Authors: Dr Omer Hayban Omer, Abdelmahmoud Mohammed Ahmef, Nazar Abdelhadi Elmona,Amna Hussein Omer Hussein and Mussab Hassan Ibrahim Fegiri (Sudan) | Published on 1 October 2022

 

Listening to someone speaking and then trying to copy the sounds they made. This technique is very simple to use and can improve your speaking skills. It is also known as the listen and repeat method.

Let’s start with some sounds around us:

Teacher: What is the sound of a dog? 

Learners: [Bark]

Teacher: Who can try it out?

Learners: [Bark!!] 

Teacher: What other animals that make this noise?

Learners: Olves, coyotes, foxes, seals and barking owls

Teacher: Yes, brilliant

Teacher will read, Learners will listen and repeat:

Teacher: English and Swahili are the principal tongues  spoken throughout Kenya

Learners: English and Swahili are the principal tongues  spoken throughout Kenya

Swahili, also known as Kiswahili to many of its speakers, is a Bantu language, meaning it is a member of the Niger-Congo language family.

Learners: Swahili, also known as Kiswahili to many of its speakers, is a Bantu language, meaning it is a member of the Niger-Congo language family.

Teacher: English arrived in Kenya during the later years of the era of colonialism.

Learners: English arrived in Kenya during the later years of the era of colonialism.

Teacher: Besides Swahili, there are other indigenous African languages spoken more regionally that have more speakers than English has!

Learners: Besides Swahili, there are other indigenous African languages spoken more regionally that have more speakers than English has!

One of the strong readers will read then the class will repeat after him/ her. 

Timer is needed to know how long it takes from them to finish the passage. The winners are the one who finish the passage in the shortest time.

Play an audio of three minutes, let them listen, then the transcript of the audio will be given to them.

Example: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening/a1-listeni...

Host: At exam time it is important to sleep well. Today we have Doctor Baker with us in the studio and he is going to give us five top tips for getting a good night’s sleep. Welcome to the show, Doctor Baker. 

Dr Baker: Thank you. It’s great to be here. Let’s start with tip one. Don’t go to bed with the television on. Some people think they can sleep well with the TV on, but the noise and lights mean you don’t really sleep well, so turn it off!

Tip two: Don’t think too much before bedtime. Do your hardest homework earlier in the evening. Do easier homework later. If your brain is too busy and full of ideas it takes longer to get to sleep.

Tip three: Don’t play video games for an hour before you go to sleep. They also make your brain too busy and active. 

Tip four: Turn off your cell phone when you go to bed. What is so important that it can’t wait until the morning? If possible, leave your phone in another room. 

Tip five: Play music if you like. But don’t play it too loud. Turn the sound down low.

Host: Thank you, Doctor. That is very useful advice for our young listeners.

This conversation is 2:20. A timer will be used to know who are the winners.

Glossary

Indigenous: (of people and their culture) coming from a particular place and having lived there for a long time before other people came there; relating to, belonging to or developed by these people

brilliant: extremely clever or impressive

colonialism: the practice by which a powerful country controls another country or countries