Unit 6 Fashion Promotion: In-class Conversation Activity

Mix up the classroom conversation

Before you do Exercise 3, p.44, set your timer to 1 minute. How many brands can you list in one minute? Ready? Go!  When you are finished you may:

• compare with someone sitting next to you, or as a whole group
• list the ones you have in common
• discuss how you organized your list : Did you organize it by where you shop, where you would like to shop, or where your customer base shops, or based on diffusion lines? 
• What does this tell you about consumer buying habits? How could you use this information to promote a brand?

Unit 2 History of Fashion: Conversation Activities

1            Practice your oral presentation skills by choosing one decade from pages 17 and 18.  Go to a library, or do some online research. Fill out a graphic organizer with key information for that decade, and remember to include a photograph or image of the style you chose:

• When? 
• What style? 
• Who designed it?
• Why was it popular?
• How did it affect fashion?

Examples for graphic organizers can be found here at this link where you should scroll down to the second page, and even input your own information:

http://www.carla.umn.edu/cobaltt/modules/strategies/gorganizers/EDITABLE.HTML

During the next class, or the next time you see your colleague or friend, use the graphic organizer to orally explain the information about your fashion decade. People who listen to your description should check to make sure you use the Useful Phrases on pages 17 & 19 (past participles as adjectives).  People who listen, write down the past participles used, and check your spelling after the other person is finished speaking.

2             Possible Conversations

Have you seen or heard of the exhibit comparing Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art? It's titled...

Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations  

Well, we can turn them into possible conversations. Here's how:

  a.      Go to the museum's web site for the exhibit

     http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/impossible-conversations/images 

 b.        Alternate with another person and use the vocabulary on page 16, in exercise 6 and describe how Prada has found inspiration in Schiaparelli's designs over and over again.

             For example, For the 'Waist up/ Waist down' picture, you might say:

   Prada echoed Schiaparelli's embroidery and used it on the front of the dress. 

c.          Continue doing the same for the other pictures and use these phrases:

                 got her inspiration from

                  echoed

                  looks back to

                   put a new spin on

                   refreshed   

3  Using the same link in the Possible Conversations activity, you can also compare and contrast similar and different elements in the Schiaparelli and Prada designs by using these words:

    Contrast: 

but 

however

instead

while ____is______, _____ is _____ (While Schiaparelli designed floor length dresses, Prada designs dresses that go to just below the knee.)

Whereas (Whereas Schiaparelli designed floor length dresses or knee length skirts, Prada designs all lengths.)

  

      Similarity: 

and

also

as well

as well as 

too

both

    CLEAR CONVERSATIONS: FINAL -ed PRONUNCIATION

You may already know that the simple past for regular verbs, and past participles used as adjectives have 3 different pronunciations:

Final -ed can be pronounced with a final /t/, /d/, or /Id/ sound.

How do you know?  Mostly, you learn by using English often, by listening and speaking. Sometimes, an explanation can help, like the one below.

1. Pronounce final -ed with a /t/ after sounds produced with air. These are called 'voiceless' sounds.  For example, traced   and mixed. At the end of 'trace' the sound is -s, so final -ed gets pronounced as /t/. -s and -t are similar in sound; the sounds easily merge or assimilate. 
2. Pronounce final -ed with a /d/ sound after sounds produced with your vocal cords. These are called 'voiced' sounds. For example, detailed and engraved. 'Detail' ends with an -l which is a sound produced by using the vocal cords, so another voiced sound is needed (-d).
3. Pronounce final -ed with an extra vowel and d /Id/ sound for all words that end with -t or -d. For example, generated and added.  

In Units 1 & 2 there are many examples of adjectives and simple past verbs.  Here is a sample list of them grouped by their final -ed pronunciation.

