Who Starts?
The person who suggests playing starts first.
That person could describe the game in this way,
Let’s say that we start with English, spoken natively by me.
1. I record a sentence (or a few if you are advanced)
2. You write that sentence out.
3. I correct the sentence.
4. You look at the correction and then read the corrected sentence out loud.
5. I correct pronunciation
Then switch roles and repeat the process
Difficulty Level
Aim for the other person to get between 50% and 90% correct. If other person gets either 100% or less than 50% then they get a new recording. If less than 50%, the first still is corrected. If 100%, they get a new recording and read both out loud.
What to say?
It’s easier to play if you know the other person at least a little bit. Try talking about what they do in their free time, their work, something that seems interesting. You can even sort of have a conversation as you play through the game.
If you don’t understand some words?
If you don’t understand some words, then write ….. in the space where they would be. You should take probably a minute or two to write out what was said, not more than that.
Too Easy
Aim for the other player to get between 50% and 90% of what you say correct when they listen and write it down.
If other person gets 100% correct, then record/say something new for them. The next thing should be harder than the first. If they get 100% again, they get something new, etc. The other player then reads these two (or more) recordings out loud for pronunciation to be corrected.
Too Hard
If they get less than 50% then they get also a new recording. You still write out a correct version for them. They can choose to either read the second one or the first one, their choice.
The right difficulty level
If they get above 90%, they likely will not be challenged too much with what you said.
The challenge depends also on how long it takes the other person to write down what you said. If they can listen once and get it 100% correct, it was definitely too easy.
If they listen seven times and get 90% correct, there probably was enough challenge.
If they listen 10 times and only get 30% correct, it may be a bit frustrating.
Imagine that you start to play music and have been playing for a year.
Then your teacher asks you to play this:
Might be a little frustrating…..
The first thing you try in the game may be something that the other person does not get more than 50% of. If that is the case, speak a bit more simply, slow down, and reduce the amount of what you say by a bit.
If they get above 90% quickly, make the next thing you say a bit more difficult.
Pronunciation Correction
When you correct someone’s pronunciation, tell them two or three things max. The things that stand out to you as needing the most help. Could even be one thing. If there really are no major problems, you can mention that too.