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Silvana's lesson
Silvana (teacher): Good morning everyone, how are you today?
Class (together): Fine!
Silvana: OK, good!
She steps to the interactive whiteboard
Silvana: Our lesson today is about feeling unwell.
She points at a screen on the whiteboard. It says 'Feeling unwell. Informal phrases'.
Silvana: What's 'unwell'?
She looks around at the students for an answer.
Class: Not good, not so well, not so good
Silvana: 'Not so good' – yeah. 'I'm not feeling very well'
She gestures with her hands to indicate an upset stomach.
Silvana: And today, we're going to look at -
She points at the words on the board.
Silvana: 'Informal phrases'. Phrases: One word? More than one word?
She puts one finger in the air, then moves her fingers apart to indicate a longer sentence. She looks around the class for an answer.
Class: More. More than one word.
Silvana: More than. Two or three. We have to remember them together. OK?
She touches her head to indicate 'remember', then nods her head.
Silvana: Can I have one example? Of a phrase, please?
She looks to the class.
Students: Mmmm…
Male student: Do my best.
Silvana: Excellent.
She points at the student.
Silvana: 'Do my best'. Well done.
She returns to point at the whiteboard.
Silvana: These phrases we're going to learn are informal, so when I talk to…?
She mimes 'talking' with one hand, then shrugs, looking to the class for the answer.
Female student: Your friends.
Silvana: Mm-hmm. Or…?
Female student: Parents..
Silvana: Yuh, parents, family, well done. Am I going to use these phrases when I talk to my doctor?
Class (one at a time): No, no, no.
Fade to black and back
Silvana is at the whiteboard, pointing at a picture of a man with a bad back. He has an empty speech balloon.
Silvana: A different way of saying, 'I've got a bad back'.
She steps forward.
Silvana: 'My back's gone.'
Class (repeating): My back's gone. My back's gone.
Silvana: Can I have somebody to come and write that, please?
She looks around.
Silvana: Angela?
Angela leaves her chair and walks to the whiteboard, where she picks up a pen and fills in the speech balloon. Silvana and the class watch.
Silvana: Mm-hmm, 'gone' – bye bye, gone, yes? is that ok?
Class: Yes.
Silvana: And the last one, now
Angela returns to her seat. Silvana points at a picture of one foot on the whiteboard.
Silvana: Imagine there are two, ok?
She points to her head to indicate 'imagine' and to her feet to show 'two'.
Silvana: OK, what's this?
Class: Feet, foot
Silvana: One is…
Class: Foot.
Silvana: But two?
Class: Feet.
Silvana: OK.
Male student: I feel pain…
Silvana: OK, informal. "My feet are killing me."
The class: Ah..
They smile and laugh
Silvana: My feet are KILLING me… yes? Killing me.
She claps
Silvana: Killing me!
Class: Killing me!
Silvana: Feet are killing me
She clicks her fingers to indicate the rhythm
Class (repeating): Feet are killing me..!
Fade to black.
Barbara's lesson
Two students, an older male and a young female, are sitting next to each other. The male student is nodding and smiling. We hear the voice of the teacher, Barbara.
Barbara: OK, now have a look… at this picture. Look at this picture.
We see a photograph of a wheel clamp on the electronic whiteboard.
Barbara (pointing at clamp): Somebody broke a rule.
We see a female student with her chin in her hand, looking at the whiteboard.
Barbara: Somebody broke a rule.
We see five students sitting behind desks.
Barbara: And something has happened to him.. or her.
She points at the clamp again, tracing its outline.
Barbara: This… can this person drive away?
She mimes a car driving away from her with her hands. The two female students and the older male student shake their heads.
Students: No.
Barbara: No. How can they.. how can they take this off the car?
Older male student: Broken the lock.
General laughter.
Barbara: Ha ha ha – they could break the lock. Or…?
She rocks from side to side, looking for the answer.
Female student in red top: They must pay the… the..
Another student: The tip?
Male student in white top: The fine.
Barbara: Good! You have to pay a fine, and then they..
She mimes unlocking the clamp.
Barbara: .. unlock it. Okay.
