Weekend with Music: Why Not Me (Eric Church)

Engramme's Weekend with Music #14: Why Not Me (Eric Church) (Listening B2)

Today's lesson is a tribute, along with the song itself, to the people who lost their lives on the night of October 1, 2017, in the mass shooting incident that took place at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.

Watch and Listen

Watch the Video: How does the singer express his feelings about the incident?

Song Lyrics

Here Are the Lyrics to the Song: The key words in some of the idioms/expressions used in the song have been gapped. Listen and find out what the missing words are:

[1] Why you with your long brown hair _______ And you with your  tattooed skin And you from the western Virginia That you'll never get to see again As darkness descended the desert And a bad actor _______ in his play Why you from Tennessee did life capture And me from Tennessee ____  _____ [2] And when the morning sun hit the mountains And a glorious still calmed the breeze I asked the God of all knowing ______ Why you and why not me? [3] Yeah the lord is my refuge and fortress My god with whom I _____ But I'll never know why the wicked Gets to prey on the best of us Why you full of life and ______ At the top of your lungs so loud My songs that you sang so sweetly will _____ In my ears forever now [4] And when the morning sun hit the mountains And a glorious still calmed the breeze I'll ask the God of _______ wisdom Why you and why not me? [5] And every morning when the sun hits the mountain And a glorious still calms the breeze I'll ask the God of my ________ Why you and why not me? Why you and why not me?

(see this link to check your answers)

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Wish You a Nice Weekend Full of Music & Love! In case you missed any of this week's lesson, you can access them all HERE

Weekend with TV: Breaking Bad

Engramme's Weekend with TV #14: Breaking Bad (Listening B2)

Have you watched "Breaking Bad"? Do you have family or friends who are fans? Do you know what the story is?

Breaking Bad is the story of a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, who thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet and their teenage son is suffering from cerebral palsy. But things get worse when Walter learns that he has terminal cancer. Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter decides to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab¹.

Watch, Listen & Enjoy

In this scene - one of the most famous in the series - Walter, the chemistry teacher turned drug dealer, reveals to his wife Skyler who he truly is and how dangerous his job is.

Watch the Scene: What does Walter's wife, Skyler, ask him to do? Why doesn't he comply?

Let's Learn

Similar to scenes we have seen from other series, this scene and dialog also contain many useful collocations and idiomatic expressions that we are going to look at today. Also, pay attention to the use of if-sentences, especially conditional type 2, in this conversation.

Listen Again: Find out what the missing words are in the following transcript (collocations and other frequently co-occurring words have also been highlighted)

(mouse over the colored words/expressions to see their meaning)

Skyler: We go to the police. Walter: Oh, no. I don't want to hear about the police. Skyler: I do not say that _______. I know what it could do to this family. But if it's the only real choice we have-- If it's either that-- or you’re getting shot when you open your front door— Walter: I don't want to hear about the police. Skyler: You're not some ________ criminal, Walt. You're in over your head. That's what we tell them. That's the truth. Walter: That is not the truth. Skyler: Of course it is. A schoolteacher, cancer, ________ for money? Walter: Okay, we're done here. Skyler: Roped into working for-- ______ to even quit? You told me that yourself, Walt. Jesus, what was I thinking? Walt, please. Let's both of us stop trying to _______ this whole thing and admit you're in danger. Walter: Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I ______ a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes _______, disappears. It ceases to exist without me. No. You clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me _____ you ___. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!

(see answers in the first comment below)

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Have a Wonderful Weekend! If you missed any of our previous posts, click here to access them all.

Practice the Vocabulary from this lesson at this link.

Here's a print-friendly copy of this lesson for Fellow Teachers to use in the classroom.

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1 Taken from the description on the series' IMDB page^↩

English Daily: Dream Jobs Illustrated

Engramme: Your Daily English Programme #55: Illustrating Children's Dream Jobs (Listening B1-B2)

Think Before You Listen

What was your dream job when you were a child? Did that change as you grew up? Why?

Watch and Listen

In this video from the YouTube channel HiHo Kids, children describe their dream jobs to Koji, the illustrator, who then tries and draws them.

Watch & Listen: What kinds of jobs do the children mention? What else do you understand about the jobs they describe and their preferences?

Let's Practice

Understanding people on the phone, understanding people speaking with an accent, understanding what people say in a phone/online interview, understanding young children speaking...These can all be challenging to a learner of English, even at advanced levels of proficiency. This lesson intends to specifically target some of the challenges in listening to and understanding children speaking English. This is because sometimes the way children enunciate words can be very different from the way adults would pronounce them.

