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Sessions of "Spoken Englishā€¯ are organized for the students of the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, with the aim of improving their practical knowledge in English. Smt. Sumati Sanjay, an expert in teaching English language skills, voluntarily offered to interact with the students. The first session began at 5.00 p.m. on 8 September, 2010, with Dr. Nirmal Selvamony introducing Mrs. Sumati. Her informal session with the students lasted for about an hour and a half. She began with a speaking exercise called "Just a Minuteā€¯ (JAM). Students, though in the beginning were reluctant to interact, rose to the challenge of speaking for a minute on various topics. She also devised an exercise for pairs of students to talk in English among themselves on any topic they wished. She then discussed with the students the common errors among Indian English speakers. Mrs. Sanjay divided the students into various groups and encouraged them to enact short plays. The students were happy that the sessions were beneficial to them in many ways. Some of their responses are given below:
. . . she corrected our pronunciation and gave examples of connected wordsā€¦ā€¯
". . . this brought out the true creative potential of students as they tried their best to make the skit as funny and as good as they can.ā€¯
". . . in the end we all enjoyed a lot and laughed our bellies out . . .ā€¯
"We thank Smt. Sumati Sanjay and we are eagerly waiting for her next session.ā€¯
"I have to improve my fluency and pronunciation . . . I am sure that these sessions will help me.ā€¯
". . . boosts my confidence . . .ā€¯ |
