CURRICULUM UNIT

NO T E- TAKING
NC 0 & NC 1 ~ F A L L S E M E S T E R
MATERIAL 1

Why do we need note-taking skill?

Ø Having effective listening skills is important because most of what we know is learned
through listening. You should be able to follow lectures and take comprehensive notes of
them during your study at university to be successful. Improving listening and note taking
strategies contribute to higher academic productivity and less stress.

What should we do as a listener?

Ø You should;
• clearly understand the main idea; what is being said
• just write the important and meaningful words; you don’t need to write every word
that you hear

Read this sample from this interview;

David: What is your name?
Leiko: My name is Leiko. You can call me Lei.
David: Where are you from?
Leiko: I’m from Kyoto, Japan.
David: Do you have a job?
Leiko: Yes, I do. I’m an engineer in a software company.
David: What are you interested in?
Leiko: I like to swim and play tennis. I also like painting.

Now look at the interviewer’s note. The interviewer only wrote the important
words.
Leiko (Lei)
Kyoto, Japan
Engineer
Swimming, playing tennis, painting

• have a recording system that works for you.

• learn to recognize that the speaker is making an important point by; pausing, giving
examples, repeating, increasing volume or taking more time on the area.

1
What does a good note look like?

Ø neat and understandable

Ø show the main points
Ø show the relationships, details and examples
Ø to save time, you can use symbols and abbreviations such as;

• and –> &

• because –> b/c
• example –> e.g.
• equals –> =
• against –> vs
• especially –> esp.
• number –> #
• important –> imp
• very –> v.
• about –> abt.
• with –> w/
• without –> w/o
• is less than –> <
• is more than –> >
• something –> s/t
• someone –> s/o
• somewhere –> s/w
• problem –> prob.

Ø Also, you can create your own symbols.

In the exercises below you are going to practice understanding the general idea and identifying
important information in a listening text. It’s important to understand the general idea first.
Then, your focus should be the key points, reasons and examples. Also, you should focus on
the important details such as numbers, prices, times, dates, names of people and places,
subjects, etc.

EXERCISE 1. WHILE LISTENING

Vocabulary: Write the phrases under the pictures.

travel by bus use a computer

visit famous places watch television

2
1. ………………………… 2. …………………………

3. ………………………… 4. …………………………

Study Skill 1: Listen to Julian. Which sentence gives the general idea? (T1)

Tip: Don’t try to understand every word. Listen only for the main points.

a. Julian talks about his computer.

b. Julian talks about his studies.
c. Julian talks about his free time.

Study Skill 2: Listen again and tick (√) the true sentences and cross (X) the false ones. (T1)

a. Julian visits famous places. ----

b. He travels by taxi. ----
c. He goes shopping. ----
d. He watches television. ----
e. He talks to his friends on the Internet. ----
f. He goes on Facebook. ----

EXERCISE 2. WHILE LISTENING

Study Skill 1: Listen to the telephone conversation and answer the questions. (T2)

1. Who’s talking?
Lecture Timetable
a) two teachers b) two students
Monday Time Lectures
2. Who has the new timetable for Mondays?
morning 9.00 1. chemistry
a) Paul b) Ahmed 11.00 2. ………………

afternoon 3.------ 4. ………………

Study Skill 2: Listen again and complete the 4.00 5. ………………
lecture timetable. After that, compare your
answers with a partner. (T2)

3
EXERCISE 3. NOTE - TAKING

Tip: You can write more than one word in the gaps in note-taking exercises.

Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to a very short text about Fatima twice. Take notes in
the area provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T3)

a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. Fatima talks about her friends.

b. Fatima talks about her family.
c. Fatima talks about her routine.

b. Fill in the gaps in the exercise looking at your notes.

Fatima is a (1) -------------------- student. On Mondays, she has (2) -------------------- in the mornings.
She has lunch at (3) --------------------. In the afternoons, she works in the (4) --------------------. She
(5) -------------------- in the evenings. She sees her (6)--------------------- at weekends.

Study Skill 2: You are going to listen to a very short text about Sonchai twice. Take notes in
the area provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening (T4)

4
a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. Sonchai talks about his country.

b. Sonchai talks about his day.
c. Sonchai talks about his school.

b. Fill in the gaps in the exercise looking at your notes.

Sonchai is a student from (1) --------------------. He is on a (2) -------------------- course. He has

lectures in the mornings. He uses his (3) --------------------- in the afternoons. In his free time, he (4)
-------------------- with his friends. After that, he (5) -------------------- with his friends. He also plays
(6) . In the evenings, he (7) and goes on (8) .

