A mini-course on understanding the Indian accents.

LESSON 1.
Initial discussion followed by an analysis of the most prominent features of the Indian accent
(South India).

1. Warmer. Listen to the stand-up comedian/ ONLY 1 min 40 – 3 min 55!!! / Taboo stuff
at the beginning and in the end )) There is the clipped version of this video without
the controversial parts on the google drive (see the INDIAN ACCENTS MINI-COURSE
folder) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78cDjLJDRgA
2. Discuss what features of the Indian accent make it difficult to understand. No correct
answers here, just brainstorm.
3. Study some features of the Indian accent with this video (no clipping necessary):
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7MIyQS9p5E (part 1)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl86emfxYrs (part 2)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsN7k6KyhOg (part 3)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFRg38o5SYI (part 4)

4. Practise reading texts imitating the Indian accent. See thee worksheets and keys on
the next page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ORrUaHrEs
The idea here is that when imitating an accents you invariably come to understand
people using it better as your brain gets re-wired to comprehend it “from the inside”,
kinesthetically.
You’d better approach this practice in a light-hearted and fun way, rather than really
expecting the students to imitate every point of the accent.
 WORKSHEET 1
Practice reading this passage as if you were from India. Then
switch back to a British or American accent and read it again.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ORrUaHrEs (part 5) – 0.00 – 5.35

Harry Potter 4-7, HP 6 - HP and the Half-Blood Prince - CH15 (1)

— CHAPTER FIFTEEN —

The Unbreakable Vow

Snow was swirling against the icy windows once more; Christmas was approaching fast.
Hagrid had already single-handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees for the Great
Hall; garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs;
everlasting candles glowed from inside the helmets of suits of armour and great bunches of
mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors. Large groups of girls tended to
converge underneath the mistletoe bunches every time Harry went past, which caused
blockages in the corridors; fortunately, however, Harry’s frequent night-time wanderings
had given him an unusually good knowledge of the castle’s secret passageways, so that he
was able, without too much difficulty, to navigate mistletoe-free routes between classes.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Practice reading this passage as if you were from India. Then
switch back to a British or American accent and read it again.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ORrUaHrEs (part 5) – 0.00 – 5.35

Harry Potter 4-7, HP 6 - HP and the Half-Blood Prince - CH15 (1)

— CHAPTER FIFTEEN —

The Unbreakable Vow

Snow was swirling against the icy windows once more; Christmas was approaching fast.
Hagrid had already single-handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees for the Great
Hall; garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs;
everlasting candles glowed from inside the helmets of suits of armour and great bunches of
mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors. Large groups of girls tended to
converge underneath the mistletoe bunches every time Harry went past, which caused
blockages in the corridors; fortunately, however, Harry’s frequent night-time wanderings
had given him an unusually good knowledge of the castle’s secret passageways, so that he
was able, without too much difficulty, to navigate mistletoe-free routes between classes.
 LESSON 2.
 Practising listening to and understanding a variety of Indian local accents.
 Intensive listening and reading comprehension.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJgoTcyrFZ4

Warmer = > discussion => comprehension practice. Watch the video in which Indians
discuss whether their accent is to be ridiculed and raise some issues that are of interest.

NOTE to the teacher: the video is subtitled. Turn it into a whole-group or pairs listening
comprehension exercise by covering the subtitles with a slip of paper, getting the students
to repeat what they think they heard, then uncovering the subtitles and re-playing the video
to check what they got right and what not.

NB! With lower-level groups help extensively translating the difficult words into Russian.

 As you move through the video, discuss the ideas put forward by the people
in the streets.

This one video is enough for an entire 30 - 40-minute lesson. No worksheet necessary.

Lesson 3.
Warmer: remember the key features of the Indian Accent looked at in the previous lesson.

Practice 3: tune your ear and do the exercise.

Note to the teacher: the recording that follows was taken from a site that stores thousands of dialects.
People are asked to read one and the same passage from a book, then talk about themselves. The
worksheet therefore consists of two parts: in the first part they simply need to listen to the speaker
following the script in order to get used to this particular accent. The style of the reading will be rather
imperfect as they are simple people, not actors. The second part, where the subjects speak naturally
about themselves, is a gapfill exercise. The gaps were chosen so as to highlight the most problematic
parts. The recording is copyrighted and can ONLY be played from the website. As most Nix classrooms
are connected to the internet, I hope it is fine with you. https://www.dialectsarchive.com/india-13

KEY:

