An introduction of the tip™ GAME: time it perfect!

Learning and Fun go together

In the groups of 2-5, the tip™ learning GAME has been played for 2 hours or more by 470 people as on Nov. 2014. The players or learners are in the age-group of ‘14-47’ years with most learners in the age group of 20-30 (over 300). The median age is 26; over 200 learners are engineering graduates. The learners enrolled for Conversation in English program had some understanding English but were not able to form their sentences correctly while writing or took a lot of time before speaking in broken sentences. Most of them were from Hindi-medium back-ground and not very confident speakers. They were very well primed on the game with some grammar lessons where they understood parts-of-speech and the visual tense chart by Dr. Eli Hinkel was shown as well as explained to them. The trainers also used a slightly different tense-chart on the white-board and a professionally designed poster on 9 key tenses. The focus remained composition and usage instead of mere memorization of the grammar rules (even the tense chart was not given to them). Some quantifiable outcomes have been captured in the feedback forms (L1[i]), pre/post assessments (L2[ii]):

↗      Learning and understanding of Tenses becomes easier for almost everyone (close to 100% -as per learner’s feedback).

↗      Increased motivation and engagement in over 98% cases (checked before/after the game-session that lasted 30-45 min. the extensions to continue to play the game asked by the participants)

↗      Moderate competitive element enhanced effective learning as it kept learners interested in listening before speaking in all cases (~100%).

↗      Helped the learners to understand, learn, remember and apply grammar rules 2x better than the repetitive drilling practice and 3x better than translation sheets. (perception recorded at L1 level)

The qualitative advantages that we got -in over 85% of the cases- are listed herewith, in no particular order; some have been ticked by the 5 trainers/teachers who used this game in their classes:

↗     tip™ Game leads people to do spontaneous practice right after the theoretical overview -in the same session. (Monika, trainer is MA in English)

↗      Consolidation of grammar rules through the learner’s natural desire to apply what he already knows or mix and match the rules of grammar. (Manpreet, senior V&A trainer with British Telecom)

5 People playing Tense GAME and learning to Speak in English.

↗      Students who enjoy the challenge of participating in interactive games: tip™ makes them smarter and more confident as they hit the winning streak. (words picked/summarized from the feedback forms of some trainers observers)

↗      Among other abilities, the game helps develop students’ social capacities (81%), memory (86%), spontaneity (92%) and creativity (88%).

↗      Many usages of a particular verb form are understood and vocabulary of verbs is better applied in real-life situations. Over-usage of present continuous (a typical Indian-ism) is prevented to a very large extent. (Many students confirm this in their feedback)

↗      When offered at the same price point, the Game was preferred over a fully equipped Language Lab with computers and head-phones best in class and interactive content (Ms Ashima Rai – the center manager of T.r.i.c.k.s)

It is obvious that the use of games in a learning environment will not only change the dynamics of the class, but it will also rejuvenate students and help the brain to learn the rest of the material more effectively. Do we have the time and willingness to change for the better?

[i]  Level 1: Feedback is taken right after the training session or after every fifteen days within the training programs

[ii] Level 2: Is the difference between pre-post training and is captured through test of understanding
[iii] Most Commonly Used Verbs have been taken from varied sources and word-lists, the regular and irregular verbs are mixed-up well like veggies in a salad bowl.

7 T.r.i.c.k.s on Fluency with English Book is up on Amazon for pre-order

Go to Amazon.com or Amazon.in look for the book and book your pre-order… Thanks!

ASIN: B00OW2AVU6

New Game to play and Learn the Usage of Tenses in English

TIP -a Game to Learn Tenses without Translation support

Thanks for the feedback of 75-100 people who played this Game; we are pleased to release it this week from our new center at Sector 2. I Request your inputs and feedback on this game in the feedback process/form. We have included this game as under

The Game will be played at T.r.i.c.k.s Center: following all the and under the watch-full eyes of games co-ordinator Nisha or Myself.

Basic Students must play it with 32 cards for 5 days;

Get-selected or Intermediate students 10 days with the full deck of 52 cards ….

Objective is to Make the sentence ASAP and score maximum BINGOs! with the right usage of right tense.

Come and have fun to play the Game ‘time it perfect!’

