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Billy Elliot

Date: Feb 01 2001

Intro

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

Jeez
tights

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

Tanis is really excited about Billy Elliot a British film that came out recently and got great reviews. It’s about a young boy who has a talent for ballet dancing, which isn’t exactly the most macho of sports. Many guys don’t want to see the movie because it seems like a chick flick. So Tanis is having a hard time convincing John, Miguel and Zach to see it.

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.

Tanis

John

Zach

Migs

Tanis: Oh, oh! Can we talk about Billy Elliot?

John: No, that movie’s stupid.

Tanis: What?! That movie’s the best movie I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

Zach: Not enough explosions in Billy Elliot.

Tanis: You don’t even know, obviously, if you think that.

Migs: Wh…what was Billy Elliot about?

Tanis: Aw, Miguel thank you.

John: You’re so sweet.

Tanis: Billy Elliot is, like, the story of a little boy whose mom died and he lives with his dad and his brother and his dad and his brother work in the coal mines in Northern England. The story is like, “Here’s this lonely family in this bad situation.” Billy discovers that he has a talent for dance. But, like, that’s totally looked down on, y’know, by his dad and all the men in their town.

Migs: So is Billy gay?

Tanis: No, no.

Migs: Oh. Does he wear a tutu? (laughter)

Tanis: No. Jeez, you guys!

John: How can you do ballet without a tutu?

Tanis: Men don’t wear tutus in ballet.

John: They don’t?

Tanis: No.

John: What do they wear?

Tanis: They wear tights and a shirt.

John: Oh, well that’s a different story. What kind of..what kind of kicks does he wear?

Tanis: He has, like, black ballet shoes.

Migs: Can he go up on his toes like…

John: ...like Michael Jackson? (laughter)

Tanis: No. You have to have special…you have to have special shoes to do that.

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Discussion

This conversation is funny because there is a lot of kidding around going on. This is typical when men and women are deciding on things like movies. Some movies are made for women and some are for men. So it’s hard to get a man to admit he likes movies that women like, especially when his male friends are around.

Notice the way John makes fun of Miguel for showing interest in the movie by saying “you’re so sweet.” See how John is being sarcastic when he says, “Oh, well that’s a different story.” Meaning that he doesn’t think wearing tights is any less girlish than wearing a tutu.

In reality Billy Elliot is supposed to be a great movie for men and women. You are sure to cry if you watch it. If you’ve seen it, tell us what you thought.

Comments

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susu87

France

hi, i've ever seen this film for a long time so i've forgotten some story but i think the film is good, i always support my ideas, what i want to do

ney49

Bahamas

Hello

I didn't wanted that my little boy see that movie, but now I think he is older enough to understand its, he is now 10 years old. I saw that movie whe he was 5.

Bye.

Ney49

From Chile