Defining Culture - Movie Activity -

Teaching a book for the first time is challenging and exciting. Whenever I get a new coursebook, I feel a great need to bring in my touch, color the situations, and make sure my teens will not doze and nod their heads as they look at me wondering what I was thinking when I planned the lesson. The book I am talking about, seems wonderfully paced, but I still have to make it work for my people. We will start a discussion on culture which is something really hard to define even for adults. I planned a warmer that hopefully will ease my way into the "motivation zone". Feel free to try it out. It starts as a warmer and develops to object/subject questions controlled practice, but creative teachers might find different ways to use it. Please, let me know if this is the case.

• Beginner; Elementary
• Flickr
• Subject/object questions
• Cross cultural knowledge
• Information gap speaking/writing activity
• Materials  - movie scene, powerpoint (just the warmer), and  word document
• Principle - Learning a language makes room for learning and respecting cultural differences

Before you watch the scene

Discuss in your groups:

What’s culture? How many ways can you define it?

What are some unique cultural aspects in your country?

What’s your country famous for  nowadays? Has the way people perceive your country changed in any way over the years? Why? Why not?

What challenges a visitor to your country would face ?

Can lack of cultural knowledge lead to an embarrassing or difficult situation? Why? Why not?

Are there any celebrations that are unique to your country? Which ones?

Do people from other places in the world know about these celebrations? Are there any misconceptions?

How would you describe a famous celebration in your country to a foreigner?

A.      While you watch

You will watch a scene from the movie Rio. In this scene the American lady and her parrot have just arrived in the city during carnival. Tick from the box what you think they did not know about Brazil’s cultural background.

	All the city stops for carnival
	People wear special costumes
	Not everyone wear costumes
	The Samba parade takes place in a special place called Sambodromo
	Even before carnival begins people have fun as a preparation for the party
	Carnival is a big party in Brazil
	Many people dance and have a great time

B.      After you watch

Look at these facts about Brazil. Make questions for the facts, beginning with the words in italics.

The most popular sport Brazilians watch on television is soccer.

What sport…?

Indians lived in Brazil before The Portuguese settlers arrived.

Who…?

On September 7^th Brazilians celebrate Independence day, the national holiday.

What…?

There are 26 states in Brazil.

How many…?

Feijoada and barbecue are very popular. We have wonderful ‘Churrascarias’.

What…?

The World cup was hosted in Brazil in the 50’s.

When…?

C.      Follow up

Go to Flickr.com and choose a country you'd like to visit. Write 5 useful qustions you'd like to ask a local in order to avoid cultural bumps. Share your questions in groups of three, and together decide which 5 questions would be the most important ones.

A Beautiful Place I've Been to

• 
• Beginner; Elementary
• Teen; Adults
• Sharing personal experiences;Matching
• Movie segments
• Cultural shock; Traveling; narratives
• Past tenses
• Audiooboo

1.

Have you ever been to a beautiful place?

How was the weather like?

How was the people like?

Would you go there again?

2. You will watch a scene about a person who arrives in a foreign country.

3.Read a description of the scene and spot seven defferences between the text and the scene.

Linda and her pet had a great time in Rio. They arrived during the day after a long trip by train. The weather was nice and hot; She was feeling well, but she was worried about the heat, so she put a lot of sunscreen on her face. Surprisingly, there weren't people on the beaches. When the car stopped, she got very surprised because people were wearing masks in the middle of the street! Her host told her about carnival, The second biggest party in the world. She was intrigued by a woman who was a professional performer. Linda was very excited about carnival and decided she wanted to join the crowd and dance too! The parrot, blu, made friends, and his friends told him that he didn't look like a foreigner. Blue came to Rio for carnival when is a good time to meet new people. The birds gave him a word of advice: Brazilian women don't respond well to a show of confidence. Everybody was really excited about being in such a great and colorful city!

4. Think about a place you have been to. Look at the sentences below and choose the ones that you could use to talk about your trip.

I was very happy to be there.

I got there by bus/train/plane.

It took me a long/short time to get there.

I arrived there during the day.

I arrived there during the night.

At first I was a bit confused/ tired.

I really loved the place from start!

I really enjoyed the weather/food/people there.

I didn't understand some cultural aspects.

I'd love to get back there, but I'd do some things differently.

5. Find a partner and expand a little on the sentences. Tell him as many details as you can.

6. Use audioboo to record your conversation and hear your classmates questions about your trip!

Memoirs of a Geisha: ESL Class on Beauty

I used the brilliant movie Memoir of a Geisha to start a Lesson on beauty. My students were really excitied about learning about different cultures. We also shared our views on beauty on our wiki. The best part for me was observing the beauty of technology reinforcing students' interacting meaningfully. Check our wiki here.

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Type of activivity __________ Opener / speaking

Language________________ Word related words - beauty

Topic____________________ Beauty / dressing appropriately

Time_____________________50 minutes

Age group________________ Adults

Level ____________________ Upper intermediare

Materials _________________ Powerpoint presentation, movie

Webtool _________________ pbwiki

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1. Read the following quotes. What do they mean? Which ones do you agree with the most?

