Tamati

Thank you for offering to make a tape for us for the Corpus of New Zealand English. There is no other way we can get good "natural" data so we greatly appreciate the time and effort you are giving us.

We would be very grateful if you could record at least one side of the 60 minute tape provided. If you were able to record more that would be a bonus for us.

We would like you to record a relaxed conversation in English between you and one or more friends or members of your family . You can talk about any topic you wish and that you would normally talk about (e.g. friends, work, family, holidays, sport, school etc etc). Don't worry if you use the odd Maori word and don't be concerned about colloquialisms or swear words. We've heard them all before and, as far as we are concerned, the more natural and relaxed your conversation the better.

The identity of people who contribute to the Corpus is protected in that we change all names when transcribing the data.

We have provided some background information sheets for you and your friends/family to fill in for us. I hope this is not too much trouble and once again let me say how much I appreciate your help.

Additional notes to help you and us

1. Please use the tape recorder and microphone we have provided. These are high quality machines because we need high quality sound.

2. Try to avoid background noise which will reduce the recording quality such as motor mowers, canaries, children, radios and television sets.

3. It is essential never to record people without them knowing that they are being recorded. Always tell people in advance.

4. We need background information sheets for each speaker and for the interaction as a whole. We would be very grateful for any useful additional background information you can provide: e.g. regional background, iwi (tribal) affiliation, information about the relationship between the speakers (e.g. brothers, friends), information on any other people present etc.

Although you provide all this information, the anonymity of the contributors to the Corpus is protected. We need the information for classification purposes only.

BEFORE you start

* Check the tape recorder and microphone are working and that both are switched on.