G'day to all (Hoganlanders Esp)
I'm just kicking round an idea for a skills lesson that relates to the past tenses. Plus I have seen some job ads that say you have to teach "Australian Culture" (Ha! Oxymoron -
American Intelligence
British Cuisine
)
So has anyone used "Land Down Under" in ESL?
I know,I know, cliche!...but its catchy and interesting.
I reckon it'd have to be pitched at an intermediate level due to all the slang in the song. But when you use "Authentic Material", its not important the the Ss understand all the material, just that they can get the drift and extract the required info. Basically you grade the questions you ask in relation to the material, not the material itself.
To follow the skills lesson format.
Warmer - Ask Ss about what they know abt Aus. Show pictures / map etc. Famous Australians?
Sports etc.
Play song. (If you can rip the video from Youtube even better!)
Listen for GistWhat was the song about? Where does he come from? etc
Pre-teach vocab.
This is where you can go to town on the slang. Elicit as much as possible.
This would be some of it - Take from here....
http://www.multimedia-english.com/contenido/ficha/land-down-under/483FRIED-OUT= very very hot, esp. because of the sun (it feels like a frying-pan on the fire)
COMBIE= bigger than a van but smaller than a mini-bus. It can seat 6 to 10 people or so. Not in fashion anymore, but very common in hippie times.
HIPPIE= (also HIPPY) someone who has chosen to live a different sort of life based on peace and love and has rejected conventional ideas about things such as dress and social values, usually wearing long hair and smoking pot (marihuana). The hippie movement was most popular during the 1960’s.
ZOMBIE= a living dead (fictional monsters or nullified people by voodoo techniques in Haiti). But the expression "HEAD FULL OF ZOMBIE" is because he’s been smoking pot (marihuana) so he feels totally dull and like a zombie (not a normal expression).
GLOW= shine (because they’re beautiful/elegant)
PLUNDER= to steal property from someone by using force and often causing damage (to rob)
THUNDER= the loud sound a lightening produces during an electrical storm. The thunder is referring to the sound of the storms rolling over the hills, heralding the coming of a storm.
YOU BETTER RUN= you should run / if I were you, I would run. The "grammatically correct" sentence would be "you had better" or "you’d better", but in conversational English the auxiliary "had" is usually dropped out so, in practice, BETTER plays the role of an auxiliary verb meaning "Should".
TAKE COVER= get shelter, go somewhere where you are protected. "Cover" is pronounced /kʌvə*/
BRUSSELS= the capital of the EU (European Union) and Belgium
HE WAS SIX FOOT FOUR= he was six foot and four inches tall (when giving a person’s height, FOOT has no plural). 1 foot (ft.) = 12 inches (in.) / 1 foot = 0.3048 metres, 1 inch = 2.54 cms.
6.40 ft = 1.95 mts
FULL OF MUSCLE= really built-up
SPEAK-A= The syllable –A is just a SCHWA producing an extra syllable which comes great for the rhythm of the song, but means nothing.
VEGEMITE SANDWICH= Vegemite is a dark brown savoury food paste made from yeast extract, used mainly as a spread on sandwiches, toast and cracker biscuits, as well as a filling of pastries like Cheesymite scroll, in Australia and New Zealand. It is similar to British and New Zealand Marmite. Vegemite is popular with many Australians and New Zealanders, who commonly consider it a national food and a cultural icon. It can be found in shops around the world, particularly where there are large populations of Australian expatriates. When the tall man gave him a vegemite sandwich he was proving that he is also from Australia. IF YOU HAVE SOME GET THE Ss TO TASTE!!!
BEER DOES FLOW= The verb DO in an affirmative sentence is just emphasizing the main verb. The beer flows means there’s a lot of beer to drink (the same as "rivers flow")
CHUNDER- to be sick (BrE), to vomit (an old-fashioned word still in use in Australia). It originates from old seafaring days when sailors would get seasick and stick their head out of the porthole in their cabin. As they did this they would shout "Watch Under!" to warn people in lower cabins of the forthcoming puke. Over the years this has evolved in Chunder. In this song, men chunder because they drink too much beer.
LYIN'= lying
DEN= in this case it means "an opium den", a place in some Asian countries where you could smoke opium. Bombay is a city in India.
Something which is SLACK is loose, not firmly attached to its position. JAW is the movable lower part of your mouth. So A SLACK JAW refers to the fact that he was high on drugs and his mouth was half open just the way all of your body is relaxed and loose after smoking opium.
ARE YOU TRYING TO TEMPT ME?= since he is in an opium den, the other man is probably offering him more opium (tempting him with more drug)
THE LAND OF PLENTY= The country of abundance. If you say that there is plenty of something, you mean that there is a lot of that thing so you have enough and even more than what you need (= more than enough / a real lot). If I say "I’ve got plenty of wine" I mean I’ve got more wine than what I need, so I can share.
FADE OUT= if a sound or an image fades out, it gets weaker and weaker till it finally disappears.Play song again. Listen for detail. Various Qs, given in order that the answers appear in the song.
What, When, Where? etc - Can make them multiple choice to grade to Ss ability.
Eg - How did the strange lady make him feel? a)happy b) sad c)nervous
Play again if needed.
Class feedback and peer checking.
Play again to confirm answers. Follow on - productive task. Not sure abt this yet....any ideas.
Ss could prepare a speech about Aus or if they had to write a song about China what would they put in it?
I reckon that could be padded out to at least 90 mins.
What do people think?...Or have you used this before how did it go?