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

~John Muir

I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.

~Author Unknown

By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.

~Rabindrath Tagore

That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful. ~Ninon de L'Enclos

2. Watch the following commercial. What message does it convey?

3. Can you think of images that depict concepts of ideal beauty at different times and in different places? What do you know about geishas? Watch this movie segment to find out more about them.

4. What do you know about these cultures?

5.Listen to your teacher's definition of beauty. How would you define/describe beauty? Leave your comments on our wiki.

Eat Pray Love - Reported Speech - Digitalizing Homework

This movie provides teachers with the great opportunity of dealing with cultural differences in a light, fun way. When the main character goes to Italy, she starts comparing the customs and the way of life to her own, and she learns from it. I hope our students get to learn a bit more about themselves too.

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Topic Cultural differences

Language Reported speech

Type of activity Practice

Level Intermediate

Age group Adults

webtool ESL video

Materials Movie scene, worksheet, ESL video (downloadable)

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Before you watch the scene complete the sentences with your own ideas.

a) In Italy you should…

b) To learn Italian one must …

c) In Italy, body language is...

Watch the scene and take notes of any unfamiliar words you see.

Read the transcript and find seven mistakes. Who is the most

attentive student in class?

I feel so guilty. I’ve been in Rome for two weeks, and all I’ve done is learn a few Italian words and eat.

You feel guilty because you are Portuguese. You don’t know how to enjoy yourself.

I beg your pardon?

It’s true. Americans know entertainment, but don’t know pleasure.

This is Luca pizza, by the way, you know.

Your name is Luca spaghetti?

Yes, that’s what our family is called. We invented it. I’m serious. Listen to me. You want to know your problem? Americans.You work too hard. You get burned out. Then you come home and spend the whole weekend in your shorts in front of the TV.

That’s not far off, actually.

But you don’t know pleasure. You have to be told you earned it. You see a commercial that says, “ It’s Miller time” and you say, “ That’s right. Now I’ll go to buy a ten-pack.”And you drink the whole thing and you wake up the next morning and you feel wonderful. But an Italian doesn’t need to be told. He walks by a sign that says. “You deserve a break today.” And he says “yeah, I know! That’s why I’m planning a break at noon to go to your house and sleep with your wife.”

We call it “Dolce far niente.” It means the bitterness of doing nothing. We are masters of it. He ‘s right. “ You can’t learn Italian like this.” You don’t speak the language just with your mouth, speak it with your hands.

Like this?

Complete the questions using the reported speech.

a) She woman said she ________( be) In Italy for three weeks.

b) The Italian man told her she ______ ( feel) guilty because she

_______ ( be ) American.

c) The Italian man told she ________( not know)how to enjou herself.

d) The Italian man said that his family ____ ______ ( invent) spaghetti.

e) The Italian man said Americas ______ ( work) too hard and

got burned out.

f) The man said that an Italian ________________( need) to be told.

g) Her friend told her that it _______( mean) the sweetness of life.

h) The Italian guy said that they ____________ masters of it.

Group discussion

1. What do you think about the movie?
2. Do you agree with what the Italian guy said?
3. How do you feel when people stereotype people from from country or city?
4. How do you enjoy life?
5. Is your life well balanced? Why? Why not?

Homework

Find a movie scene and prepare a quiz using reported speech to challenge your classmates.

Movie scene, worksheet, ESL video (downloadable)

Answerkey

I feel so guilty. I’ve been in Rome for three weeks, and all I’ve done is learn a few Italian words and eat.

You feel guilty because you are American. You don’t know how to enjoy yourself.

I beg your pardon?

It’s true. Americans know entertainment, but don’t know pleasure.

This is Luca spaghetti, by the way, you know.

Your name is Luca spaghetti?

Yes, that’s what our family is called. We invented it. I’m serious. Listen to me. You want to know your problem? Americans. You work too hard. You get burned out. Then you come home and spend the whole weekend in your shorts in front of the TV.

That’s not far off, actually.

But you don’t know pleasure. You have to be told you earned it. You see a commercial that says, “ It’s Miller time” and you say, “ That’s right. Now I’ll go to buy a six-pack.”And you drink the whole thing and you wake up the next morning and you feel terrible. But an Italian doesn’t need to be told. He walks by a sign that says. “You deserve a break today.” And he says “yeah, I know! That’s why I’m planning a break at noon to go to your house and sleep with your wife.”

We call it “Dolce far niente.” It means the sweetness of doing nothing. We are masters of it. He ‘s right. “ You can’t learn Italian like this.” You don’t speak the language just with your mouth, speak it with your hands.

Like this?

Complete the questions using the reported speech.

