English as a Lingua Franca. Listening to different accents / Communication Strategies

• Engels
• MBO

Goal of this lesson

• Getting familiar with different English accents
• Learning  strategies to deal with somebody you find difficult to understand

You are going to watch a video about different accents. Which of these accents do you find difficult to understand?

Since everyone will go to a different country and therefore have to deal with different accents in the workplace, it is a good idea for you to practice  listening to accents that you will probably encounter a lot. There is a website that has a database of just about every imaginable (English) accent.

First watch this video that explains how this website works

Open the website:

https://www.dialectsarchive.com/

• Find the country you are planning to go to.
  
• Listen to some of the recordings (fast forward to unscripted speech)
  
• First listen to the unscripted speech part without the transcription and see if you can understand. Make a summary of it / tell your partner what you heard 
• Check your understanding by listening to the recording again, but this time with the transcript. 

How would you deal with speaking with somebody who is difficult to understand (who has a strong accent)?

Read this article

https://www.themuse.com/advice/what-did-you-say-4-tips-for-understanding-accents-at-work 

What tips from the article do you find useful?

Together with a classmate find phrases you could use when you don't understand what somebody is saying.

wat neem je mee mee uit deze les?