My boyfriend just made me aware of this very cute open source animated short. I regret that he didn't show me earlier because I'm sure my kids would have loved it! So I'm sharing it now, in case it may be useful for my teacher friends who are still teaching.
You could use it for so much! Season vocabulary (since it's obviously springtime), animals, simple past, sequencing, and descriptions, just to name a few.
For other videos I've found, check the Multimedia Monday tag. If you don't have Internet access in your classroom (but you DO have a computer), I recommend using YouTubeDownloaderHD to save the movies to a thumb drive.
I finish my job at the end of this month, which means I'll no longer be on the hunt for supplementary videos to show. (I've peeked ahead in the textbook: not very video-friendly topics.)
So I leave you with this, instead.
My lowest level classes have been watching Robots. There's a scene that is most obviously a nod to the Golden Age of Hollywood classic (and one of my all-time favorite movies), Singin' in the Rain.
That's the only footage I could find, sorry.
Anyway, I found the scene from Singin' in the Rain and downloaded it, unsure if I would show it in class or not. In two classes so far I've decided to screen it. Before that, I asked the students if they remembered the scene and what happened. Once I got an answer to the effect of "Fender sings!" or "Fender dances!" or whatever, I rolled the Gene Kelly video.
All of my kids picked up on it as soon as they heard the musical cue, and also thoroughly enjoyed Gene Kelly's goofy antics (and masterful dancing) in the water. (Though one boy did complain: "Ugh! So dirty!") They don't make 'em like Gene anymore.
I could see using the song in a present prefect versus present simple lesson, or just showing the video to kill some time. Either way, let Gene Kelly play out your Friday evening:
Or for a lesson on comparisons, you could also show the Volkswagen Golf commercial from a few years ago:
Usually foreigner-in-Korea blogs/"vlogs" make me cringe (like Eat Your Kimchi...seriously? seriously you guys?), but this girl doesn't make me crawl the walls, so that's a point in her favor.
Anyway, the topic in the book this week is "culture shock," which is a good one for conversation fodder. There were also a whole lot of foreigner-in-Korea videos about it, and all the assorted little things that are different when you come to Korea.
Speaking of "little things," it's too bad that I couldn't show them the infamous "Royale with cheese" dialogue from Pulp Fiction, but so it goes.
It seems Expat Kerri has a whole series of videos on this very topic. Normally I would write this off as an egregious and self-indulgent exercise in nihilism, but hey, it was good listening practice for my kids, so thanks Kerri!
Before I played this for them, I asked them two things:
1. What was confusing for her?
2. Why was it confusing?
This particular entry happens to be about the Korean expression, "밥 먹었어요?" but as I said, she has some other entries too.
It segued into a short little lesson about how in English we say "What's up?" or "How are you?" as a similar greeting: people don't say it because they necessarily care about the answer, but because it's become a convention among greetings. Likewise, I pointed out, if you're doing really bad, you still tend to say, "I'm okay" or "I'm fine" because you understand the person is just asking to be polite, not because they really want to know your sob story.
If you want to download this or other videos to use in class, I recommend using YouTube downloader HD. For other videos (some useful, some not), please check out my Multimedia Monday tag.
I've been remiss on Multimedia Monday. I haven't been feeling all that inspired, I suppose.
Since August is closing out, I'm staring down the last movies I'm going to watch with my kids. The lower level ones get Robots; the older ones get School of Rock (which I know was used in one of the relatively recent intensive courses so I'm surprised to see it recycled). As a tribute to my new favorite K-blog, kikinitkorea, have this:
How I feel when Koreans don't understand the pop culture references I'm making:
The topic in my book this week is "favorites," which is pretty useless.
Instead, have this video that popped up on my Facebook news feed. It's a North Korean pops orchestra (in the tradition of Trans-Siberian Orchestra) performing "Gonna Fly Now:"
The topic in my advanced textbook this week is inventions. We're going to rate these infomercial inventions and talk about which ones are good inventions, which ones are bad, and why.
RIP Billy Mays
To download these or any other videos for use, I recommend YouTubeDownloaderHD. Check out the Multimedia Monday tag for other videos and activity ideas.
The first topic in the new textbook is "Friendship." And is there a better song about friendship than Brian Wilson singing Randy Newman? No. No there is not. And I really like using these typography videos in class, so bonus points for that.
