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Week 1 · In Class
Your Two Live Hours
The live time is for what you can't do alone: being listened to, and doing real-time listening with someone who can slow it down and speed it up on demand. Here's the plan, so you know what to bring.
Bring to every live session: your two voice journals, your Couldn't-Catch List, and the one news story you chose. That's the raw material — the session is built around your week, not a textbook.
① Live Session 1 60 min

Baseline & hearing the glue

  • Baseline recording (0–8 min). Your teacher gives you a short paragraph; you read it aloud and it's recorded. This is the recording every future benchmark is measured against. Just read naturally.
  • Voice-journal listen-back (8–20 min). You and your teacher listen to Voice Journal 1 together and pick one or two things to build on — gently, no red pen.
  • Guided fast-listening (20–40 min). Your teacher says a sentence three ways — slow, natural, then fully reduced ("What did you do?" → "Wu-juh do?") — and you decode it. This is the exercise you literally cannot do alone, because you need a live voice to dial the speed up and down.
  • The dinner-table role-play (40–58 min). Your teacher plays your daughter-in-law and a sister talking quickly, sometimes over each other. You practice catching the gist and jumping in with "Sorry — say that again?" and "You mean ___?"
② Live Session 2 60 min

Your Couldn't-Catch List & current events

  • Couldn't-Catch clinic (0–20 min). You read out the blurry moments you collected; your teacher reconstructs what was actually said and shows you which reductions were hiding inside. This is the heart of the course.
  • Voice Journal 2 & news talk (20–45 min). You share the PBS story you watched and your opinion on it. Real conversation — questions, disagreement, follow-ups. This is the part you enjoy, and it's also serious listening practice, because your teacher will speed up naturally as you go.
  • Wrap & set up next week (45–60 min). Two or three reductions to listen for all week, and a look ahead to Week 2 (family talk at home).
No benchmark to re-record this week — Week 1 only sets the baseline. Your next benchmark is Week 4.
Between the two sessions
The natural rhythm each week: do Home Session 1 before your first live hour, and Home Session 2 before your second. If life gets busy, doing even the decode drill and one voice journal keeps you moving.
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