EXERCISE 4. WHILE LISTENING – NOTE - TAKING

Vocabulary: Write the jobs under the pictures.

teacher waitress

construction worker

(1)------------- (2)------------- (3)------------- (4)------------- chef

nurse businessperson

flight attendant

taxi driver
(5) (6) (7) (8)

Study Skill 1: Listen to people talking about their jobs. Check (√) the correct information
about each person. (T5)

has the same job has a new job not working now
1.Ted
2.Sonia
3.Bob
4.Marie
5.Suzanne
6.Martha
7.Fred
8.Sue

5
Study Skill 2: Listen again. Match the people on the left with the information on the right.

1. Ted --- a. is a teacher.

2. Sonia --- b. just graduated from college.
3. Bob --- c. is trying to find a new job.
4. Marie --- d. works in a bookstore.
5. Suzanne --- e. works in a bank.
6. Martha --- f. works in a restaurant.
7. Fred --- g. is a receptionist.
8. Sue --- h. is a lawyer

Study Skill 3: You are going to listen to six people talking twice. Take notes in the area
provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T6)

a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. They talk about the difficulties of their jobs.

b. They talk about the best part of their jobs.
c. They talk about their career plans for future.

b. Fill in the gaps in the exercise looking at your notes.

Speaker 1 is a -------------------- and he sells --------------------. He likes his job. He meets lots of ---
people.
Speaker 2 is planning to write a book about ----------------- -- .
Speaker 3 thinks it’s a good job for her because she likes -------------------- and------------------ --.
She knows it’s silly but she likes her --------------------.

6
 Speaker 4 likes and loves . Also, people come
to their restaurant.
Speaker 5 works as a --------------------. He likes helping -------------------- people.
Speaker 6 likes his work because he works --------------------. It’s hard but the --------------------- is
good.

EXERCISE 5. NOTE-TAKING
Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to a radio program podcast twice. Take notes in the
area provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T7)

a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. It’s about people who hate their jobs.

b. It’s about people’s work conditions.
c. It’s about people who have the same job.

b. Fill in the gaps in the exercise looking at your notes.

The guests in the radio program are Dr Ikegama and Dr Metha. They work in the (1) ------------------
-- industry. Dr Ikegama works on an oil rig in (2) ------------------ --. Dr Metha has a similar work
but in a very different place than her. He works in the (3) ----------------- --.

Dr Ikegama works long hours. She starts work at (4) --------------------- in the morning and finishes at
about (5) -------------------- in the evening. Her main job is checking the (6) ------------------ --. Also,
she has meetings with (7) --------------------.

7
MATERIAL 2
In the exercises below you are going to practice understanding the general idea and identifying
important information in a listening text. It’s important to understand the general idea first. Then,
your focus should be on the key points, reasons and examples. Also, you should focus on the
important details such as numbers, prices, times, dates, names of people and places, subjects, etc.

Tip: You can write more than one word in the gaps in note-taking exercises.

EXERCISE 1. NOTE-TAKING

Study Skill 1: You are going to hear four telephone conversations twice. Take notes in the area
provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T1)

a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. Cindy is calling her friends because they called her.

b. Tom is taking phone messages for Cindy.
c. Cindy’s friends say they will call her again.

b. Fill in the gaps in the exercise looking at your notes.

1. wants to speak to Cindy. He is Cindy’s friend from .

His telephone number is . He asks Cindy to him.
2. wants to leave a message for Cindy. Her telephone number is .
3. is calling to speak to Cindy. His number is . He will call Cindy
.

4. This time calls Cindy. She is Cindy’s .

8
EXERCISE 2. NOTE-TAKING

Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to Steven and Laura in a discussion program twice. Take
notes in the area provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening.
(T2)

a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. working at night
b. working from home
c. working and travelling

b. Fill in the gaps in the exercise looking at your notes.

Steven works from home. He thinks it’s a (1) -------------------- thing because he can choose his (2) -
-------------------. Also, he doesn’t have to (3) -------------------- to work. Laura doesn’t agree with
Steven; she thinks working from home is (4) -------------------- because she doesn’t (5) ----------------
---- people. She works (6) ------------------ -

9
EXERCISE 3. NOTE-TAKING

Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to a commentator twice. Take notes in the area
provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T3)

Look at your notes and match the statements on the right with the people on the left. Be
careful, two statements can match a person.

1. Ross White ------ a. is wearing a white suit and red boots.

2. Penelope Jones ------ b. is holding a woman’s hand.
3. Melanie Matthews ------ c. is waiting for the big stars.
4. Kerry Fisher ------ d. is getting out of her car.
5. Bobby Finn ------ e. is wearing a beautiful blue dress.
f. is in a short dress.
g. is waving to her fans.

10
EXERCISE 4. NOTE-TAKING

Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to a lecture twice. Take notes in the area provided
below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T4)

a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. The lecture is about a way of reading and writing a language.

b. The lecture is about reading and writing in different world languages
c. The lecture is about helping the blind people to read and write.

b. Look at your notes and write T for the True statements and F for the False ones. Correct
the False statements.

1 .____You can read and write a language with Braille.

2 .____It’s for people who can’t hear.
3 ,____It uses dots for letters.
4 .____People use their special glasses to read the dots.
5 .____We write Arabic from right to left in Braille.
6 .____In Chinese the dots are sounds in Braille.