I’m born in Mangalore, umm, which is a small city in the state of Karnataka Country, India. I’m born
and brought up there, umm, like all my life, mmm. I completed my undergrad in the same town. So
it’s almost twenty-two years. In two years, I was, umm, in another, ah, state in India itself. I’ve been
working there and then ah like, oh, January 2009, I came here; I came to US to do my master’s. Um,
about my family: My parents, mm, uh, my parents are from Mangalore itself, but, uh, my dad’s
parents are, u,h from a village which is, ah, an hour away from the mm the city Mangalore, so this
kind of like same culture, but just, ah, smm city was much better to live in. Um, about names [unclear]
the location of my city, like hometown is in south India; it’s in the coastal area, umm next to the, ah,
Arabian Sea, so we can see the sunset over there to dialogue the native language, which we which I
use to spo- speak at home is umm Tulu, and then the state language is Kannada, and then Hindi
culture; it’s, ah, where I come from a small community, so, ah, I don’t … I, ah, don’t know; it’s kinda
like all Asian culture … nothing special about it.
 WORKSHEET 3

PART 1: tune your ear. Listen: https://www.dialectsarchive.com/india-

13

Well, here’s a story for you: Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse who had been working daily at an
old zoo in a deserted district of the territory, so she was very happy to start a new job at a superb
private practice in North Square near the Duke Street Tower. That area was much nearer for her
and more to her liking. Even so, on her first morning, she felt stressed. She ate a bowl of porridge,
checked herself in the mirror and washed her face in a hurry. Then she put on a plain yellow dress
and a fleece jacket, picked up her kit and headed for work.

When she got there, there was a woman with a goose waiting for her. The woman gave Sarah an
official letter from the vet. The letter implied that the animal could be suffering from a rare form
of foot and mouth disease, which was surprising, because normally you would only expect to see
it in a dog or a goat. Sarah was sentimental, so this made her feel sorry for the beautiful bird.

Before long, that itchy goose began to strut around the office like a lunatic, which made an
unsanitary mess. The goose’s owner, Mary Harrison, kept calling, “Comma, Comma,” which
Sarah thought was an odd choice for a name. Comma was strong and huge, so it would take some
force to trap her, but Sarah had a different idea. First she tried gently stroking the goose’s lower
back with her palm, then singing a tune to her. Finally, she administered ether. Her efforts were
not futile. In no time, the goose began to tire, so Sarah was able to hold onto Comma and give her
a relaxing bath.

Once Sarah had managed to bathe the goose, she wiped her off with a cloth and laid her on her
right side. Then Sarah confirmed the vet’s diagnosis. Almost immediately, she remembered an
effective treatment that required her to measure out a lot of medicine. Sarah warned that this
course of treatment might be expensive - either five or six times the cost of penicillin. I can’t
imagine paying so much, but Mrs. Harrison - a millionaire lawyer-thought it was a fair price for a
cure.

Part 2: can you hear?

I’m ________________ in Mangalore, umm, which is a small city in the state of Karnataka Country,
India. I’m born and ___________________ there, umm, like all my life, mmm. I completed my
____________________ in the same town. So it’s ____________________ twenty-two years. In two years,
I was, umm, in ___________________, ah, state in India itself. ____________________ there and then ah
like, oh, January ________________, I came here; I came to US to do my master’s. Um, about my
family: My parents, mm, uh, my parents are from Mangalore ________________, but, uh, my dad’s
parents are, u,h from a ________________ which is, ah, ________________ from the mm the city
Mangalore, so this __________________________ same culture, but just, ah, smm city was much
better to __________________. Um, about names [unclear] the location of my city, like hometown
is in ________________ India; it’s in the ___________________, umm next to the, ah, Arabian Sea, so we
can see the sunset ___________________ to _____________________ the native language, which we
which I use to spo- speak at home is umm Tulu, and then the state language is Kannada, and
then Hindi culture; it’s, ah, where I _____________________ small community, so, ah, I don’t … I, ah,
don’t know; it’s ________________ all Asian culture … ________________ special about it.
 Follow-up TED talks by presenters from India.
Choose the talks you find particularly interesting / useful / matching your program.

Name or talk and the link topic accent Interest

A police chief with a difference Jobs, role models, moderate ***
https://www.ted.com/talks/kiran_bedi_a_police choosing your path in life,
_chief_with_a_difference women’s role
India’s hidden hotbeds of invention Poverty, social justice, moderate ***
https://www.ted.com/talks/anil_gupta_india_s_ invention
hidden_hotbeds_of_invention
The trilling potential of the 6th sense strong ****
technology
https://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_
thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology

TO BE CONTINUED