I'm doing a simple gap fill with the lyrics beforehand, though listening again I realized it's really needlessly repetitive at the end. What the heck, Brian? Usually you're a masterful arranger but why did you add a whole bunch of nothing to the end? Randy Newman ain't no slouch, son.
Of course, I would be remiss in my Internet geekiness if I didn't also include a choice clip from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I think it's a mediocre show so I can't be bothered to sort through the awful fanvids and brony nonsense on YouTube to find something for class. Remiss I shall be!
The last topic in the textbook this semester is Yellow Dust. Obviously, the kids already know about Yellow Dust and how annoying it is (though this year wasn't so bad), so I can't really blow their minds with any new information on it. Plus, on YouTube, the top hits for Yellow Dust are all foreigner vloggers which is a whole bunch of self-absorbed navel-gazing I don't want to encourage. Apparently, Yellow Dust makes colds worse. In other news, the Pope is Catholic and the sky is blue.
Here it's Wednesday (for those of you playing along in Korea, anyway), and I'm just now posting Multimedia Monday.
Truth be told, I was having a hard time for this week. The book topic is "in pursuit of perfection" which does not lend itself easily to videos.
Then, I got the idea to find songs with my students' English names. Just, you know, for fun.
I have two girls named Annie, one new and quiet and one old and chatty. It was the older, chatty one I had in mind when I decided to bring in Ben Folds' "Annie Waits:"
Lyrics:
And so
Annie waits, Annie waits, Annie waits
for a call
from a friend.
The same,
it's the same, was it always the same?
Annie waits for the last time.
The clock
Never stops, never stops, never waits.
She's growing old,
it's getting late.
And so
he forgot, he forgot!
Maybe not.
Maybe he's been seriously hurt.
Would that be worse?
Headlights crest the hill.
Shadows pass her by and out of sight.
Annie sees her dreams:
Friday bingo, pigeons in the park.
Annie waits for the last time.
Just the same as the last time.
Annie says,
“You see
this is why I'd rather be
alone."
And so
Annie waits, Annie waits, Annie waits
for a call
from a friend.
The same.
It's the same, was it always the same?
Annie waits as the last
headlights crest the hill.
Who will be the one for ever more?
Annie, I could be,
if we're both still lonely when we're old.
Annie waits for the last time.
Just the same as the last time.
Annie waits for the last time.
Just the same as the last time.
Annie waits,
but not for me.
Which then got me to thinking: Ben Folds' lyrics are really good for ESL, aren't they?
He's a songwriter I admire for not only excellent musicianship (though, let's be honest, his singing is kind of eh) but genius lyricism. Despite linguistic simplicity and straightforwardness—as if you couldn't guess, I'm not a big fan of grandiose-sounding poetic nonsense in either my reading or my listening—he accomplishes a lot: biting satire to profound loss to everything in between. The only complaint I have is that he swears about as much as I do, so many of my favorite songs are in no way appropriate for a hagwon classroom. Here are a couple gems that are totally appropriate, though.
Learn to Live With What You Are
I know that you're in there,
I can see you.
You're saying you're okay.
I don't believe you.
And now that the gig is off,
the spell is broken.
The fat lady sung,
The president has spoken.
These days that you were waiting for
will come and go
like any day.
Just another day.
There's never gonna be a moment of truth for you
while the world is watching.
All you need is the thing you forgotten,
and that's to learn to live with what you are.
So freak out if you wanna
and I'll still be here.
Don't call me for years and when you do,
yeah, I'll still be here.
I'm not saying the effort is a waste of time,
but I
just love you for the things you couldn't change,
though you've tried.
These hours of confusion, they will soon expire,
like everything
does.
There's never gonna be a moment of truth for you
while the world is watching.
All you need is the thing you've forgotten,
and that's to learn to live with what you are.
Sometimes,
everything you've ever wanted
floats above.
He's sticking out his tongue and laughing,
while everything
anyone can ever need
is down below,
waiting for you
to know this.
There's never gonna be a moment of truth for you
while the world is watching.
All you need is the thing you've forgotten,
and that's to learn to live with what you are.
You got to learn to live with what you are.
Rockin' the Suburbs (the clean version from Over the Hedge)
Let me tell y'all what it's like,
watching "Idol" on a Friday night
in a house built safe and sound
on Indian burial grounds.
Sham on!
We drive our cars every day
to and from work both ways,
so we make just enough to pay
to drive our cars to work each day.
Hey, hey!
