Job Discussion Forums

johnslat · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:22 pm Post subject:

Dear Sheik,

Haven't seen "The Wire" yet (we don't get HBO) but five seasons of it are in my Netflix queue (when I find the time to get around to viewing them, I'll let you know what think.

So, you think "far above the norm for TV drama: is an understatement? Well, sorry - that's as far as I'll go. Have you ever seen "The Good Wife?"

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_good_wife/

It's riveting.

Regards,
John

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Does this seem like it is morphing into PM material guys?

I'm American and discussions of American TV bores me to tears... which is why I disconnected my cable.

VS

johnslat · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:47 pm Post subject:

Dear veiledsentiments,

Don't worry - I'll tie it all together.

OK, has anyone ever used American TV dramas as teaching aids in a Middle Eastern class?

I think it could be helpful, but I'm thinking of classes such as the ones we had back in the 80s at the IPA. The students then were all college graduates who were going to go to the US to get their MAs or Ph.Ds.

But I probably wouldn't have used "The Sopranos" had it been available at that time. Some of my students back them already had rather exaggerated fears of what might happen to them as soon as they stepped off the plane in NYC. Having them watch "The Sopranos" would have probably deterred them from ever boarding a flight to the US.

Regards,
John

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I had a colleague who showed his students "Startrek" to spark off discussion. They were especially interested when "Enterprise" discovered a civilisation where, like the Inuit, guests were offered the services of the host's wives when they arrived. You can imagine how weird that seems to the locals here !

johnslat · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:47 pm Post subject:

Dear scot47,

What??? You've been there since the dawn of creation, and NO Saudi has
extended the hospitality of one of his wives to you yet?

My goodness, man. You need to make new Saudi friends. Very Happy

Regards,
John

Sheikh N Bake · Joined: 26 Apr 2007 Posts: 1307 Location: Dis ting of ours

Perhaps if we attend a Saudi wedding we'll get fringe benefits??

At a univ. I once spent several weeks using 10 minutes of dialogue form the film My Name is Nobody, a classic spaghetti western with Henry Fonda and Franco Nero. I typed up a transcript of the dialogue and had students role-play it, then, playing and replaying the 10 mins. of the film over and over, practice the pronunciation, stress, intonation, etc. etc...then had them record it with partners with a tape-recorder-like software...oh yeah, "Audacity."

Got a lot of mileage out of 10 minutes from a Western. The Sopranos wouldn't do, since every other word begins with an F.