The Internet and the Media

Lessons

Senior 3 · English

The Internet and the Media

5 lessons

Lesson 2 of 5

I Said HER Number, Not Mine: Internet Experiences, Telling Your Story, and Stress for Emphasis

25 min

Let's begin

Everyone who owns a phone has a story: the message that nearly cost them money, the video that taught them a skill, the photo they wish they had never posted. In this lesson you listen to three young people tell such stories on a student podcast, tell your own, and learn how English speakers move the stress in a sentence to make their meaning clear. Then you start a digital citizen portfolio.

Before you listen

What is the most useful thing you have ever learned from the internet?
Why do scammers often pretend to be in a hurry?

Important

Listening script: Signal Strength, a student podcast, for four readers

Only the readers open the script; everyone else keeps it closed until the tasks are done. About three minutes. The podcast and its speakers are imagined.

Open the script (readers only)Open the script (readers only)

HOST (Ineza): Welcome to Signal Strength, the podcast where students talk about life online. Today three guests are telling us about one experience each. Gaju, you first.

GAJU: Thanks. So, one evening in the holidays, my phone buzzed: a mobile money message saying someone had sent me twenty thousand francs. Two minutes later a man called. He sounded worried. He said he had sent the money to my number by mistake, and he begged me to send it back because it was for his child's school fees.

HOST: And did you?

GAJU: I nearly did! I'd already typed the amount. But my brother looked over my shoulder and said, "Check your balance first." I checked, and my balance hadn't changed at all. The message was fake. It was a normal SMS, not a real mobile money message. If I had sent the money, I would have lost twenty thousand francs of my own.

HOST: Wow. Mugisha, your story is happier, I think.

MUGISHA: Much happier. Two years ago my phone screen cracked, and I couldn't pay for a repair. So I watched repair videos, dozens of them, and I bought a cheap screen and fixed it myself. It took me a whole Saturday. Since then I've repaired eleven phones for neighbours, and in the long holiday I earn enough to buy my school materials. The internet taught me a trade.

HOST: That's brilliant. Teta?

TETA: Mine is about a photo. At a party, a friend took a picture of me while I was eating, with my mouth full, and posted it in our class group as a joke. By Monday everybody had seen it, and some people had added unkind comments. I felt terrible. I didn't want to go to school.

HOST: What did you do?

TETA: I told our class teacher. She spoke to the group, the photo was deleted, and my friend apologised. But the teacher also showed us something important: anybody in the group could have saved it. Once a photo is out, you can't be sure it's gone. Now I check my privacy settings, and I always ask before I post a picture of someone else.

HOST: Three stories, three lessons. Check before you act, the internet can teach you a skill, and ask before you post. Thanks for listening to Signal Strength.

First listening: the gist

What is the podcast about, and how many guests speak?
Which guest's story ends with a new skill, and which with an apology?

Second listening: the details

Copy and complete the table.

Guest	What happened	Who or what helped	Lesson learned
Gaju	a man said he had sent … francs by mistake	her …	check your … before you act
Mugisha	his phone screen …	repair …	he has since repaired … phones
Teta	a friend posted a photo of her …	her class …	ask before you … a picture of someone

Third listening: reading between the lines

3. Why did the man say the money was for school fees?
4. Why does Teta say that "you can't be sure it's gone", even after the photo was deleted?

Show answersHide answers

Young people's experiences online; three guests (Gaju, Mugisha and Teta), with a host.
Mugisha's ends with a new skill (repairing phones); Teta's ends with an apology.
Table: Gaju: twenty thousand; brother; balance. Mugisha: cracked; videos; eleven. Teta: eating with her mouth full; teacher; post.
To make Gaju feel sorry for him and act quickly without thinking; a sad, urgent story is a common trick in scams.
Anyone in the group could have saved or forwarded a copy before it was deleted, so it may still exist somewhere.

Speaking: tell a personal experience

Stage	Useful language
Ask about experience	Have you ever …? What's the strangest message you've ever received?
Set the scene	It happened last year / in the holidays. I was … when …
Tell the events in order	At first … Then … Suddenly … In the end …
Say how you felt	I was terrified / relieved / embarrassed. I couldn't believe it.
Give the lesson	Since then, I've always … Now I never … If I had known, I would have …
React as a listener	Really? What happened next? That must have been awful! You were lucky!

Pair work. Ask your partner three "Have you ever …?" questions about the internet or phones. When the answer is yes, ask follow-up questions in the past simple: When did it happen? What did you do? Then tell the class your partner's story in reported speech.

