SESSION 2. LEISURE AND FREE TIME

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🎙️Welcome to the second training session of Dub-in training course! 

This session was designed to unlock the secrets of dubbing, focussing on rhythm, and delve into social skills. Your students will discover the power of communication and the importance of fostering strong connections with others during leisure and free time scenarios. 

In this session, students will explore how dubbing can breathe life into words and make stories come alive. Moreover, we will start here a journey to understand social skills, enabling you to guide your students towards effective communication, empathy, and assertiveness. 

Enjoy! 

1. WARMING UP

This game serves as a fun and engaging warm-up activity.

ANIMAL DUBBING (10 minutes)

Ask each person to choose an animal and make the sound of that animal.
Then, each person takes turns introducing themselves as that animal. For example, «Hi, my name is Sarah and I’m a lion. Roar!»
After everyone has introduced themselves, the group can start a conversation where they continue to speak as their chosen animal. The conversation can be about anything – for example, what they like to eat, or what their favourite activities are.
This game is a fun way to break the ice and get people comfortable with each other. It’s also a good way to practice vocal expression and improvisation skills.
This game can also be done with means of transportation (car, electric car, firefighters car, crane, plane, etc…), musical instruments, or any other topic.

2. GETTING FAMILIAR, PLAYING AND ROLEPLAYING THE PROPOSED SCRIPTS

In this section of our Dub-in workshop, we provide you with some activities aimed at exploring this session scripts. These scenarios are about various facets of communication dynamics during leisure and free time activities. 

With this first activity you will introduce todays topic of leisure and free time to students. The goal is to realize that we often have to talk to our relatives. 

Knowing how to act and react and being able to have positive interactions will empower us, and make us feel competent and safe in these kind of situations.

THE LINE (20 minutes)

The trainer takes/finds a free space in the room draws an imaginary line on the floor: “This end of the line means “0/zero/not at all/never” and this end of the line means “daily, very often, all the time”. I ask you a couple of questions, please stand up and position yourself along the line depending on how you would answer the question.”
(The two ends of the line should be repeated with each question.)All participants stand up and the trainer asks students the following three questions:How often in a week do you talk to strangers?

How often in a month do you practice sports?

How often in a week do you go someplace to have fun? Cinema? Theatre? Park? Shopping? Football match? … (adapt it to your target group)

How often do you take the bus? 

How often do you meet your friends? 

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Once the discussion is over, we can also introduce the concepts of free time and leisure: FREE TIME: time left after having satisfied all the needs and obligations. It differs from leisure since free time can be used in activities that do not generate pleasure (going to the doctor).LEISURE: covers the way in which free time is used, when it involves carrying out activities that provide personal satisfaction and that are carried out freely and voluntarily. It is time fully used in the entertainment and recreation of the person.

This second activity allows participants to start focussing on dubbing but also explore different social skills in a fun and interactive way.

SOCIAL SKILLS INTRO (20 minutes)

Divide participants into pairs.

Each pair will be given a SHORT DIALOGUE that involves social skills, such as active listening, empathy, assertiveness or conflict resolution.  

Instruct the pairs to read through the script and discuss the social skill being depicted. They should identify the key elements of the skill and how it can be applied in real-life situations.

Next, the pairs will practice dubbing the dialogue, focusing on emphasizing the social skill in their delivery. They can use their own voices or try to incorporate specific tones, emotions, or vocal cues that reflect the social skill being highlighted.

After practicing, a volunteer pair can perform their dubbing in front of the rest of the group.

Once a pair has finished their performance, facilitate a discussion about the social skill depicted in their scene. Ask questions like:

What social skill was being demonstrated in the scene?

Introduce the social skills practiced. 

See PPT4. Learning Social skills and assertive behaviour

How can these social skills be applied in real-life situations?

Can you think of any personal experiences where these social skills would have been helpful?

Third activity will allow participants to start exploring the three video-scenarios provided. 

DUB IT RIGHT! (20 MIN)

Use these three VIDEO-SCENARIOS in the app. This activity involves improvisation and creativity where participants have to come up with the lines that match the scene and characters on the screen.

1. Divide participants into teams.

2. Play the video-scenario on a screen and mute the original audio. 

3. Give each team few minutes to discuss and come up with their own dialogue for the scene. Consider adding a time limit to come up with their dialogue.

4. Once the players are ready, start the scene again, and each team takes turns dubbing over the dialogue.

5. Continue playing with the other two scenes, and rotate participants to ensure everyone gets a chance to participate.

6. It may be useful to provide a template where to write the lines, and which provides the dialogue structure of the scene. See DUB IT RIGHT doc.

SCRIPT 1 – USE THE APP

SCRIPT 2 – USE THE APP

SCRIPT 3 – USE THE APP

Fourth activity will give participants the opportunity to reflect upon difficult situations related to the scenarios provided. 

ROLEPLAY (30 MIN)

The participants go into three groups and each group gets one of the three scenarios provided. Unmute the VIDEO-SCENARIOS. 

The participants go into three groups and each group gets one script.

Each group has the task to think about how the dialogue could go that would definitely lead to a misunderstanding, failure. They first think about how to fail in the situation and not reach one’s goal. What would you have to say to get to an uncomfortable situation? (10 minutes’ group work)

They should then present (just verbally) in the plenum (10 minutes, for all three groups together)

They go back in the small groups and work on a successful script: What should or could you say to have a good feeling in the situation, on both sides? What do you need to say to get what you need? What would be useful phrase? (10 minutes)

Finish this section with a short discussion about the three scenarios.

