English, baby!

Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Date: Sep 08 2005

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Where do you turn when life pulls the rug from under your feet? Your family? Friends? Music? Religion? The story of vulnerability and hardship has been taken up by so many musicians. Diary of a Mad Black Woman, the soundtrack to the similarly titled movie, speaks to that story in a soulful, grin-and-bear it voice. The album features tracks by celebrated musicians such as Monica, India Arie and Natalie Cole, among others.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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

Dave

John

Dave: I really like soul music, John.

John: Really? Like what kind?

Dave: Ah, well, there’s this soundtrack that just came out: Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

John: Is it good?

Dave: Yeah, it’s really good. It’s got, you know, artists like India Arie and, ah, Natalie Cole. Um, you know, it just kind of speaks to, kind of, you know, the spirit of life and the hardships of life.

John: Yeah, that is good stuff.

Dave: It’s a soundtrack for the movie, Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

John: You know, I’ve never heard of that.

Dave: No? It’s about some woman who finds out that her husband is having an affair. He becomes really abusive, kicks her out. She moves in with her parents and starts keeping a diary about life.

John: Oh, that sounds harsh. Have you ever kept a diary?

Dave: I try to keep a journal.

John: Yeah, I’ve done that when I’ve traveled. And it’s really fun to go back and look at all that stuff. But I kind of get worried about writing secrets down on paper.

Dave: Yeah.

John: Because it seems that people always find it.

Dave: A lot of prying eyes nowadays. I hear you.

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions!

The iTEP^® test

Sponsored by

Schedule an iTEP^® test and take the official English Practice Test.
Take Now >

Discussion

Many people keep private diaries or journals not only as a means to record the events of their day-to-day lives, but also to vent their feelings and frustrations. The act of writing gives you the opportunity of self-reflection and is a great way to calm your mind and body. And so long as your diary is kept from prying eyes, it is a great place to let loose your most private thoughts without fear of being judged or laughed at.
Do you keep a journal or diary? Give us your thoughts when you rate this lesson.

Comments

Cerenkova

Latvia

It is easier for me to express my feelings on the paper. Unfortunately only to the material I can tell all the truth I hide from the others. Sometimes this “pouring” of my thoughts helps me to understand whathappens with me. But at the moment I am going to burn every list of my written life, to erase that past, to get off the burden of memories…