Speaking protfolio( entry2)

Context of the conversation
On Sunday the 8 May 2011, I went to church. I met a kiwi lady and talked with her. We talked about 10 minutes. Our conversation is about the background of me and the events happened recently.

  Cultural aspects or cultural differences noticed
This lady is about 60-year-old and her name is Jenny. She is a very kind lady, so we had a relaxed and informed conversation. One cultural difference which I noticed during the conversation is that in my country we usually call elderly lady grandma Lee(the surname) for respect reason. In contract, in New Zealand we can use the last name for elderly. In my country, if the younger generation called the last name of the old generation, we consider this person is insulting the elderly.

Beginning and ending of conversation
The conversation began when the church finished the service, the lady came to me and said, “Hello, Emmet. It is lovely to see you here. How is your study going?” I replied back, “It is lovely to meet you too. I am doing alright, and I still work hard on my English. How are you?” To that she replied, “Very well, thank you”.

Our conversation end with hoping to meet again on next Sunday. I said ,” I am very happy to be here.” She said to me,” keep coming to the church, and you are important for us, hope see you next time.”

Vocabulary features noticed
When we were talking, she used a lot question tag sentences. Such as what a beautiful day today, is it?  The weather becomes chilly, does it?  She also used the “um” “well” during the conversation. When I said something, she always nod and said “yes”. She used “fortunately” when we talked about the storm and tornado. She used “could” “could be” a lot when we talked.

 
Strategy used

Sometimes she talked a bit unclear. During our conversation when I found something difficult to follow, I guessed the main idea and repeated again. If I was right, she would say “yes” and then she explained, otherwise she would say “ not really” and then she repeated it. Also, if I did not catch the main idea, I would say” sorry, could you repeat the last sentence, please?”

Conversation Flow
Jenny is very nice lade, and she is very kind. When we are talking, she keep her speed slow and make me understand easily. We had eye contact when we were speaking, and she was smiling. We use some body language and gesture for encourage the conversation. Such as nodding. She used a lot words to encourage the conversation, such as “yes”, “right”.

I used some phrases to flow the conversation well , such as “is it?”. Also, I ask questions after she talked to show I understand what she talked about. She always use “yes” to keep the conversation flow, and also encourage me to talk.

 

Vocabulary used
During the conversation, I used the common words which I used to use. I did not use a lot new vocabulary. I tried to use new words, such as “terrific” which I learnt in English movies.

I used fillers and hesitation devices during the conversation. I used “um” “ah” “ well” to show to others that I was not finish, and also it gave me more time to think about the words that I was going to use. Also, I used the fillers such as “I mean” “you Know” “I guess” to help me to speak my opinion. Sometimes, when I unsure about the word, I used “you know” to make the conversation flow.

Linguistic Features
When I talked, it took me longer time to think about the grammar, so I speak slower. Sometimes, I still have the grammar mistake. For example, I use she work right now instead she works right now. Also, my pronunciation is not good sometimes, and I could not pronounce very clearly. When I was speaking, I searched the right word for the content, and sometimes I could not find the right word, so it might confuse the others.

In the further study, I need to extend my vocabulary and also I need to focus on my grammar and pronunciation.

Speaking protfolio( entry 1)

Context of the conversation
On Saturday the 31 April 2011, I had a conversation with a kiwi girl, the sale of Health 2000 in Saint Lucks shopping mall. The conversation lasted for about 10 minutes. Recently I could not sleep well, so I went there for some instructions. 

 Cultural aspects or cultural differences noticed
During the conversation, she was nice and patience. It really helped me relax. Sometimes I could not express clearly, she can help me work it out. She always kept smiling and faced to me to talk. We talked very happily.

Beginning and ending of conversation
The conversation began when I came into that shop ,the girl saw me and said, “Hello, sir. How are you? How can I help you?” I replied back, “good good. How are you? Yap, I am looking for something for helping my sleep,” To that she replied, “Very well, thank you”. ”yap. sleep?”

Our conversation end with my thank to her. I said ,”Thank for your helps. I will think about your advices and maybe I will come back later. Thank you.” She said to me,” you are welcome, cool, see you next time.”

Vocabulary features noticed
when we were talking about the products ,she used many “probably” to show that she was not sure. I heard of some new word such as melatonin, hormone, single serve sachet.

Some chunks of vocabulary I noticed while having conversation with her –‘a little bit of ‘ ,‘ a kind of’,’ ‘before bed time’, ’all the time’.

Strategy used

Sometimes she talked a bit fast. During our conversation wherever I found something difficult to understand, I used statement like “Sorry, I did not get you. Can you repeat it ?”.

There are some medical words I could understand .I would say ,” sorry, can you explain this words for me, please ?” For instance, one of the words is “melatonin” . Sometimes I repeated the sentence for making sure I understood her.

Conversation Flow
At the beginning, we talked a bit slow and after a while we talked smoothly. When we are speaking , we look at each other sometimes and we also use some body language to help us communicate. Both of us made encouraging/constructive comments to show that we are listening to each other - ‘Right’; ‘Uh-huh’; ‘OK’, ‘Yes’.

Some of the phrases I used during the conversation to keep the flow of the conversation well were, “this sounds good”. Some of the phrases used by her to keep the conversation flows smoothly, “yap”; “that’s right”. 

Vocabulary used
I did not use any new vocabulary. Actually, I was nervous so that I talked all in simple old words.

Some of the hesitation devices I used such as 'um', 'ah', 'er', etc. I think that I used the hesitation devices quite well and it gave me more time to think about what to say in a conversation without the awkward silence. Some of the fillers used were ‘I think’, ‘You know’, ‘I mean’.

