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The Help

Second Conditional

Date: Sep 14 2011

Themes: Work

Grammar: Second Conditional

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Intro

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shocking

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Staying on top of all the household chores isn’t easy. Wouldn’t it be great to have someone help keep the house clean, not to mention cook meals and run errands for you?

It’s easy to see the attraction of having a maid. But in the US, not many people have one. It’s not only expensive, but also a bit of a taboo.

In the past, it was more common to have a maid. But they were often treated poorly and not paid well. In the new movie The Help, a young woman writes a shocking book about how wealthy, white families mistreated their African-American maids during the 1960s. Hear more about the film from Jason and Amy.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Jason

Amy: I just saw that new movie The Help.

Jason: Mm-hmm.

Amy: You know, it takes place in the sixties and it’s about this young white woman who writes this tell-all book about what really goes on in homes where these other rich ladies have maids. And it kind of talks about how the women treat the maids, and…

Jason: OK.

Amy: But I have to say, you know, I think I would treat a maid a little bit better, but it would be pretty nice to have a maid.

Jason: Yeah, definitely. If I made a lot of money, I would hire a maid. I don’t know, some people might think there’s something wrong with that. It’s kind of a taboo thing in the US.

Amy: I think so, yeah. I think maybe, you know, because we have this history of it being sort of tied with racism and inequality. I mean generally the maids were African-Americans, and they were in white people’s homes, and they weren’t being treated well or paid very well. But I think there’s a way now that you could pay someone fairly and maybe not have them live with you, maybe that would cut down on the awkwardness.

Jason: How about a butler, though? I want a butler to live at my house.

Amy: That would be awesome, but he would have to be English.

Jason: Definitely.

Amy: Because what would be the point of having a butler if he didn’t have a British accent?

Jason: I would have to use a British accent when I talked to him.

Amy: Yeah.

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Discussion

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Amy recently saw the new movie The Help. The film is about how African-American maids were mistreated by the white women they worked for in the South during the 1960s. Today, not many families in the US have maids.

Jason says that if he made a lot of money, he would like to have a maid. Amy agrees that it is hard to keep the house clean and stay on top of all the chores, and it would be nice to have some help, but only if the maid was treated fairly and paid well.

Instead of a maid, Jason thinks it would be cool to have a butler. Butlers are always shown as being British and working in wealthy British homes, so Jason would want his butler to have a British accent.

Is it common to have a maid in your country? Would you like to have a maid or a butler? Are you good at keeping your house clean and staying on top of chores?

Comments

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Aslaan

Jordan

Now adays I’m reading that book,The Help, by K. Stockett. It’s really and truly a great,vitally important and brilliant book. I wish all EBABY members could read it. I’m totally against the notion of having maids or servants working at our houses. We should depend on ourselves and not on others. It’s really degrading to make people do what you supposed to do just because you are afluent person.

davis jack

China

i always hope to have a maid in my house. but i haven’t a house yet, not to mention a maid

Dukhtare ziba

Afghanistan

Hi friends I am Marzieh from Afghanistan how can I learn EN very good?

raulsb

Mexico

Well , i was exactly tinking the opossite before i read this one , i am currently living in US. And i saw latin women working as maid in wealthy American houses.

My best

4EVER

United Arab Emirates

we have maids..but sometimes i like to Rely on myself…because i’m sure i do my work better than the others

alzhbeta

Belarus

I’m not always stay on the top of all the chores, I just try to do it. I live in the capital with big distances which take a lot of time to reach somewhere. and there are some moments when I come back home so late just to stay overnight(= of coarse I won’t be able to clean it.

smilymu

United Arab Emirates

we have almost 3 maids . here in my country u could barely see a house without maids at least one .. it dousn’t supposed to be a rich family ..

smilymu

United Arab Emirates

adore this movie

I wanna watch it ..

candycandice

Sweden

I haven’t seen ’’The Help’’ and not sure if I liked to either.

It’s not common at all to have a maid who does ones household here in Sweden.

Well, if I would like to have a butler I had to live in England, so I guess a maid would do. Of course, I’m a person who would give a good amount of money and see my maid as a member of the family and treat the person well. We are all humains no matter what.

Im pretty good at keeping our (I live with my family) appartment clean, by hoovering the rooms regularly and clean corners. though, now that my studies takes the most of my time, I get less left to stay on top of chores.

kokoboko

Ukraine

Rich families in Ukraine have maids but I have never heard about having butlers.

I`m not a rich woman and dont have any maids. To tell the truth I would never wanted to have another woman in my house.:))) I know many of maids as well as secretaries are women with their own purposes.:))) At least I`m talking about Ukraine.

I havent got a large apartment and for me no problem to make it clear and bright. I can do everything about the house beginning from cleaning and ending with cooking. That`s why I dont need any ballast at my place.:)))

Cr!stal

Indonesia

It will be good to have a maid because there someone helps us to do our chores beside we open vocation for the poor to earn money. But I guess some people don’t like strangers staying around their home, and they prefer do the chores by themselves. In my country those rich family usually have a maid to keep the house clean.

gegenasser

Egypt

i like to have a maid but money is a proplem

Romio79

Russian Federation

If it was a butler like Jeeves (of P.G.Wodehouse) I wouldn’t mind:)

Successfulliving

Latvia

I have a house and I’m not the only one in this house- it’s very hard to ceep it clean if you aren’t at home every day. It would be a very big relief to hire a housekeeper, but it’ s 1.very expecive, 2nd- it’ s not very normally in my country- we have many babysitters but house keeper is only for very ’’high’’ people :)

mnal_F

Syrian Arab Republic

Iam good at cleaning the house but having a maid is good idea for sure…...............especially as i work so i imagine that i get home and everything is cleannnnn , i will be for sure so happy.

omar alger

Algeria

thenks ..sur

tina2468

China

In my country,hiring a maid is common.when a women just born a baby, they usually hire a maid.the maid should care about the baby,change diper for the baby,feef the baby

hmiman

Egypt

i don’t like the idea of having maid or butler

MONY----

Egypt

hiring maids is common in my country especially among rich families,I think it ’s a challenge to keep the house clean through performing the endless chores while caring of your baby and your job,thats why if I have a huge responsiblties and a high salary I should hire a maid why not ,but I guess I’ll only invite her for one day or two days along the week becouse there are issues which I enjoy doing myself

Buttafly

Germany

Oh, what a lot of things there are in everyday life we would like to delegate to someone else-due to lack of time or reluctance on our part: I hate cleaning the windows in my house but it`s a chore that has to be done every now and then. But having a professional window cleaner is really a taboo in my town-people would certainly have something to talk about!