Listen Again: the following are some of the words and sentences spoken by the children in the video (the questions are the illustrator's, except one). Take a note of the words that go in the gaps below:

- Yeah, I remember you. Remember me? - Yeah! We've _______ so many things.

- What do you wear as a rapper…on stage? - Like a cheetah _______, the whole thing is cheetah pattern.

- What are you doing on the job? - ________ to find potatoes. It's really hard to catch the potatoes…

- Do you also want to be a scuba diver? - Yeah, _________ scuba diver.

- Do you have any tools that you carry around? … - A stethoscope. It checks people's ________, if they're going slow or fast or medium.

- Do you think you'll be married in the future? … - No, no I'm a _____  ______.

- Do you have any _______ for me? - Knowing what you want is very important…

- Okay we're going to show the camera on the count of three, okay? One, two, three. - It's ________ .

(turn on the video subtitles to check your answers)

Over to You

How can we encourage children to achieve their dreams? What factors can discourage them from realizing their dreams? (share your answers with us in the comments below & receive feedback)

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Want to learn more Words/Expressions to Describe Jobs? Please click here.

Teachers can download a pdf copy of this post for  Classroom Use.

English Daily: Surviving on a Deserted Island

Engramme: Your Daily English Programme #54: How to Survive on a Deserted Island (Listening B1-B2)

Think Before You Listen

What would you do to survive if you were stranded on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere? What could you do to get rescued?

Watch and Listen

Watch & Listen: On a separate piece of paper, write down the 4 survival tips mentioned in the video:

Survival tip number 1:	…………. …… …………
Survival tip number 2:	…………. …………..
Survival tip number 3:	………… ………… …………
Survival tip number 4:	………… …………

According to the narrator, what is the most important thing to remember in such difficult circumstances? Do you agree?

Let's Practice

Listen More Carefully: Can you find the answers to the following questions?

1. What did the 2016 island survivors use to spell out the word ‘help’?

2. How should you protect your feet from injury on an island while searching for food and water?

3. For how many days can a human being survive without food? Without water?

4. What method does former Navy Seal, Clint Emerson, recommend for turning salt water into drinking water?

5. How did the crew of the Endurance feed themselves after their ship hit sea ice and sank?

(type your answers in the comments under the post and receive free feedback from us:)

Over to You

Prepare a piece of paper & a pen: jot down other factors (e.g. psychological) that might affect someone who is stranded on an uninhabited island. Then, try and write down any coping strategies you can think of that may help. (share your responses with other readers in the comments below)

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Great Job! You've reached the end of another lesson on Engramme: Your Daily English Programme. We hope this lesson helped you improve your listening skills as well as your ability to talk/write about difficult situations in English :)

Review the Vocabulary underlined in this post at this link

Download a Teacher's Copy (pdf) for use in the classroom HERE

English Daily: Fall of the Berlin Wall

Engramme: Your Daily English Programme #53: Fall of the Berlin Wall (Caption Reading B1-C1)

Think Before You Read

Look at the Pictures Below: What do you see? Which event in history do you think they refer to? Have you heard/read anything about this event? (share your answers with other readers in the comments below this post)

On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall – known as the Berlin Wall – between East and West Berlin in order to prevent people’s free movement from East to West.

The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when tens of thousands of people ran to and climbed up the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers with them to tear down the wall. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War.

Finally, on October 3, 1990, the reunification of East and West Germany was made official, when the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist and its territory became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. This day is celebrated as the German Unity Day.

Watch and Read

Reading video captions has become a common part of many news and documentary videos on the Internet. The video below, from history.com, has integrated photos and captions to create an informative video on the topic of the Berlin Wall.

Watch and Read: On a separate piece of paper, write down the numbers associated with the following:

The number of people who escaped to freedom:	………….
The number of people who died trying to escape:	………….
The number of years East & West Germany were separated:	………….

Let's Practice

Here are some of the key words from the video captions. Try and use them in the sentences below:

overnight	rebuild	reunite	tear down
construction	attempt	lose	permanently

1. They decided to ____________ the old building and construct a modern one in its place.

2. After the terrible earthquake, the government promised to spend as much money needed to ________ the city.

3. Of course he did not become rich _________; he had worked for many years locked away in a tiny garage he had rented from a friend.

