Job Discussion Forums

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:32 pm Post subject:

Well, I would recommend "Office Space" too. It is genuinely funny. As for Gung Ho, what is the point in saying it is not as bad as other films (except to counter my somewhat hyperbolic point that it is possibly the worst film ever made). Maybe there are worse films than Gung Ho; if you think your students would appreciate the patronising and pretty racist stereotypes of Japanese and the funny way they talk then show it by all means. But if you think that this is funny then there's little point discussing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZS1rawoWB4

Office Space is cheesy and a little twee in parts but I think that your students would prefer it to jokes which centre around how funny foreigners talk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlA-OsT25mw&mode=related&search=

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

Yes, I'm familar with 'The Office' , it's good. Would just have to figure out about getting a pc into the room (naturally my room doesn't even have a video setup either).

Any other ideas?

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:24 pm Post subject:

jr1965 · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 175

I'd definitely show all (or parts?) of "Office Space" to a group of business-English students. There is so much to talk about: job interviewing, what it takes to keep a job/get promoted, downsizing, office politics, cube life, stealing, etc etc.

Another suggestion: go to www.imdb.com and do a search for "business." I tried and got quite a list of films, documentaries, and TV productions.

Good luck.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

The university can supply the equipment, just a matter of reserving it. Yes, some Japanese universities are technologically not quite up to snuff. I can also arrange for a pc with the hardware as most of the univeristy rooms are on a wireless system.

paulbaxter · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 8

I movie I like a lot about american business life os one called The Big Kahuna. It's about business and religious ideas.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

That sounds familar...

Margot73 · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 145 Location: New York City

Although The Pursuit of Happyness is not strictly about busines, it does show many scenes of the main character interviewing, selling things, networking, training in a corporate environment, hunting down sales leads etc. It is also much more recent.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

So, on your recommendation, I picked up 'Office Space' today. And more in-depth ideas about using it in class?