Unit - 1 Listening Skills - 1

Objectives:

On completion of this unit you will be able to...

 understand the importance of listening for improving your language

 listen to and comprehend conversations and short speeches in English
 speak spontaneously in response to what you have listened to
 participate in discussions

Preparatory Work 15 min

Look at the following pictures and state what the people in the pictures are doing?

Is the act of listening important? If so, why?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

 Now read the following and talk to your partner about what you read based on the
cues given below.

Listening leads to speaking. Everyone can speak his mother tongue well because he listens to
it everyday. Anyone can develop speaking skills of a language by listening attentively to that
particular language repeatedly. This is how you learnt your mother tongue. This is a natural

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way of learning a language. However, this is not how you probably learnt English.

This unit attempts to focus on the aspect that listening to English will help you to improve it
because listening to English more and more makes you familiar with the sounds, words and
structure of the language. This familiarity will make you good speakers and also good
writers.

This unit contains three listening sections, first a conversation at a lost property cell,
second a presentation on banking and the third a radio talk on bicycles.

 Think of how you learnt English

 Differences between how you learnt your mother tongue and how you learnt
English

Activity 1

 Imagine a situation where you have lost your purse at a busy market place. Now
think aloud as many words as possible that are associated with this situation. One
has been given to help you to start. 10 min

Losing
something

reporting

 Listen carefully to Section 1 15min

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 Fill in the blanks for questions 1 -10
 Complete the form given below as you listen to the conversation
 Write not more than one word or a number for each answer

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Now check the answers

 Work in Pairs. 30 min

 Take roles as per the situation and tell each other what you might do in the
following situations.
 Speak as much
as you can
 You lost your bag at college  Listen to you
partner
 Your friend called you and told that he lost his purse at the theatre carefully
 Use examples
to explain your
 Your luggage was stolen at a busy bus stand point

 Your mother is searching for the ration card at home.

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 Activity 2 15 min

 Now check the answers

What was the topic for the presentation that you heard? 10 min

____________________________________________________________

 Think aloud words and phrases on the concept of ‘Saving Money’ You could think
of words that answer the questions what, where, when, why, how etc. You may use
these words and phrases for the speaking activity that follows.

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 Saving Money

Why/

 Now discuss in groups the following issues and one of you present your group’s
views to the class. 30 min
 Select Spokesperson
 Is saving money important? If so why? If not, why ? Time keeper

Note taker
 What do you understand from the following pictures? How
Members
has banking changed over the years?
 Listen to others while

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  If you to have Rs. 2 lakhs, how will you spend it?

Activity 3 10 min

Now check the answers

 Discuss in groups the following: 20 min

1. What is your mode of transport to college? Why have  Listen to others while
they speak
 Speak in a respectful
tone
 Add points to what
others have said 7
 you chosen it ?

2. Is the trend of racing among youth good?

 Now read the passage on cycling

To be fit and healthy you need to be physically active. Regular physical activity can help protect you
from serious diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, diabetes and arthritis.
Riding your bicycle regularly is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of health problems
associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young
children to older adults. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment.
It only takes two to four hours a week to achieve a general improvement to your health. Cycling is:

 Low impact – it causes less strain and injuries than most other forms of exercise.
 A good muscle workout – cycling uses all of the major muscle groups as you pedal.
 Easy – unlike some other sports, cycling does not require high levels of physical skill. Most
people know how to ride a bike and, once you learn, you don’t forget.
 Good for strength and stamina – cycling increases stamina, strength and aerobic fitness.
 As intense as you want – cycling can be done at very low intensity to begin with, if recovering
from injury or illness, but can be built up to a demanding physical workout.
 A fun way to get fit –
 Time-efficient – as a mode of transport, cycling replaces sedentary (sitting) time spent driving
motor vehicles or using trams, trains or buses with healthy exercise.

Health benefits of regular cycling

Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity, which means that your heart, blood vessels and lungs all get a
workout. You will breathe deeper, perspire and experience increased body temperature, which will
improve your overall fitness level.

The health benefits of regular cycling include:

 increased cardiovascular fitness

 increased muscle strength and flexibility
 improved joint mobility
 decreased stress levels
 improved posture and coordination
 strengthened bones
 decreased body fat levels
 prevention or management of disease

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  reduced anxiety and depression.

 Work in pairs and talk about the differences in the pictures that you see below
 You can choose one of the pictures and speak about it

Wrap up 10 min

 You are given ten minutes time to recall what you have learnt in this class