4. Due to bankruptcy and huge debts, the company had to shut down __________ without any hope of recovery.

5. Their attempts to ________ members of families on opposite sides of the Korean border have so far failed.

6. Upon receiving the budget, _________ began on a bridge that would connect the two parts of the old village across the valley.

7. The governor will visit members of Congress today, in an ________ to persuade them to allocate more budget to the renovation of residential areas throughout the state.

8. He played as if he had nothing to _______ although he actually won in all rounds of the game.

(Type your answers in the comments' section and receive free feedback on your answers)

Over to You

Building walls or other blockades to restrict the free movement of people or goods is not just an old-fashioned idea. In his presidential campaigns, President Trump promised to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, with the primary objective of preventing Mexicans from crossing the border into the U.S.

How effective are such measures in restricting the free movement of people or goods? Do you think there are better ways of controlling movement within countries or across country borders?

How has the EU benefited from allowing free passage for its citizens across its member countries' borders? Have there been any downsides?

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Well Done! Another day, another lesson on Engramme: Your Daily English Programme. Practicing English on a daily basis will help you improve your skills over time and gain more confidence in your ability to use the language on your own.

Would you like to Practice the Vocabulary from this lesson? Please click here.

Would you like to Download and Use this material in the class(es) you teach? Download a pdf copy at this link.

Did You Notice? If you move your mouse over the underlined words in the post, you can see their meanings and more ;)

English Daily: Comic Strips: Peanuts by Schulz

Engramme: Your Daily English Programme #52: 'Peanuts' by Schulz (Reading B1-B2)

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in a series of boxes, called panels, that tell a joke or a brief story with words appearing in speech bubbles or captions.

Think Before You Listen

a. Do you read any comic strips? Which one(s)? What do you like about them?

b. Have you ever heard of the "Peanuts" comic strip? What do you know about it? Why is it so popular? Who are its main characters?

On October 2, 1950, Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz was first published, as a daily strip, in nine newspapers across the United States.

Time to Read

Read the Passage Below¹: The first sentence in each paragraph of the text has been omitted. Which paragraphs do the following sentences belong to²? Explain your choices.

1. Peanuts achieved considerable success with its television specials...

2. In 2013, TV Guide ranked the Peanuts television specials the fourth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time...

3. Peanuts is a daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000)...

4. Peanuts is one of the many strips with philosophical, psychological, and sociological connotations...

5. The strip focuses entirely on a social circle of young children...

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__________________________________________. Its publication began on October 2, 1950, and continued until February 13, 2000, a day after Schulz’s death. This comic strip is the most popular and influential in the history of comic strips, with 17,897 strips published in all, making it "…the longest story ever told by one human being" (Huff Post, Oct 3, 2013). At its peak, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with 355 million readers in 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages.

__________________________________________, where adults exist but are rarely seen or heard. The main character, Charlie Brown, is meek, nervous, and lacks self-confidence. He is unable to fly a kite, win a baseball game, or kick a football held by his cruel friend Lucy, who always pulls it away at the last instant.

__________________________________________ that flourished in the 1950s. The strip's humor (at least during its '60s peak) is psychologically complex, and the characters' interactions formed a web of relationships that helped the story to move on.

__________________________________________, several of which, including A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin,Charlie Brown, won or were nominated for Emmy Awards. The Peanuts holiday specials are still popular and are currently broadcast on ABC in the U.S. Peanuts also had success in the theater, with the stage musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown being a successful and often-performed production.

__________________________________________. A computer-animated feature film based on the strip, The Peanuts Movie, was released on November 6, 2015.

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(see the original Wikipedia article to compare your answers)

Let's Practice

Read the Passage More Carefully: Find words in the text (and in the omitted sentences) that have the same meaning as the following words:

1. moment =	6. completely, fully =
2. (hidden) meaning =	7. unkind =
3. shy =	8. develop, grow =
4. significant, important =	9. huge =
5. height, highest point =	10. make available (for purchase) =

(see the first comment below to check your answers)

Over to You

Do you know of other well-known comic strips? Who are their characters? What are they famous for?

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Congratulations! You've completed another lesson on Engramme: Your Daily English Programme. For other useful links related to our posts, please click here.

To Review the Vocabulary from this lesson, see this link.

Teachers can download a Print-Friendly Version of this lesson at this link (pdf).

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1 Passage from the Wikipedia article "Peanuts", reproduced here with minor changes.^↩
2 Remember: You do not need to know the meaning of all the words in the text to complete this exercise. Instead, try and scan the text for related key words or skim for main ideas that relate the sentences together.^↩