She goes back to the whiteboard and points at the picture.
Barbara: This is a clamp. Everyone?
She gestures at the class to speak.
Students: Clamp.
Barbara: With your partner, can you think what rule did this person break?
She nods.
Barbara: OK.
Student voices: Er.. can't park in here.. what happened?
Older female student: Not parking here.
General noises of agreement. We see a young male student talk to his partner and hear the class' voices as they discuss.
Somebody, off: They park another side..
General voices.
Older female student: They parking in a.. in a.. in a.. place that is not allowed to take the car. Yes, yes..
Barbara (softly): Yes. Probably in London.
She points at the clamp, nodding.
Barbara: It happens a lot in London. Ha. Erm… how does the driver feel about this, do you think?
We see all the students.
Student voices (quietly): Angry. Upset. Annoyed.
Barbara (pointing at student who spoke): Annoyed! Yeah.
She points at the clamp again.
Barbara: This rule is very.. annoying.. isn't it? OK. We're going to look at rules which are annoying today; rules which make us feel a bit angry.
She nods. The picture on the whiteboard changes to a car and an aeroplane. Barbara points at them.
Barbara: Could you look at these two situations, and can you think of some rules that there are when we drive, or when we fly? Think of some rules. So we know one rule in the car, and that's…
She nods at the class.
Younger male student: Parking
Barbara: Parking. Yeah. We can park in some places; in some places we can't park. Can you think of some more rules for driving and flying? Just talk to your partner for a moment.
We hear the students begin to speak, and see the pairs work together.
Young student: We are..
Older female student: The traffic of the aeroplanes, a lot of different thing, no?
Fade to black.
Bill (teacher): Hi everybody, good morning!
Class (together): Morning! Good morning!
Bill: How are you today?
Class: Fine!
Bill: The weather today? Mm, mm, or mm?
He is putting his thumb up, sideways, and down.
Female student: Awful.
Other students: Awful.
Bill indicates with his hand that the students should try the pronunciation again.
Students: Awful.
Bill: OK. Look at my five faces.
He turns towards the whiteboard, where there are five yellow paper faces, each with a different expression, from happy to sad.
Bill: Number one.
He points at the top face.
Bill: Number five.
He points at the bottom face.
Bill: Awful: which number?
He opens his hands wide.
Class (together): Five.
Bill: How do you spell it?
Class: A, dou-
Bill: OK, one person.
He points at a female student.
Bill: Go ahead.
Student: A,W, F, U, L
Bill is writing the word on the whiteboard as she says it.
Bill: OK, pronunciation.
He puts his hand to his mouth and gestures outwards.
Student (with a bit of an accent): Awful.
Bill: OK, everybody say it. Speak!
He gestures to include everyone.
Students: Awful. Awful.
Bill: Very good? Or very bad?
Students: Very bad.
Bill: OK.
He raises one finger.
Bill: One minute, with your partner, think of more adjectives for … whoooo!
He lifts his finger.
Bill: One example?
Students: Gorgeous.
Bill: Right. One minute with your partner, think of…
He gestures to the faces.
Bill: Adjectives. OK? Go!
Fade to black.
Bill is at the whiteboard, which is covered in writing. The paper faces are still there.
Bill: Now we're going to practice together…
He sweeps his hand to indicate everyone
Bill: and then, pairs.
He points with two fingers.
Bill: Question… and answer. OK?
He points at the same female student as before.
Bill: Ask the question.
Student: Hello, Santana, what did you do last night?
Santana: I went to the cinema
Student: Really? What did you see?
Santana: Borat.
Student: Really? Did you enjoy it?
Santana: Yes, it was brilliant.
Bill puts two thumbs up and nods.
Bill: (Whispers) Fantastic. OK, with your partner… this is A, B, ok? A, B, and then change.
He puts his fingers up and swaps their position to indicating swapping position.
Bill: A, B.
He mimes 'talking' with his hand, and makes a garbled talking noise.
Bill: This conversation, OK?
He points at the words on the whiteboard.
Santana (to male student partner): What did you do last night?
Male student: I stayed at home.
Santana: Really? What did you do?
