Google Drive Folder HERE
Google (Drive, Docs, Pub)
PowerPoint Drive, Slides, Pub
Clip 1
Clip 2
The other day, I was teaching a lesson on the Present Perfect, and the textbook was trying to teach the students the meaning of the word "Yet." And of course I immediately thought of this High Fidelity clip.
The truth is I've wanted to use this clip to talk about the meaning of "Yet" as long as I've been teaching English. (Students often seem to have questions about the meaning of "yet" and this clip illustrates it perfectly.) But I've never gotten around to using it in a lesson until now.
So I decided to try it out and play it for the students. We went through the textbook exercises on the uses of "yet" and "already" first, and then I used these movie clips to supplement the textbook.
There are a couple of danger points with using this movie clip. It contains a conversation about sex, and it contains a couple swear words. I was teaching a class of adult students, so I didn't think this would be a problem. But just to be perfectly safe, I warned my students ahead of time that the film clip would contain a discussion about sex and some rude words, and asked if anyone had a problem with that, and told them we didn't have to watch it if they didn't want to. (As with most human beings, this warning only increased their interest in the movie clip, and they unanimously agreed to continue.)
On Google here (Drive, Slides, Pub), and embedded below, is the PowerPoint presentation I used to set this clip up. After the movie, I discuss with the students the reasons for the various verb tenses, the meaning of "yet" and "already" and the difference between the contracted and uncontracted form of "have". (In this conversation, as in real life, the characters mostly contract "have", using the full form only for negatives, and for extra emphasis.) Most of this comes out in the class discussion, and so is not included on the PowerPoint or the handouts. The handouts only contain the transcript, and a list of vocabulary explanations for words and phrases I anticipated might be potentially problematic.
...I suspect a more intelligent person could have made a more creative lesson out of this movie clip. (My version basically consists of giving the students the transcript, and asking them to identify verb forms.) But for the moment this is all I came up with.
On a related note, I can't imagine I'm the first TESOL teacher to use this movie clip. It's so obvious. And yet, I did a Google Search to see what lessons were already prepared around this, and I couldn't find anything.
Anyways, for whatever their worth, my materials are below.
Scene 1
Rob: Is it better?
Laura: Is what better? Better than what?
Rob: Well, sex, I guess. Is it better?
Laura: Is that really what’s bothering you?
Rob: Yes. Yes of course.
Laura: Do you really think it would make a difference either way?
Rob: I don’t know.
Laura: Well, the answer is I don’t know either. We haven’t done it yet.
Rob: Never?
Laura: I haven’t felt like it.
Rob: Not even before when he was living upstairs?
Laura: No. I was living with you, remember? We’ve slept together, but we haven’t made love. Not yet. I’ll tell you one thing.
Rob: What?
Laura: Sleeping together’s better.
Rob: Sleeping together’s better? But not the sex, because you haven’t done it yet.
Laura: Will you please just go?
Rob: Yep.
Vocabulary:
bother:
to make someone feel worried or upset
make a difference:
to have an effect on a situation
either way:
used when you are giving a choice of two or more things. In this case it means “Would it make a difference whether the sex was better or whether it wasn’t better?”
slept together:
This is a little bit confusing because this expression has two possible meanings in English. One meaning is that two people slept together in the same area (and nothing else). Another meaning is a polite way to say two people had sex. Because this can get confusing, Laura has to clarify her meaning. “We’ve slept together but we haven’t made love.”
make love:
a polite way to refer to sex
together’s:
a contraction meaning “together is”. This is sometimes used in informal speaking, but should never be used in writing.
Scene 2
Rob: What did Laura mean last night when she said, "I haven't slept with him yet" ? Yet! What does "yet" mean anyway? It means you're gonna do it, doesn't it? Or does it?
(At the record store now)
Rob: Just come on. What would it mean to you, that sentence: "I haven't seen Evil Dead 2 yet" ?
Barry: Well, to me it would mean that you're a liar. You've seen it twice. Once with Laura -- oops -- and once with me and Dick, remember? We had that conversation about that guy making Beretta shotgun ammo off-screen in the 14th century.
Rob: Right. Alright, but let's just say that I hadn't seen it. And I said to you, "I haven't seen Evil Dead 2 yet." What would you think?
Barry: I'd think that you're a cinematic idiot and I'd feel sorry for you.
Rob: All right. But from that one sentence, would you think that I was going to see it?
Barry: I'm sorry, Rob. I'm struggling here. You're asking me what would I think if you told me you hadn't seen a film that you have already seen. What am I supposed to say?
Rob: Just listen to me. If I said to you –
Barry: "I haven't seen Evil Dead 2 yet", yes!
Rob: Would you get the impression that I really wanted to see it?
Barry: Oh, uh...well, you couldn't have been desperate to see it, otherwise you'd have already gone.
Rob: Right. I'm not going to see that movie.
Barry: But the word "yet."......Yeah, you know what? I get the impression that you wanted to see it...otherwise you'd have said you didn't want to go.
Rob: But in your opinion, would I definitely go?
Barry: How the fuck am I supposed to know? Probably.
Rob: Why?
Barry: Because it's a brilliant film! It's so funny and violent and the soundtrack kicks fucking ass. I never thought I'd say this, but can I go to work now?
Vocabulary:
gonna:
an informal contraction of “going to”. This is commonly used in speaking, but should never be used in writing.
Evil Dead 2
a popular horror comedy film in America, released in 1987.
about that guy making Beretta shotgun ammo off-screen in the 14th century:
This refers to a specific scene in the movie Evil Dead 2. If you haven’t seen Evil Dead 2, this won’t make any sense, so just ignore it. The only point here is that after Rob saw the movie, he had a long conversation about it with Barry and Dick.
let’s say:
used to introduce a suggestion or possible example of something. It is often used to suggest an imaginary or unreal example, as in this case
cinematic:
adjective form of cinema. It means referring to films or movies.
idiot:
someone who isn’t very smart.
cinematic idiot:
someone who doesn’t know anything about movies
feel sorry for somebody:
it means you feel bad because someone else is in a bad situation.
struggling:
having difficulty. In this case it means “I’m having difficulty understanding you.”
impression:
an idea or opinion of what something or someone is like
get the impression:
get the idea
desperate:
wanting or needing something very much
definitely:
without any doubt
How am I supposed to know?
This means: I don’t know, so why are you asking me?
soundtrack:
the music that is included in a movie
kicks ass:
the meaning of this expression changes depending on the situation, but in this situation, it means “really good.” This is considered rude English. It is probably best you don’t use it, especially when you’re around older people.
the fuck/ fucking:
the use of this expression changes depending on the situation, but in this situation it doesn’t have any particular meaning. It is simply used to make the emotion stronger. This is considered rude English. It is probably best you don’t use it, especially when you’re around older people.
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