          /t/                                    /d/                             /Id/

traced                                    detailed                   generated
mixed                                   engraved                 added
checked                                silk screened           edited    
striped                                   transferred              illustrated
zipped                                   disappeared            pleated
launched                              dyed                        created
introduced                            high heeled             decorated
published                             embroidered           painted
blushed                                hemmed                 wanted
finessed                               collared                  double breasted
finished                               analyzed                 printed
sourced                               patterned                edited
researched                           oversized               invented
dressed                               transformed            attracted
published                           themed                    hosted
  

 

Unit 1 Introduction to Fashion - Conversation Activities

Here are some easy ways for all levels to practice describing clothes and looks:

1   Describe Looks: Use a page from a fashion magazine with a few different styles. One person chooses a style, but doesn't tell the other, and then describes it. The other person guesses. If the guess is correct, you have confirmation that your oral description was done well. If not, listen again to the audio, possibly reading out loud along with it.  Alternate giving oral descriptions.

2   Message Relay: In groups of 3, maximum 4 practice explaining looks to feature in a magazine photo layout. Each group is organized in a horizontal line, with some space between each person. The first person chooses a look (also here you may choose one from the book, or from a fashion magazine) without showing it to the next person. The second person listens to the first one's description and takes notes. The notes are then delivered, or relayed, to the third person who draws a picture of it. If a fourth person is present, the third person shows the drawing and the fourth has to describe it with everyone present. Finally, the 2nd, 3rd, (and 4th) check their responses with the original picture. Do all the descriptions and drawings match the original? If so, you are speaking clearly.

3  Finish my sentence:  Choose a magazine page with many looks. Together with another person, begin describing outfits.  The first person begins by saying (for example), "It's a black and white...,"
and the second person finishes by adding the pattern, "...striped dress."  After 3-4 sentences change the order: the second person describes the color and the first one finishes by describing the pattern.

4  B2-C1 Language Levels: Ask and respond to questions about current projects.  With another person, go to page 10 and review the Useful Phrases for discussing projects.  Imagine you are a stylist and have to propose various looks. Start by describing the looks on page 11,  but add information about your current project by explaining the details below.  The person who is not speaking should check the list of Useful Phrases on page 10 to see if the speaker uses any of them. If they do, put a mark (x)  next to the phrase they use. Remember to use different questions.  When you are finished, you may want to listen to the conversation on audio track 4 (transcript, p.86)  to see if your conversations were similar.

For example:    Person #1: What are you working on at the moment?
                       Person #2: (image 8) I'm  doing a lot of research on   
                         animal prints for accessories.

• Person #1, image 1     add multi-coloured buttons                  
• Person #2, image 2     mix prints
• Person #1, image 3     include gold trim
• Person #2, image 4     use contrasting colours
• Person #1, image 5     source different fabrics
• Person #2, image 6     extend the checked patterns to other pieces

SPEAKING CLEARLY: PRONUNCIATION FOR THE FINAL -S SOUND

You may already know that final -s in English is pronounced in 3 different ways. This is valid for

• Noun Plurals
• 3rd person, singular, present tense verbs
• possessives

How do you know which pronunciation to use? Practice frequently by listening to  and speaking English.

You should know that the 3 different pronunciations are /s/, /z/, /Iz/.

1. Pronounce final -s as /s/ when there are voiceless sounds at the end of base words.
2. Pronounce final -s as /z/ when there are voiced sounds at the end of base words.
3. Pronounce final -s as /Iz/ when words end with -s, -z- -sh, -ge sounds.

Here is a sample list of words from units 1 & 2, grouped according to final sound.

/s/                                /z/                              /Iz/
creates                     kinds                        images
thanks                     illustrations               wishes
techniqes                 echoes                      uses
graphics                  questions                  dresses
artists                       paintings                  actresses
prints                        answers                   houses
wood blocks            features                    organizes
types                        designs
checks                      margins
stripes                       querries
polka dots                last weekend's
cuffs                         the 1960s
collections                men's
shops                       shows
weeks                      models
tops                         clothes
belts                        buys
lengths                     consumers