Male student: I watched TV.
Santana: What did you watch?
Male student: One film… er …a film.
Santana: Did you en..joy it?
Male student: Mmm, no. It was boring.
Bill points at another pair of students.
Female student: (Unclear name).. what did you do last night?
Student: I stay at home.
Female student: What did you do?
Student: I watched TV.
Female student: Did you enjoy it?
Student: No.
Female student: What did you watch?
Student: I watched Love Actually.
Female student: Did you enjoy it?
Student: Mmm… it was ok. Nothing special.
Bill sighs happily.
Bill: OK. Did you enjoy the lesson?
Students (together): Yes!
Fade to black.
Laura's lesson
Fade up. We see two students, one male and one female, sitting behind a desk, working together, and hear the general murmuring of background conversation. We hear the voice of the teacher, Laura.
Laura: OK. Can I stop you? Let's have a look.
We see two other male students.
Laura: And let's listen to some of your ideas. Erm, so let's have a think.. first of all, what kind of man is he? Anyone.
She raises her eyebrows and looks around.
Student: Ugly.
Laura: Ugly!
We see two more students, female.
Student on the right, smiling: Ugly!
Everyone laughs.
Laura: OK, ugly, perhaps, yes.
She grins and angles her head toward the student speaking.
Same female student: Maybe in his forties…
Laura: In his forties…
Student voices (off): Yes.
Laura: Ok ..late forties? Mid-forties? Early?
Same female student: Mid, or late.
She gestures 'midway' with a flat downturned hand. Her partner is smiling.
Laura: Mid to late
Same female student: Between mid and late.
She laughs.
Laura: Mid to late forties, right. OK.
The students laugh and nod.
Same female student: Yes.
Laura writes on the whiteboard. These questions are already written there: What kind of man is he? Age? Personal history? Life story?
She puts 'in his mid to late forties' next to 'age'.
Laura: Mid to late forties, 'kay..
We see the first two students.
Laura: Right, let's think about the woman. So what kind of woman does he want?
Male student: Doesn't matter.
Same female student: Ermm.. younger.
Laura: Younger. Younger than him, right.
Same female student: Obviously
Laura indicates to the student.
Laura: Obviously. Right.
Laughter.
Laura: Er, how much younger?
Same female student: And, beautiful
Laura: Beautiful.
Same female student: .. beautiful..
Laura: OK
Same female student: Erm. Maybe for, just for make a consa.. contra.... contract. Construct a phoney character. Funny? Character?
Laura: Funny? Ha! Ha!
She mimes laughing.
Same female student: If.. Yes, if he is, erm, boring .. a boring person, maybe he wants something..
Laura (twirling her hands round): Lively, energetic, lots of fun.. ok, all right, yes.
She is nodding.
Laura: Do you agree?
She looks to the class.
Student voice: No.
Laura: No! Ooh. Come on then, tell me why not.
Everyone laughs.
Laura: And a definite no!
Student's voice: Because.. I don't know. Maybe he knows that if he puts an advertisement..
Laura (rocking on her chair and nodding): Yeah.
Same female student: .. in a shop, it's difficult to attract a.. a.. beautiful woman.
Laura: Ok.
Same female student: Maybe, maybe the women that, that… er.. responds that advertisement also needs a husband.
Laura: Right, ok and finally, do you think many women answered his ad?
She grins and looks around the class.
Student voices: No. no.
Laura: No?
One student: Maybe yes.
Laura: Maybe? How many do you think?
Male student: Between… ten to twenty?
Laura: Ten to twenty.
She nods. The students laugh.
Laura: So it was quite successful. Yes.
Male student: They are crazy. There are lots of desperate women in London. Maybe… coming..
Laura: There's lots of desperate women in London! Ha ha ha! I see!
The students laugh.
Laura: How many have you met?
More laughter.
Laura: Erm, Pablo, how about you? You said he's crazy, you think he -
Pablo: I think he.. erm.. he have lucky if he find one (he laughs).
Laura: He's lucky if he finds one. OK, so we've got one, ten to twenty, any more? Zero. None.
Fade to black.