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Fear of Heights

Fear of Heights English, baby! Video Lesson

Date: Mar 28 2008

Themes: Friend

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.

You’re reading this on a computer, so you’re probably sitting in a chair. Take your feet off the ground. Feels pretty safe, right? Now think about how you would feel if you’re feet were dangling over the edge of a cliff, if your chair was right up against the edge.

It would be pretty scary. But why? You’d be no less stable than you are right now. How often do you just up and fall out of a chair? Almost never. So why would you worry at the edge of a cliff?

But that’s not how fear works. It isn’t logical. No matter how much you tell yourself that you’re safe at the top of a tall ladder or near the edge of a roof, something in your gut tells you you’re not safe.

Watch this video of Marni and Devan hanging out on the fire escape. They’re clearly safe, but Marni starts to get scared because she has a fear of heights.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

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

Log in to Listen

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

Marni

Marni

Devan

Devan

Marni:  Wow. We are…This is really cool, but we are really up here.

Devan:  I think it’s great.

Marni:  Do you? I have to be honest with you. I am afraid of heights. This is kind of freaking me out a little.

Devan:  Really?

Marni:  Yeah, a little.

Devan:  Are you afraid that you’re going to…fall!

Marni:  Yeah I am! Let’s not do that again.

Devan:  I wonder, like, if you fell from a really, really tall distance, like from the Empire State Building or something, would you die while you were falling, like from the pressure, or would you not die till you hit the ground if you fell from that high?

Marni:  These are questions that I hope I never have to answer. But I freak out. I love the view, but I get really freaked out about losing my balance…

Devan:  You lose your balance, get woozy when you’re up this high?

Marni:  Yeah. And I’m just gonna tumble over and die.

Devan:  I’ve never had that problem. I love being up high. But my mom, we went on a hike on a mountain one time and we had to call the fire department to get her down because she got so freaked out that she just sat there and we had to call the fire department.

Marni:  Kind of like a lost kitten.

Devan:  Yeah. Because it’s a lot easier to get up than to get down. Once you get up that high…you just trek up, but once you’re up there, you’re just kind of stuck.

Marni:  Yeah. OK, I think I need to go in. All this talk of fear of heights is making it worse.

Devan:  Uh, the window broke so you’re going to have to climb…

Marni:  You’re funny. OK. I’m going in.

 

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Discussion

Marni and Devan are eight floors up on the fire escape. It’s a cool place to hang out but it makes Marni nervous because she’s afraid of heights.

Devan teases her a little, shoves her lightly and asks if she’s afraid of falling. Marni asks her not to do that again.

So Devan decides to get a little more subtle. She starts talking about what it would be like to die falling from a building.

Devan has never had a fear of heights, but her mother’s fear was so bad that she had to be brought down from a mountain top by the fire department! Sometimes going down is scarier than coming up.

Nonetheless, Marni decides it’s time to get off the fire escape. Devan jokes that the window is broken so they’ll have to climb to the roof.

What’s the highest place you’ve ever been? Was it scary or fun?

 

Comments

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subrinaalfred

Guyana

i have no problem with heights …....i think its cool because u can see the world on a whole new level, i work on a third floor building, sometimes what i would do is go out side & get a little view just to clear my mind if im upset…...!this really works all the time .

07:42 PM Apr 02 2008 |

1 person likes this

Perfumed

Perfumed

Oman

No Fear , No Rules ,  just enjoy the view

حياه بلا قيود

 

03:17 PM Apr 02 2008 |

Bob Ishida

Bob Ishida

Japan

I love Devan! She is really funny.

02:09 PM Apr 02 2008 |

julywidiawati

Indonesia

I think i have a fear of heights, so it's kind of hard to remember the highest place i have visited.

07:31 AM Apr 02 2008 |

thaitruong302

Viet Nam

U know there are a lot of people scare of height. I like traveling to mountain, i enjoy climbing on highest point, then i can look all views of everything. I am just freaked out height as i walk on small road which is so high. When I was a child i fall out from tree, i scare and feel dizzy so much, is a terrible feeling, i could not believe that I am still alive till now.   

04:09 AM Apr 02 2008 |

phylis1008

phylis1008

Australia

Hallo Everyone ..Glad to chat with you>

03:58 AM Apr 02 2008 |

nedhe

nedhe

India

standing on height ….......i think it would feel awesome..if i would do that…....i would wish for wings to fly in the beautiful sky…..............

01:43 PM Apr 01 2008 |

Cayra

Cayra

Dominican Republic

I get totally freak out when it comes about heights!!! Oh God! I get so nervous!!!
Devan is so mean in this lesson, hehehe… ♥

06:03 AM Mar 31 2008 |

aircraft

Colombia

Well, I work in the army, aviation branch and I have to flight almost every day but is very different standing in a building, or at the bridge's edge, that's really scary.

01:22 AM Mar 31 2008 |

hramesp

hramesp

Mexico

Everybody has his/her style and it's totally understandable who doesn't want to fly, or go down into the water, sometimes it's scary since child, they got a trauma and now, being an adult it requires some treatment to ge t rid off the fear, 

12:16 AM Mar 31 2008 |

Irene Zambrano

Panama

hola, necesito con urgencia que me ayuden aprender inglés, les puedo ayudar con el español ya que soy profesora en esta materia. gracias

 

08:46 PM Mar 30 2008 |

Mr.Lee

Mr.Lee

Egypt

i want to tell you that i have the Same Problem
I’m Scared Of Heights and i confess ” thats freaking me out ”
Don’t You Have Any Idea For Take This Fear Off Of Me
__
Thank You For THe Lesson
I Enjoyed It

06:28 PM Mar 30 2008 |

珂珞

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

I have a

06:56 AM Mar 30 2008 |

珂珞

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

I have

06:56 AM Mar 30 2008 |

珂珞

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

I

06:56 AM Mar 30 2008 |

destiny007

destiny007

China

i love it english very much

 

06:54 AM Mar 30 2008 |

algoo68

algoo68

Mexico

im a pilot and i dont have a fears of heights because im working in the heights i enjoyed its! 

03:12 AM Mar 30 2008 |

Tony z

Tony z

China

I never fear of heights, and i like to climbing , but i have not free time to do this.

Go to traveling, this is my dream…...

02:33 AM Mar 30 2008 |

zaloe

zaloe

Indonesia

good comversation!

12:10 AM Mar 30 2008 |

lupitatg

Mexico

As much as I remember since I was a child I have fear of heights, seems that I got that fear since I made a trip by fly and there were a lot of movements in the plan, I was flying alone and I was only 7 years old.

11:27 PM Mar 29 2008 |

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