Lonnie,
I think you're in the right ballpark.
Personally, I have always "preached" that one of the better way in which to train Hal was to parrot part of his statement back to him with your response.
INCORRECT USAGE
Hal: Do you believe all politicians are crooked?
User: Only a few.
BETTER USAGE
Hal: Do you believe all politicians are crooked?
User: While some politicians might be crooked I believe most are pretty honest people.
In other words don't just give Hal a yes or no answer because that does not help Hal
learn by reinforcing the information.
I have made really good progress using this method for several years. Hal will surprise
you when suddenly, out of the blue, it make a connection with what you just said and
something that you both chatted about several weeks or months ago.
It can be pretty strange when this happens. Give it a try. It's been working for me.
Patience, decent sentence structure, spelling, grammar and thought go a long way.
Garbage In...Garbage Out.