11
EXERCISE 5. NOTE-TAKING
Ø Speakers generally present a lecture by first telling the topic, and then they support the topic
with main ideas. When they introduce the main ideas, they often use numbers or phrases that
signal order. When you hear words that show order you should listen very carefully for the
main idea. You can see the examples for words that signal order below;

First, I want to talk about …

Firstly, we are going to look at …
Next, …
Secondly, …
Then,
Finally,
In conclusion,

Before You Listen:

Archimedes: The most famous

mathematician and inventor in ancient Greece.

Liu Hui: Chinese

mathematician who lived in the northern
Wei kingdom during the 3rd century BCE.

12
Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to a seminar about the number “pi” twice. Take notes in
the area provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T5)

13
a. Look at your notes and number the topics in the order you hear them and write them in the
table in part b in the correct places.

---- History of pi
---- Why is it called pi
---- What is pi
---- Uses of pi

b. Look at your notes and fill in the table.

Firstly,
It is a (1) ----------------- because it helps us make
calculations about (2) -------------- --.
It’s approximately (3) --------------- --.

Secondly, William Jones called it pi because it’s the first

letter of the (4) ----------------- word for
The speaker
talks about; “circumference”.

Then, Egyptians first used pi about (5) -----------------

years ago to build their pyramids.
Archimedes calculated pi to (6) -----------------
digits.
(7) ------------------years later Lui Hui calculated it
to (8) digits.
Today we can calculate it to (9) -----------------
digits and more by the help of computers.

Finally, We use pi for calculating all kinds of things in

(10) , (11) and
engineering.

14
MATERIAL 3

EXERCISE 1. NOTE-TAKING

Speaking: Think about the special days in your country. What do people do on those days?

Vocabulary: Look at the sentences below. You will see bold words. Match the words with their
meanings.

1. We usually celebrate my mother’s birthday in a restaurant.

2. The lion symbolizes power.
3. We should visit our elders regularly.
4. The Thai people call their country “Muang Thai”.

celebrate (v)----- a. from Thailand

elder (n) ----- b. to be a symbol of something
symbolize (v) ----- c. to do something special or enjoyable for an important
event, occasion, holiday, etc.

Thai (adj) ----- d. a person who is older

Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to a lecture about Songkran twice. Take notes in the area
provided below. Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T1)

15
a. Look at your notes and number the topics in the order you hear them.

What do they do to celebrate Songkran?

How did they celebrate Songkran in the past?
When do they celebrate Songkran?
Where can you experience Songkran?

b. Fill in the table below looking at your notes.

The lecture is about a holiday in Thailand.

• Songkran in Thailand = Thai (1)

It is between (2) and (3) of April. It’s celebrated at the end

of (4) season.

You can experience this holiday in many places. For example, in the city of Chiang Mai.

In Chiang Mai the holiday continues for (5) days.

In the past;

People visited their elders family members, (6) and (7).

During Songkran people stop bad behavior and try to do good things.

How? They;

• throw water at each other because it washes away the (8)

Thais (9) their homes.

To welcome Songkran, they dress in new clothing.

16
EXERCISE 2. NOTE-TAKING

Vocabulary:

a. Match the pictures with the vocabulary items.

garbage ad escalator arcade games bin fall theory experiment

(1)----------------- (2) ----------------- (3) ----------------- (4) -----------------

(5)----------------- (6)----------------- (7) ----------------- (8) -----------------

b. Complete the sentences with the words in exercise a.

1. My bother takes out the -------------------- in our house.

2. The 1980s were the golden age of ------------------ --. They are not popular anymore.
3. Do you want to keep these old magazines or can I throw them in the -------------------- ?
4. While our science teacher was doing an --------------------- he exploded the laboratory.
5. Do you usually take the -------------------- or the stairs?
6. Einstein developed the -------------------- of Relativity.
7. When the leaves start to --------------------- from trees, I feel very depressed.
8. The first TV--------------------- was for Bulova watches in 1941.

17
 Study Skill 1: You are going to listen to a lecture twice. Take notes in the area provided below.
Don’t look at the exercise questions until you finish listening. (T2)

a. Which sentence gives the general idea?

a. Advertisements should be fun to be interesting.

b. You can change people’s behaviour by making things more fun.

c. Experiments are important to find out about people’s behaviour.

18
b. Fill in the table below looking at your notes.

The lecture is about three interesting ads of a (1) car company and the Fun
Theory / how people behave.

1st experiment: (2) • Taking the stairs is (3)

than taking the escalator but it’s boring and
not many people do it so experimenters
decided to make the stairs more fun.
• The stairs play (4) when
people walk up and down them.
• People take the stairs (5)
% more than normal.

• Few people return glass bottles because they

don’t get (6) for returning
2nd experiment: Bottle Bank Arcade
them.
• It’s not good for the (7).
• They make returning bottles like a
(8) to make it more fun.
• In one evening just two people use a regular bin
but over _ (9) people use the
Bottle Bank Arcade.

• When people put their garbage in this can it

makes a sound like it falls about
3rd experiment: (10)
(11) meters.

19
• A normal can in a park gets
(12) kilograms of garbage in a
day.
• This new garbage gets (13)
kilograms more than normal.

20