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thelmadatter · Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2004 5:31 pm Post subject: movie recommendations

I have the enviable priviledge of being able to redesign a couple of my courses they way I want. My school hired me in part for my composition-teaching background. I teach the most advanced levels and most of my students have reached the "magical" 550 TOEFL score that is part of their reputation. So they give me a lot of leeway - not alas, not money Laughing

So the last couple of times Ive been back "home" in the States, I picked up some second-hand movies and TV shows(meaning from a second-hand bookstore, not illegally copied). The two that have gone over best are "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (even if they dont quite understand the race politics of that day - they sure understand what it means to bring home someone that your parents would have a hissy fit over) and Fawlty Towers

My students much prefer to watch a video even though it means paragraph writing to doing the listening exercises in the book and I dont blame them.

So Im thinking of compiling a list of classic movies/TV shows to have (and then when friends and family say "what do you want for Xmas/your birthday I can say...) - but not just American ones so Ill put out this question to all of you ...

What non-US movie/TV video would you suggest I put on my list? I think it should have a story that anyone can relate to in some way but at the same time does provide a glimpse into the culture as well. The only other requirement I have is that it be originally in English (primarily - I have "The Wedding Banquet" on my list although a good portion of it is in Chinese).

Thanks

Tuttifruitti · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 75

I've used Mr Bean with my students and they really enjoy it. Eventhough there isn't very much (hardly any) dialogue, they like to write their own, do prediction exercises etc.
The whole lesson gives them a good laugh!
Cool

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

When I was teaching in Spain back in 1997-1998 you could get a load of vidoes with ready-made exercises (and even the soundtrack I think) precisely for EFL classes.

They were more or less the same price as buying a standard video. The company was a Spanish one.

Alternatively just record from satellite dish.