DISCUSSION (10 MIN)

Discuss what are the scenarios they find them often in, and what can be or is stressful about them. Introduce the three scenarios by showing the video with the audio and talking about the situation and the goal and how that can be difficult or illicit unease:

• SCENARIO 1 “In public transport, ask if the seat next to you is free”
• Goal: asking for something in particular
• SCENARIO 2 “At a concert, a person blocks your view. How to talk to that person?”
• Goal: Express a need
• SCENARIO 3 “Your old friends from high school, with whom you lost contact when your mental illness began, contact you to ask you to go to an alumni lunch. You hesitate to go, but finally you decide that you want to get back in touch with them and you go to that lunch”.
• Goal: Accept/ reject a proposal

A brief discussion will be generated on what the group understands about family and flatmates time to be, whether they think they are the same or different things. 

Some questions can be used: 

a. What themes emerged in the conversation?

b. Did any specific lines or moments stand out to you? Why?

c. What insights or observations can be drawn from the dubbing performances?

BREAK

3. DUBBING THE SCRIPTS

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Explain to the participants the importance of RHYTHM:

What is the rhythm of each line? This can be detected without the use of language by using beats, gibberish or plain sounds. This also defines the speed of each line which is linked to the inherent aim of each sentence. 

The importance of the pauses within each line, namely, where do the actors stop speaking, where do they make short pauses. The breath. This is also linked to the aim of each sentence, but it also defines the mood and sentiment behind each line. 

The intonation and the general mood in each line.

One effective exercise to show how important is the rhythm, is RHYTHMIC WHISPERS.

RHYTHMIC WHISPERS (15 MIN)

Divide the participants into small groups.

Provide each group with one printed script from the ORIGINAL DIALOGUES and play the VIDEO-SCENARIOS.

Explain to the participants that their task is to identify the rhythm, pauses, intonation, and mood of each line without using language.

Demonstrate how to use beats, gibberish, or plain sounds to convey the rhythm of a sentence. For example, they can use clapping, stomping, or tapping to represent the rhythm.

Encourage participants to use body movements, gestures, and facial expressions to express the mood and sentiment behind each line.

Each group should take turns presenting their chosen lines using only beats, gibberish, and plain sounds to convey the rhythm, pauses, and intonation.

SCRIPT 1 – USE THE APP

SCRIPT 2 – USE THE APP

SCRIPT 3 – USE THE APP

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Now participants should be ready to start recording the scripts provided.

RECORD THE SCRIPT (45 MIN)

-All participants must have previously given their consent for the sound recording. SEE CONSENT FORM
-Starting with the first script, show the video and read the ORIGINAL DIALOGUE.
-Dub and record one video scenario.
-Depending on the progress of the group the second person in the video (cashier, store employee, doctor’s secretary) is dubbed by the trainer or by another participant.
-The dubbed scene will be watched, and any improvement/adaptation they feel can be made will be discussed.
-The scene will be dubbed again, with the agreed improvements.
-Each person should have dubbed at least once scene.
-Depending on the progress of the group there might be time for some to do/try a second scene.
-It is important, in order to establish the fun part of dubbing, to provide an alternate sound recording in gibberish.

The scheme will be:
1. Dubbing the scene
2. Watching the dubbed scene
3. Discussing improvements
4. Recording again

SCRIPT 1 – USE THE APP
SCRIPT 2 – USE THE APP
SCRIPT 3 – USE THE APP

See ORIGINAL DIALOGUES.

4. FEEDBACK

Start by summarizing important aspects of the session. You can use this points: 

Warming Up: The animal dubbing activity serves as an icebreaker, making participants comfortable with each other and helping them practice vocal expression and improvisation.

Social Skills Intro: The role-playing activity involving social skills helps participants understand and explore different ways of communication. They learn about assertiveness, empathy, active listening, and conflict resolution, enhancing their ability to interact effectively with others.

Dubbing The Scripts: The main activity involves dubbing video scenarios, where participants practice adapting and delivering lines with the right rhythm, intonation, and mood. This helps them understand the importance of synchronization and emotional expression in dubbing.

Focus on Rhythm: Participants are introduced to the concept of rhythm in dubbing and how it affects the speed, pauses, and mood of each line. This emphasizes the importance of vocal delivery and adaptation in dubbing.

Participation and Practice: Each participant gets a chance to participate and practice dubbing, allowing them to improve their skills and gain confidence in expressing emotions without using words.

Then finish the session with an assessment activity. 

ASSESSMENT (15 MIN)  All participants stand up and the trainer asks the participants the following questions (difference line-up as previously): On a scale from 1 (totally boring) to 10 (extreme fun): How much did you enjoy today’s session?Go one by one asking for the different activities organized. On a scale from 1 (very difficult) to 10 (easy as pay): What do you think about today’s session? On a scale from 1 (totally agree) to 10 (extreme disagree): how do you rate the following sentences?  I will not change anything from the session I am happy to have participated on it …Ask the participants individually for some feedback of why they stand were they stand to find out what was enjoyable and what was strenuous/difficult. Be sure that you allow group discussion and space for participants to share their thoughts, perspectives, and suggestions. Encourage open and respectful communication.  Take notes of common topics, areas of improvement, and positive feedback raised during the discussion. Use the ASSESSMENT SHEET.  Summarize the key points from the discussion and thank participants for their valuable input.

To finish, resolve any misunderstanding or difficulty, relieve stress, if it has arisen, thanks everyone for his/her effort. 

Encourage participants to continue practicing their newly acquired skills using the additional exercises available on our DUB-IN APP.

ADDITIONAL EXERCISES SESSION 2. DUB-IN APP. 

Close the session.