My favourite TV show

In my first lesson with my B2 Upper Intermediate group way back at the start of January, I found out that all of the students were fans of American TV series. We brainstormed the series they watched, and came up with about 30 different ones, everything from Big Bang Theory to White Collar (which I’d never heard of before). Because of that, I decided to base my first week on giving opinions about TV shows. (It was possibly a little too easy at times, and I think it could work with a  B1 Intermediate group)

[Well after my lessons, but before I finished writing this post, Scott Thornbury wrote about the value of soaps and TV for language learners.]

Vocabulary

We started with vocabulary, like so:

• Tell each other about your favourite TV show, and say why you like it. While they were doing this, I monitored and noted examples of missing vocabulary and language would could be improved later in the week.
• On the board, write as many words as you can think of connected to TV shows.
• Fill in as many words as you can on this sheet:

• Look at the wordcloud and match any missing words:

• The teacher check the meanings and definitions with students. They drill any necessary pronunciation.
• Students test each other by saying the definition, and the others in their group remember the word.
• You can give students the link to the whole set on Quizlet to practise the words at home.

My favourite TV series

I then introduced the class to one of my favourite series, and one I was fairly sure they wouldn’t know, namely Doctor Who, through this very entertaining video by Charlie McDonnell:

They had to listen to the video twice and answer the questions on the first sheet, then listen again and correct the mistakes in the transcript. It bears repeated listening because Charlie speaks very quickly – be prepared for a look of shock the first time they hear him! The corrected version of the transcript is in the second slideshare document below. To download them, click on ‘view on slideshare’. You need to join to download, but it’s free.

Other people’s favourites

In the next lesson, we started off by revising the vocabulary with a board race. The aim for this lesson was for students to learn some useful phrases to talk about their favourite TV shows. We started by listening to Adam, with three questions:

• What’s the show?
• Why do they like it?
• Do they give you any extra information about it?

Adam – The Walking Dead

Here are the phrases I pulled out of Adam’s text:

• The first thing you think about when I say…
• The main purpose of the show is…
• There are deeper things than this in the show.
• That’s why I like it.
• The show really looks at the human condition.
• It looks at…what happens when…
• He was in one of my favourite shows.

I then divided the class into two groups (there was an empty classroom next door). One group had my iPad, and the other my phone (I trust them!). Each group listened to three of the other recordings – Vicky/Deniz/Matt or Rachel/Sian/Lea. They had the same questions as above, plus the additional job of choosing any useful phrases they could steal.

Once they’d listened to their three texts, they told the other group about what they’d heard.

They then talked about their own favourite TV shows, trying to use some of the phrases.

Deniz: How I Met Your Mother

• It’s a sitcom set in…
• The main character is…
• In each episode…
• The reason why I like this show is…
• If you haven’t watched the series, I really recommend it.
• I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, just like I do.

Vicky – Glee

• My favourite TV series is…
• I really like it because…
• It deals with…
• It’s also something I really enjoy because…
• I really look forward to watching each episode…

Lea – The Borgias

• It’s set in…
• It’s all about… [described in present simple]
• What I like about this series is…
• You find yourself rooting for them.
• My favourite character is…

[Side note: thanks to this lesson, I’m now a big fan of The Borgias and How I Met Your Mother :)]

Matt – Six Feet Under

• My favourite TV show of all time is…
• It’s about… [described in present simple]
• It’s an amazing show because it deals with…
• It can be very dark.
• The opening credits are something I enjoy in and of themselves.
• The acting was incredible.

Rachel – Eastenders

• It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure.
• It’s a soap opera which is set in…
• I just love it.
• One of the other reasons that I love it is…

Sian – The Killing

• One series I enjoyed very much last year was…
• It’s quite funny that I enjoyed this because…
• …and that’s something that I’m not particularly used to…
• There was a good strong central character.
• By ten minutes into the first episode I was completely gripped by…
• A fantastic supporting cast…
• …were so good that…

[Thanks to these lovely people for answering my Twitter/facebook call for one-minute recordings about favourite TV shows. If anyone else wants to record one and post the link in the comments, that would be great!]

To finish the week, I taught this lesson from allatc, based on the first episode of The Walking Dead. They mingled at the end to tell each other about their favourite scenes from any TV show. It brought together everything we’d been discussing all week perfectly.

So, what’s your favourite TV show?