING TO PRONOUNCE
THE STATES OF AMERICA
Role-Play - Audio
Listen and Repeat
- Please refer to the map of America while
doing this role-play
117
Role-Play - Live
The Trainer asks 5 -8 students at random
to tell any 3 States of America
- Practicing pronunciation through mocks
118
Getting Better at Written Skills!!!!
119
Written Skills
On the e-mail :

--- Important to be crisp and short

--- The message and content should not
change

--- Presentation should be simple

120
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 paragraph
changes

121
Written Skills
On the e-mail :
Steps involved :

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

122
Written Skills
On the e-mail :

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

123
Discussion of Home Assignment
Given on Day 6
124
Day 8
125
Parts of two Movies
-2 American Movies
126
127
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
128
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
129
Time Taken
Total : 1 Hour
To write : 25 minutes
To evaluate each : 25 minutes
team (this will be
done verbally)

Each team will choose one person
from the team to speak
130
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.
131
Time Taken
Total : 2 Hours
To write : 25 minutes
To perform : 50 minutes
(for each team)
To evaluate each : 25 minutes
team (this will be (5 minutes each team)
done verbally)
132
A Quick Recap of All The Days

Accent Training Module

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