We're rockin' the suburbs,
around the block just one more time.
We're rockin' the suburbs,
'cause I can't tell which house is mine.
We're rockin' the suburbs,
we part the shades and face the facts:
they've got better lookin' fescue
right across the cul-de-sac.
Hot real estate, rising stars,
"get rich quick" seminars,
soap opera magazines
40 thousand watt nativity scenes.
Don't freak about the smoke alarm,
Mom left the TV dinner on.
We're rockin' the suburbs,
from Family Feud to Chevy Chase.
We're rockin' the suburbs,
numb the muscles in our face.
We're rockin' the suburbs
We feed the dog and mow the lawn,
watching Mommy bounce the checks
while Daddy juggles credit cards.
We're rockin' the suburbs,
everything we need is here.
We're rockin' the suburbs,
But it wasn't here last year.
We're rockin' the suburbs,
You'll never know when we are gone
because the timer lights the front
and turns the cricket noises on
each night.
Yeah, yeah.
We're rockin' the suburbs.
Arguably these don't lend themselves to a clear-cut grammar objective the way some other songs I've posted do, but they would make nice low-key "reward" classes. The very prose-like nature of his lyrics (check it out, most everything is a complete and grammatically correct sentence) makes it pretty straightforward for English learners to follow. Not only that, I think each song presents a pretty clear theme/picture/element: a chain of unrequited love; advice to a friend; social commentary.
Beyond that, I think it's worth it to take time out from teach teach teach to present confidence-building exercises in proper context. Or whatever. By which I mean: my favorite method of language study is to pick pop songs and disassemble the lyrics, mostly because it's incredibly rewarding when I "get it." Barring that, whenever I hear a new song in a target language and immediately understand any of it, I also feel pretty good about myself.
Part of me also just wants to indoctrinate my students with my musical preferences, too. Not gonna lie.
The topic in my advanced classes' textbook this week is on the evolution of English as a language. Obviously it's hard to pack a whole linguistic history into a one-page essay, so the article in the book can be boiled down to: "Lots of people invaded England, so lots of languages are in English, and it's changed a lot over time." (Aside, I'm currently reading Globish, which is about essentially this story, as well as tracing its trajectory as a lingua franca. Good stuff so far.)
Because I'm an English (Creative Writing) major, I think it'll be great word-nerdy fun to play with some Shakespearian insults—if nothing else, to demonstrate in a clearer way than the book provides just how much English has changed. I printed out a worksheet/word list as soon as I got a chance to flip through the new text book, but just now I also found this TED Ed video. I haven't decided if I'm going to use it or not, but it's interesting nonetheless. At least for me, since I haven't studied any Shakespeare since high school. (I opted for Milton courses in university instead.)
Also for bonus points, here's what I was referencing to in the title (if you didn't catch it on your own). Why doesn't anyone write musicals like this anymore?
Not usable in class, but definitely interesting if you are any kind of cinema buff: free classic Korean movies online, with English subtitles at The Korean Film Archive. Tip of the hat to Roboseyo for sharing this one.
This was the last weekend of the International Music Festival up here in Uijeongbu. Because I'm a cheap clueless git, I didn't see any of the performances except the guy playing the piano on an old-timey penny farthing bicycle:
Don't ask me to explain, because I can't.
This past Sunday night was the finale concert at the Uijeongbu Arts Center (a very posh place, by the way). The big deal was that Tiger JK, a Korean-American rapper of some renown, was giving a free concert with his wife Yoon Mirae. Since this was the festival's grand finale concert, it was stupendously well-attended. Not surprising, since Tiger JK was born up here in Uijeongbu and lived here until his family moved to America when he was twelve. Definitely some regional pride involved.
It was a good time; I wasn't blown away musically, but that's to be expected. Hip-hop is a genre I've only recently begun to appreciate. Plus, with rapping, a lot of the enjoyment comes from knowing the language and appreciating turns of phrases and word play. My Korean is just not up to par for that. That said, Yoon Mirae has great stage presence. I loved her.
It was also cool to see a pop concert that was obviously about showcasing talent and not just being a pretty face on a hot bod. Before Tiger JK and his wife took the stage, there were of course some opening acts of a similar ilk, whose talents seemed far more focused on singing and rapping than on choreography. The gorgeous weather and ambiance of the venue was just the cherry on top: not too humid, comfortable temperature, clear skies, families laughing, old guys selling goofy flying light-up toys or ice cream on the outskirts of the audience.
