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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.

Grammar Point

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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

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.

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 :)

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

i love life

Palestinian Territory, Occupied

as we remember every one over the world knows how racism was between white and black people and we remember how was treatment in this bad era specially before 1950 the blacks have specail bathroom and the white are enjoyeable in all thing for example selected right and vote and citizenship from the other hand hte blacke were voteless and deprived from the work and marriage from white and study in university and from all rights all this condition creation a injustice conflect between human being and it will be civil war but when come president martan lother king every thing could become to forward become there are a lot from freedom and every one has the right work and selected any thing suitable with his life

conclusion say we should to lives alongside together we are brothers regardless any religion we bring of the humanity every religion urges on the love and peaceful coexsistance thank you for this nice topics

Eleniya

Russian Federation

Only very rich people in my country have maids. But I think if I had a lot of money, I wouldn’t have any maid, ‘cause I don’t like if strange people rummage through and touch my private things. I don’t need a huge house to live, so I definetely can manage with cleaning myself and I like to cook for my family, so I don’t need an unknown (strange) cook in my kitchen.

Thanks, Ebaby for the nice lesson.

trailo_hathanh

Viet Nam

In my country now day, to have a maid or butler with exact meaning in US or UK is not common.

We have the helper and the helper is normally woman. She only helper the client to do some certaint work and get their salary. The helper is common to take care the baby. Only baby, not like the maid actually, who will live with baby, guide baby carefully…nope