She woman said she had been in Italy for three weeks
The Italian man told her she felt guilty because she was American
The Italian man told she didn’t know how to enjoy herself
The Italian man said that his family had invented spaghetti
The Italian man said Americas worked too hard and got burned out
The man said that an Italian didn’t need to be told.
Her friend told her that “ Dolce far niente.” meant the sweetness of life
The Italian guy said that they were masters of that.

An ESL Class on Food And Culture

The movie Eat Pray Love is sweet and brings lots of cultural aspects an EFL/ESL teacher could explore. My advanved conversation group had a blast last class. We talked about food, watched a movie to prompt discussion, and as a follow up, we will bring our special family recipes to share . I want them to try out a web2.o to present their recepies. We explored slideshare, voicethread and Prezi. I'm dying to see what these digital natives will surprise me with. I asked them to also bring the dish... I'll keep my fingers crossed for a yummy class. I myself will bring an apple pie. I couldn't get enough of it when I was in the States. I tried to make them here in Brazil, but I was always dissappointed until I learned the secret. I'll make a movie of my cooking this special desert, bring it to class and listen to their talking about their most treasured recipes. Actually, they told me that we could be talking about food for the rest of the semester! Sharing food is for sure a great way to create a bond among people.Students suggested making this pie for Mother's day. It means to me that I have reached them and talked about something they care about. It was a great class.

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Type of activivity Speaking / movie activity

Time 25 to 50 minutes

Topic Food - recipes - culture - Stereotyping

Age group Older teens or adults

Materials Powerpoint presentation, worksheet ( optional), movie segment.

Webtools SlideSix ( because you can narrate your recipe!)

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What do these sayings mean? Do the say anything about the people's culture?

My favorite animal is steak. ~Fran Lebowitz

wn better with soup. ~Jewish Proverb

Rice is born in water and must die in wine. ~Italian Proverb

Eat little, sleep sound. ~Iranian Proverb

1 - Talk to a partner and find the odd one out in each set of words.

Beef / steak /pork/ lamb / garlic
Garlic is the odd one out because the others are all type of meat.

a) Mango / rice /pear/raspberry

b) Butter / cottage cheese/ yogurt / brocolli

c) Turkey/cauliflower/pepper / spinach

d) Lamb / chicken / turkey / Duck

e) Pasta / sauce / pie / grapes

f) Chocolate/chickpeas/syrup / jam

g) Brown bread / brown rice / chocolate / sugar

h) Beef / steak /pork/ lamb / garlic

2 - Where are these dishes from?

a) Roast turkey, roast potatoes, two or three kinds of vegetables, plus a meat-flavored sauce called gravy.

b) A paste made from chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic. You eat it with pitta bread.

c) Apple pie ( a sweet dish people eat as a dessert)

d) Pancakes with maple syrup- a thick, sweet liquid that comes from inside some kinds of tree in that country.

e) Fresh fish cooked in dende oil and coconut milk.

3- Discuss with a partner the following questions. How many things do you have in common?

What words spring to mind when you hear the word Italy?

What role does eating play in your life?

Do you have any memory related to food?

How open are you to try different coisines?

If you were given the chance to travel to a place to experiment the cousine, where would you go? Why?

How often do you take your time to enjoy your meals?

4 - Before you watch a scene from the movie Eat Pray Love, complete the sentences with your own ideas.

Generally speaking, Italian people know how...

If you want to learn Italian you should...

In Italy, body language is...

When you are in Italy you shouldn’t...

At a restaurant you must...

5- After watching the movie complete the sentences below. Who is the most attentive student?

Generally speaking, Italian people know how...

The hairdresser told the woman that...

The woman said that the hairdresser's description of the Americans was not...

According to the young man, Italians are masters of...

The hairdresser said that you don't speak Italian with your mouth. You have to use...

If you want to learn Italian you should...

In Italy, body language is...

When you are in Italy you shouldn’t...

6 - Group discussion

What gestures used in the movie do you remember? What do they mean?

Do you use a lot of body language? Why?Why not?

What do you think of the man's description of the American people and the Italians?

What is a generalization for you?

How do you feel when someone stereotypes the people where you come from?

What do people say about people in your country?

What is the typicall food in your country?

Do you think that food defines a culture? Why? Why not?

It is said that sharing food has always been a way for people of all cultures to bond with others. Do you agree? Why? Why not?

Homework / follow up

You will host a couple of foreigners next week. You want to impress by making a meal that represents your country.
What will you make? Think about the first and second dishes, and
dessert.

Use a web2.o to make a presentation. What's your favorite recipe? What's the secret one should know to make the dish very well?

Example:

Answerkey

1 - Odd one out

a)

Rice - all the others are fruit

b)

Brocolli. All the others are dairy products

c)

Turkey. All the others are vegetables

d)

Lamb. All the others are kind of birds

e)

Parsley. All the others are ready food

f)

Chickpeas. All the others are sweet

g)

Sugar. All the others are brown

h)

Fish. all the others are kind of red meat

2- Where are these dishes drom?

a) Great Britan and The US

b) Middle East

c) The US

d) Cana da

e) Brazil