My mind wasn't really properly blown until after the concert, when I looked up Tiger JK on YouTube and found this: the multicultural hip-hop group "Sun Zoo," featuring Tiger JK, Yoon Mirae, and Roscoe Umali, produced by Illmind. Don't worry if your Korean is as bad as mine, it's in English. It's very NSFW, so plug in your headphones; Mom and Mom-mom should probably just skip this one entirely.
Yoon Mirae has the second verse and Tiger JK has the last verse. I'm going to be listening to this on repeat for the next few days.
What I want to see happen (or what I want to find out about if it has happened) is a K-pop/Korean hip-hop star from Uijeongbu sampling "Suicide is Painless." That would make my life.
Someone translated Abbot and Costello's immortal "Who's On First?" routine into Korean. Whoever they are, I could kiss them. I'd also ask them to work on some classic Marx brothers bits.
I'm early for the first time in a while with this! That's because after a string of mediocre essay topics, the advanced textbook really geared it up for the last chapter: "Crime Fighting Scientists." Of course, talking about crime and violence is always a little unsettling and awkward because inevitably things like rape and sexual assault come up. I'm fortunate enough that those aren't triggering concepts for me, but some of my advanced students are at the age where I'm not sure if they've had "the talk" with their parents about the mechanics of sex. Others are old enough to know, presumably, but there's still no way of knowing what kind of discussions they've had about boundaries and consent and "no means no" and so on.
So, I mean, there was that minefield.
Odd that I don't really have much issue discussing murder, though. I guess death is a bit easier to joke about?
Anyway, I started out the class with a bit more levity.
At least one of the CSI variants are ported over here, in addition to The Mentalist and probably other crime shows I don't know about as well. I started off class by asking if they knew CSI, and what they thought about it and why. Sometimes we chatted a bit more about TV shows in general, if time allowed.
Then I told them I had a video that was like a CSI episode and gave them two questions.
1. Who did it? And why?
2. Why does the man put on his sunglasses?
After checking to make sure they understood the questions, I played the video. In retrospect, I should have pre-taught the words "lumberjack" and "convict," but I don't think it detracted too much from their understanding. The nice thing about whodunnits is that they're pretty straightforward.
I paused at the shot with all three suspects and took a tally to see who everyone thought was guilty, then let the rest of the video play out.
Obviously everyone could give me a good answer for the first question. The language is too quick and kind of too punny for anyone to have been able to answer the second one, I suppose, but I thought my more advanced students might have been able to catch the "axe"/"ask" joke.
I had textbook material to cover, so I left it that, but I'm sure you could exploit the hell out of this. Simple past and sequencing words spring to mind. Putting aside the content, you could also talk about how to create stop motion animated features and review imperatives and giving/following directions as well.
For more videos (with and without lesson ideas), check out the Multimedia Monday tag. If you don't have Internet access on your classroom computer, I recommend YouTubeDownloader HD.
I feel really guilty for thinking this is funny, but...it is. At least the actor isn't in Yellow Face.
God, who thought this would be a good idea?
At some point or another I'm going to have to write a post dissecting all of the hate the stereotypical "Korean girl" gets along feminist and racial lines, but until then, I'm going to be really thoughtless about my privilege and share this with you:
The material in the book this week isn't particularly video-friendly (hey guys, let's watch videos of women in yoga pants stretch for twelve minutes), so have some K-pop that I really like:
This week we're talking about reforestation and saving the world's forests. I'm just glad that we're done with "Aging Populations," which I think takes the cake as far as "totally unappealing to middle school students" goes. It was actually very timely, since this past week was Arbor Day in Korea (April 5). I had no idea until my students mentioned it.
"Teacher! Yesterday was...tree...growing...make new forest day!"
"Oh! You're right. Arbor Day."
I found this video from WeForest, which is cool both because of what they do, and because Stephen Fry narrates it. Also, it's one of those good videos that includes key bits of text from the narration in the video itself, which makes it much easier for my kids to follow along and retain important points.
Did you know that trees made clouds? I didn't!
A good discussion-starter if you're working on environmental issues in your class.
If you want to see other videos I've used in class, visit the Multimedia Monday tag. If you want to save any of these videos for your own personal or pedagogical use, I recommend YouTube Downloader HD.
The views expressed herein are entirely my own and are in no way reflective of my employers, who shall remain nameless in the spirit of good common sense.
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