 

Activities and Games to Learn English

Playing Games and Activities Builds you Confidence to speak with Ease and Comfort…. as the Games Simulate the real-life Situations.

For Example when you speak on Confidence useing the Words-poster as below you not just pick-up the related Vocabulary but also get the opportunity to speak-out your sentences.

A Wordle (Poster) with works related to Confidence…

 I invite students of Intermediate/Get Selected program to come and speak on Topic: ‘What is the type of conversation, I like to participate in what are some qualities that I have as a Speaker……  Tip: use some ‘new’ words as you speak.

When the wordle above is in front of you it becomes easy.

 

Knowledge is Power; But its the Skill – that gets things done!

I repeat (for emphasis) : Knowledge is Power; But it is the Skill – that gets things done!

How much you understand the above statement defines how sale-able your resume is and apply ‘the above’ at the time of writing your CV. You demonstrate it more with some real-life examples at the time of face-to-face interview. A Senior Industry professional stated yesterday evening “It’s the Skills that Sell” another comment made by a very senior professional who is known in the industry for his timing the statements right “they call you for the interview as they want to see your confidence”.

Clearly state in your CV you knowledge and skills:

1) the Knowledge you have that is required as per Job Description: this includes market understanding, domains, subjects that you can write an essay on just on the strength of your understanding. Cramming something or remembering some names, terms is Not the kind of Knowledge anyone will pay for.
-Would you (as CEO of T.r.i.c.k.s) pay me Rs. 2 lac/month just because I have read 2000 books.
2) the Skills that you have acquired and are relevant to the job: these include social and professional skills. The things that you ‘can do’. There is very little argument that ‘communication skill’ is the most important of the skills as it is vital but do not make ‘not having enough of any skill’ as your limitation. Just state what you ‘can do’ without much need for preparation:
-I was given to make my public presentation to the clients of SQL Star -right on the day of my joining the Delhi office as an Area Manager for eLearning a new product. – The ink on my ‘business cards’ was still wet when I handed them over very proudly that evening to my delighted audience.

Have a look at the knowledge and skills that come from Learning English- a global language of Business.

Why would anyone learn English and what is the skill gain?

Remember Degrees/Diplomas is not knowledge – they are qualifications (sometimes essential with %age of marks stated) can get your resume to be shortlisted by the HR. If you are sitting in an Interview meeting – your Degree has done what it could do i.e. get you a meeting with the hiring personnel (HR and hiring manager) there can be more depending on the level. I at my level would definitely meet all the CxOs before meeting the business owner. This is not to attach any ego with it but only a business-owner understands the ‘business language’ and sometimes it is more Mathematics than English.

Bio-data is a term that comes from the days of the physical-labor so as a knowledge worker don’t state that term and write the best Curriculum Vite’ or Profile/Resume’ for people with some experience.

Conversation is English is a Sale-able skill.. How many more do you need to do the Job well?

People who say I have zero experience or I am a fresher so I have “no knowledge or skills” to state in my CV. I am afraid to, “the people without any sale-able skills will continue to sit at home OR they should join a practical skill-oriented program that imparts ‘sale-able’ skills”. Govt. of India knows well enough with data to substantiate: when it says that the country needs skilled people. There is actually ‘skill shortage’ not ‘people shortage’. Fortunately for India there is enough Knowledge or gyan people have. While ability to talk in a professional or Business language is still not counted as a skill as that is the bed-rock of any skilled person. How many times have you heard sales-men of traders say ‘main baato ki khaata hun’ (I eat my bread from what I talk). In my view – it the conversations that count the most. All the deals and business happens after conversations and so much ‘on the phone’

Knowledge when gained right must translate to Skills. As a Communication skills trainer I like to work more and more on your skills while we impart all the knowledge of the Language that is needed. In the garb of our Word-Play program we actually give you English for everyday conversations (a skill) and In the ‘Get Selected’ program the focus is on ‘Discussion, Debating and Presentation skills’ plus there is a bonus of some personality development topics like: Grooming, Asking and Answering questions, Handling difficult questions. All these are vital skills for success in any Interview.

One of my students (I believe it was Chandan – a Telecom Engineer) wrote on the ‘Thought of the Day’ white board some good words:

“Life is a Series of Interviews!”

Thanks Savita for writing the Knowledge-Skill quote on the white broad.. really appreciated!