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BeckyLadakh
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Boycott (2001)
Using "Boycott" for ESL or teaching English
I use movies as an adjunct to English class in a remote part of India. I like to show movies from different parts of the world or where students will also learn something about history or cultures, so I bought this movie sight unseen. I'm sure it's a great movie, but for my students it was much too slow moving and they started to lose interest. I was disappointed about that since I find this episode in history so exciting, but that's how it went in my class.
If you use "Boycott" in an ESL class, be sure to give the background to the history beforehand. Don't worry about the accents -- they are clear, and the dialog is clear and slow enough, but a lot of background knowledge s required.
Baran (2001)
Showing Baran to students in Asia
I use movies as an adjunct to my English class in Ladakh, a remote part of India. I like to show movies from different countries, and movies by this director always satisfy. It does mean that my students are reading subtitles rather than listening to English, but reading in chunks is a real-life reading skill, so I like to mix subtitled non-English movies in with English ones.
Being Iranian, this movie is, of course, squeaky clean for showing to students in a conservative society.
The character of Lateef is fun to do a character word-web about and my students came up with some great descriptive words, since his character is not all positive, and changes over time. Pre-teach that it's from Iran, and the language is Farsi (not Arabic). Because of many years of war, lots of Afghans are refugees in other countries, and in Iran they have trouble because without ID cards they aren't allowed to work, shop in shops, or stay in hotels. Make sure to catch the names of Najaf (the guy who has the accident at the beginning), his friend Sultan, the central character Lateef, and the boss Memar, because a lot of important plot points happen in discussions mentioning a character.
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Using Bend it Like Beckham for teaching English
I use movies as an adjunct to my ESL class in a remote part of India.
I do have reservations about using it for ESL class -- but I do anyway because I enjoy the movie so much. The English is a little too fast, not very clear and easy, but good for learning to understand contemporary British speech. For a conservative society, there's a very slightly embarrassing scene of undress, and one of drunkenness with a kiss. My rural students probably won't catch the references to homosexuality. However it is in fact teaching insubordination... It's a good movie, esp after students have had enough exposure to westerners to be able to put it in perspective.
I found the script on Drew's Scriptorama, so you could prepare some materials to go along with teaching.
Lan feng zheng (1993)
Using movies to teach
I use movies for teaching, i.e. I show movies from different parts of the world to my students in a remote rural part of India. Last year I showed the Blue Kite but found it was a bit too slow moving and unrelentingly grim. Then I showed To Live, which covers a similar part of history in a similar plot, and found it much easier to watch. I'm not saying that this movie is not great, just that for teenagers, the Blue Kite is a bit too slow.
With both of these movies I think it is essential to know background information about the periods of history covered. The things that were done in China of those decades are so hard to believe and fathom. If you are interested in China of the 20th century, this movie is essential.
The Sound of Music (1965)
Using Sound of Music for teaching English
I like using movies for teaching English in Asia. I show them as an adjunct to English class, so that students get an extended chance to hear English in use.
The Sound of Music is too fast for my lower level students at the beginning of the year, but by the end of their first year, it's good. The accent is very clear, and the subtitles on the DVD are fairly accurate but not exact at all. However, since it is very long, it has to be shown in three to five sessions. If you try to show it in one long session your students will fall asleep. (Remember how difficult it is to listen for extended periods to a language that you struggle in).
I didn't find an accurate script online so I downloaded one, corrected it roughly, and made a vocabulary list. I'm sure many English teachers would appreciate suggestions from other ESL teachers about how to use this movie for teaching English, or specific activities.