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AI + Accents - Intermediate News Lesson
AI + Accents - Intermediate News Lesson
perpetuating it?
Level 2: Intermediate
1
Warmer
a. Five of these ten words are typically American and five are British. Which are which? What are
their equivalents in the other variety of English?
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2
Key words
a. Find the following words in the text. The paragraph numbers are given to help you.
1. (of an accent) an adjective meaning sounding as if you are speaking through your nose
(paragraph 1)
3. a noun meaning one of several problems you must solve before you can do something
successfully (paragraph 2)
4. an adjective meaning feeling annoyed and impatient because you are prevented from achieving
something (paragraph 5)
10. an adjective meaning spoken in a tone of voice that does not go up or down
(paragraph 12)
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3
Comprehension check
a. Are these statements True (T) or False (F) according to the article? Correct any that are false.
4. Call-centre workers in India and the Philippines are already using this software.
7. Workers in the call centre where he worked had to pronounce certain words with a British accent.
8. Aneesh says that the time difference between India and the USA made life difficult for the workers.
10. He thinks that Sanas makes the speaker sound more polite.
4
Key language
a. Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make
expressions from the text.
1. product a. centre
2. call b. reality
3. real c. feedback
4. user d. feelings
5. social e. manager
6. mixed f. time
5
Discussion
• “A foreign accent is a good thing. It means you speak at least two languages.”
6
In your own words
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3. Comprehension check
1. Warmer
a. The answers given are only suggested answers
a. The purpose of this activity is to introduce the idea and students may correctly answer the questions
of some words being different in varieties of the in different ways, e.g., in item 3 they may say ‘He
same language. Indian English, which is discussed changed his name because he wanted to sound
in the article, tends to use British vocabulary, so American’, or similar.
Americans calling call centres in India may not
understand these words. There are hundreds of Key:
examples but these are some of the most common. 1. True
Note that Americans do use the word biscuit, but it 2. True
refers to a type of baked bread. In the UK, chips are 3. False. He changed his name to
what Americans call fries. Also, Americans usually sound more American because he
use the word gas when talking about gasoline or experienced discrimination.
petrol. When students have completed the warmer, 4. True
ask them if they know any other words that differ 5. False. It has been positive.
in the two varieties of English (e.g., apartment/flat; 6. True
sneakers/trainers; pants/trousers, etc.). 7. False. They had to relearn the pronunciation of
some words to sound American.
Key: 8. True
British English American English 9. False. He has mixed feelings about it.
pavement sidewalk 10. False. He thinks Sanas makes the speaker lose
tap faucet their emotion and politeness.
starter appetizer
petrol gasoline 4. Key language
area code zip code
a. Students could be asked to do this exercise
autumn fall
individually and then compare their answers in pairs.
handbag purse Ask students to refer back to the text to see the
cashpoint ATM words in context. Note that social can also be used
biscuit cookie with centre, but the solution given in the key is the
crisps potato chips only one that uses all six phrases.
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