Linguistic Features
During the conversation, I did some wrong grammar mistakes in my speaking. For example, I use past simple tense to describe some actions happening now. I need time to think what I should say so that my speak speed is slower that that girl. Sometimes, I could not express what I actually want to say, although she can guess my words.

In my future conversation with the native speakers, I should do some preparation about the topic. Also, I should pay more attention to their pronunciation and accents and flow of their dialogue delivery. I should make those observations into practice. In addition, I should use the new vocabulary acquired during the course of the study as well as during various conversations with the native speakers. Finally, I should overcome my nervous when I talk to a stranger ,although it is hard for me.

Listening portfolio entry8 (Radio)

Source: Freezing cream
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio
Strategies:
A. Listen to the stress words
B. taking notes
C. repeat as many times as I need
Evaluation:

1.This interview is about why you can't whip cream after you've frozen it and how you can do at home to solve the problem. The speakers talk very clearly and I can get the stress words easily. With the help of these words, I got the main idea after I listened to it for four times.

2.Writing notes is very useful to listen to a radio. Because there is no subtitle when they are speaking, If I do not write anything down, I only can remember a little information. In this way ,I can get some information every time. Finally, I am able to use these useful words to understand the speaking.

3. Although I could get the main idea, I still have some words or some sentences which I cannot understand. The strategy c can help me to solve this problem. In this way I can repeat the sentence until I understand it.

Reflection:
A is a good way for me to listen to a radio. It helps me get the main idea easily. However, sometimes I need more details .B is better way to get more details. Also,
B can remind me what I have listened .C can enable me to learn new vocabulary and find missing words. After listening, I can check these words in the dictionary. Therefore, I think only I use A,B and C together ,I can improve my listening .

Listening portfolio entry 7(TV programme)

Source: The big bang theory 3--2
Strategies:
A. Listen to the key words
B. Listening and reading English subtitles at the same time
C. Guess the meaning of the sentence
Evaluation:
1.It is useful. Sometimes the actors speak very fast. It is impossible to listen to every words. Therefore, listening the keys words can help me a lot to understand the whole sentence. However, in some sentence, I do not know the meaning of the key words and I will not understand. At that time, I paused the TV programme and checked the words in the dictionary.
2.This listening strategy is very helpful for me. I can expand my vocabulary and hear the flow of speech from the actors. In addition, I become very confidence in learning English in this way because I can nearly understand everything. It can encourage me to keep going on my study.
3.The strategy C can use together with the strategy B .It helps me when I have some long sentence with new vocabulary. It can improve my comprehension.  

Reflection:

Watching a TV programme is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very effective. I think the strategy B is better way to watch a TV programme.I like this strategy and I will use it next time. For strategy A and C, both of them are useful. However, I think it is more helpful to use them with B together.

listening portfolio entry 6(song)

Source: You Belong With Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

Strategies:

1.write down the keywords  
2. Use the lyric

Evaluation:

1.      After 3 times, in this way, I can write down a lots of key words and most of the sentences .It is a nice sing. It is a great way to listen to a song because it is hard to write everything down. I noted down the key words first time, and then added more words second time. In the last time, I checked all the key words. I almost got the whole song.

2.      By using the lyric, I could follow the song and check my listening. Also, I can check the sentences that I am not sure. By the way, I could sing the song following the lyrics.

Reflection:

1.      When I listen to the song, I think it is more harder than listen to video or something. Singing is faster than speaking. Therefore, writing the key words is a good choice. In this way, I could understand the song more easily. Also, it is available for me to write down the key words.

2.      I can check anything I am not sure. In addition, I am able to find the difficult parts in my listening and learn some new vocabulary.

listening portfolio entry 5(cartoon)

Source: Simpsons no Brazil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=invBjPmY8iE

Strategies:

1.   listen for the stressed words in sentence

2.   try to get the main ideas

Evaluation:

1.      It is very useful way to listen for the stressed words. These words can help me to understand the whole sentence in most of time. In this cartoon, the speaker did not use too much advanced vocabulary, so it is easy for me to get the words. However, I cannot get some words because of their accent.

2.      After listening for two times, I could get the main idea .However, I cannot understand some sentences when they speak slangs.

Reflection:

1.      For this cartoon, listening for the stressed words is a good way. I will use this strategy next time. The stressed words are always meaningful, so it helps me to understand their speaking easily. Moreover, these words are expressed clearly so that I can get these words easily.

2.      This cartoon is about a story. It is very important to get the topic and it can let me predict something when I am watching this video. This cartoon is very interesting and I enjoy listening to it. I think I should to find more cartoon to do the listening practices.

Title: listening portfolio entry 4(Movie)

Source: Prince of Persia The Sands of Time

Strategies:

1.      using the subtitle

2.      Associate with image

Evaluation:

1.      It helps me a lot by using the subtitle to understand the movie .When I watch this movie, I can check the words or some sentences if I am not sure. In addition, I can get some new words easily and check them in the dictionary .

2.      In this way, I can predict what they will talk about. Obviously, it is better than just listening .By watching the image, I am able to guess what they are speaking which can helps listening .Also, you will not feel boring when you do the listening practice by watching film.

Reflection:

1. I think it is a good way for me to do the general listening practice .I can use the subtitle to help my listening. Also, I can learn some new words. Therefore, I decide to use this strategy when I watch the movie. However, I feel it takes too much time to watch the whole movie and I cannot always concentrate on it. Maybe next time I just watch the part of movie.

2. It does help in my listening because I can guess what will happen in the movie and predict their speaking, but I might miss the listening when I indulge the movie plot.