Material Detail

The English Learner Movie Guides

The English Learner Movie Guides

Each individual guide is a detailed synopsis of a popular movie, which consists of the following: a summary of the plot a list of the major characters an extensive glossary of vocabulary and various cultural references that even advanced ESL learners would often not understand questions for ESL class discussion

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  Differding
Differding (Faculty)
20 years ago
1) I reviewed the materials for about 20 minutes. I did not use them in
teaching-learning activities.
2) I liked the quality of content. The plot and character summaries would work
well as pre-viewing activities in an advanced ESL setting. I would probably
highlight certain vocabulary/expressions in the section on the site that
clarifies difficult concepts or expressions. I would not want to overwhelm the
students with too much new vocabulary/expressions. Although the
slang/expressions in the movie I reviewed (My Big Fat Greek Wedding)were great,
as were the cultural similarities between Orthodox Greek families and large
Latino families. As I plan on teaching Latino's, I think this movie would
really interest them. They could relate to the Greek family dynamic as it
parallels Latino families in many ways.
4) Aside from some frustrations logging-in, I found the website pretty easy to
navigate. Those not very computer savvy might not feel the same way.
Used in course? Yes