Worked example

Present perfect to open, past simple to tell

Ask about life up to now, with no time given: present perfect. "Have you ever lost money to a scam?" "No, but I've nearly lost some."
Move to one finished event with a time: past simple. "It happened in the holidays. A man called and said he had sent money by mistake."
Use the past perfect for something earlier in the story: "I had already typed the amount when my brother stopped me."
End with what is true now: present perfect again. "Since then, I've always checked my balance first."

Sounds and spelling: sentence stress for emphasis and contrast

In normal speech English stresses the content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and says the small grammar words weakly: I SENT the MONEY to the WRONG NUMBER. But a speaker can move the strongest stress onto any word to emphasise it or to contrast it with something else. The words stay the same; the meaning changes.

Said with the main stress on …	It means …
I didn't post your photo.	Someone else did.
I didn't post your photo.	Your claim is wrong: I did not.
I didn't post your photo.	I took it, or saved it, but I did not post it.
I didn't post your photo.	I posted someone else's.
I didn't post your photo.	I posted something else of yours, such as a video.

Correcting someone. Contrastive stress is how English speakers correct a mistake politely: "Is the meeting on Tuesday?" "No, it's on THURSDAY." "Send it to my number." "Your number? I thought you said HER number."

Stress you can see

Tip

Stress means louder, longer and higher. Make the key word a little louder, hold its vowel a little longer, and lift your voice on it: "No, I said FORmal, not INformal." Overdo it while you practise; it will sound natural later.

Warning

Don't stress every word equally; English then sounds angry or robotic, and the listener can't find the important word.
In writing, show emphasis with word order or a word such as really or did (I did check it), or with italics. Capital letters online look like shouting.
When you tell someone else's story, ask their permission first, especially if it is embarrassing, just as Teta now asks before she posts a photo.

Project: a digital citizen portfolio

Over the next three weeks, build a portfolio, on paper or in a document, that shows you can use the internet safely, honestly and kindly. Include these six pages:

My digital footprint: search for your own name (with an adult's permission) and list what you find. What would you be happy for a future employer to see?
My password plan: the rules you will follow for strong passwords and PINs. Don't write any real password!
Fact-check challenge: one message or story you checked, the steps you took, and your verdict.
A useful post: a short, true and helpful post you could share with your class, such as a study tip or a warning about a scam.
My screen-time diary: one week of how long you used a phone or computer, and for what.
Reflection: 150 to 200 words on what you have learned and one habit you will change.

Your teacher will assess the portfolio for accuracy, honesty, effort and the quality of your English.

English Pronunciation: Sentence Stress, from a British English teacher at St George International. Note how the meaning changes as the stress moves, then make your own five-meaning sentence like the one in the table.

✦

Practice

From the listening: (a) How much money did the man claim to have sent Gaju? (b) How many phones has Mugisha repaired? (c) Who helped Teta?
Present perfect or past simple? (a) ___ you ever ___ (lose) your phone? (b) I ___ (lose) it last year at the market. (c) Since then I ___ (always / keep) it in my bag.
Write the meaning when the stress falls on the word in capitals: (a) SHE sent me the link. (b) She sent me the LINK. (c) She sent ME the link.
Correct each mistake politely, using contrastive stress (mark the stressed word in capitals): (a) "The test is on Monday, isn't it?" (It is on Friday.) (b) "You have a red phone, right?" (It is blue.)
Mark the content words that are normally stressed: My brother told me to check the balance on my phone.
Write five reactions a listener can use to show interest in a story.
Tell a partner about an experience with a phone or the internet in about one minute, following the speaking table. Your partner reacts at least twice.

Show answersHide answers

(a) Twenty thousand francs; (b) eleven; (c) her class teacher.
(a) Have … lost; (b) lost; (c) have always kept.
(a) She, not someone else, sent it. (b) It was the link, not something else, that she sent. (c) She sent it to me, not to another person.
Sample answers: (a) "No, it's on FRIDAY." (b) "No, it's BLUE."
BROTHER, TOLD, CHECK, BALANCE, PHONE.
Any five, for example: Really? What happened next? That must have been frightening! You were lucky! I can't believe it! How did you feel?
Open answer. Check the tenses and the order of events.

Sources and credits

Podcast script "Signal Strength" (imagined host and guests), listening tasks, speaking table, worked example, sentence-stress table, project brief and practice: written by Ganzaa.
Diagram "Stress you can see": drawn by Ganzaa.
Video: English Pronunciation: Sentence Stress, St George International, embedded from YouTube, not copied.

Written by Ganzaa.

1Before you listen

2First listening: the gist

3Second listening: the details

4Third listening: reading between the lines

5Speaking: tell a personal experience

6Sounds and spelling: sentence stress for emphasis and contrast

7Stress you can see

8Project: a digital citizen portfolio