Zak Washington’s Guide to England – Lesson 4: Brighton Beach (English Lesson & Cultural Guide)
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In LESSON 4 you will learn: English vocabulary for holidays, beaches and leisure (SP: ocio IT: tempo libero).
We will explain step-by-step about British beach culture.
Next, we will learn about an important aspect of British culture: the mods and the rockers.
After, we will study the famous Battle of Brighton Beach in 1964 and look at the problem of delinquency.
You will learn what a moral panic is. We also ask if moralizing (SP: moralismo IT: moralismo) is the real crime (SP: delito IT: reato, delitto).
Finally, students will practice with communication activities, quizzes and games.
Vintage 1970s British ice cream van.
Zak Washington, the corrupt English teacher, is too lazy to work at the language school, so he is taking his group of students to visit a ‘cultural’ place of interest. Today we are going to…..
BRIGHTON BEACH.
VIDEO TUTORIAL
ZAK WASHINGTON: (Doing a bad imitation of Winston Churchill) We will will fight (SP: pelear IT: lottare) them on the beaches; we will fight them in the kebab shop.
STUDENT: Oh, shut up, will you? (SP: cállate IT: stai 'zitta)
ZAK WASHINGTON: A very good afternoon to you students! Today we are in beautiful, sunny Brighton, just one hour from London on the train. The weather is magnificent…
SOPHIE: No, it isn’t!
ZAK WASHINGTON: British bathing beauties are resplendent in the hot seaside sun…
SOPHIE: Those ugly girls?
ZAK WASHINGTON: …and a light Mediterranean-style breeze is blowing (SP: soplar IT: soffiare) warm air into our faces.
SOPHIE: It’s bloody freezing!
ZAK WASHINGTON: Glorious! So… I think it’s about time we put on some of our swimming costumes and bikinis.
SOPHIE: You’ve got to be joking! (SP: estás de bromas IT: stai scherzando)
ZAK WASHINGTON: Listen Maria…. If you want… I’ll help you put on a little bit of that suntan cream (SP: crema broceadora IT: protezione solare).
SOPHIE: Suntan cream?
MARIA: No, you disgusting little man. I’m not. Go away! (SP: véte, lárgate IT: vai via)
SOPHIE: It’s fourteen degrees (SP: grados IT: gradi). It’s just stopped raining. (SP: acaba de dejar de llover IT: ha appena smesso di piovere) It’s cold and windy.
TEACHER: But I’m hot. Boiling hot. I’m sweating. (SP: estoy sudando IT: sto sudando)
MARIA: You’re hot? You’re sweating?
AHMET: Come on girls. Take off (SP: quitar IT: togliere) some of those clothes.
SOPHIE: Get him away from me…
AHMET: That’s it. Take off your jackets.
SOPHIE: I’ll call the police.
AHMET: You’d better put those bikinis on too.
SOPHIE: Go away!
MARIA: I think you’ve had too much to drink again.
TEACHER: Shut up! What rubbish! We’re at the beach to relax. We can have as much to drink as we want.
MARIA: Teacher. I’ve never seen anyone so white before. Are you suffering from a skin disease?
STUDENT: I think he’s a vampire. Teacher, will you put your shirt back on please? Everybody is looking at you! This is embarrassing.
AHMET: So, Maria. Are you going to put your bikini on or what?
AUDIO
ESSENTIAL 'BAD' ENGLISH - IDIOMS 3
AUDO
(TEXT VERSION)
ESSENTIAL BAD ENGLISH
BRITISH SLANG 3
SORTED
ARRANGED / AGREED
'See you tomorrow morning?' 'Ok. Sorted.'
GUTTED
EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATED
'I was gutted when he arrived wearing sandals and socks.'
KIP
SLEEP
'I'm tired. I'm going for a quick kip.'
LOST THE PLOT
GONE CRAZY
'When she saw the lipstick on my collar, she lost the plot.'
SHAMBLES
MESS
'My house always looks like a shambles.'
COCK-UP
MESS / DISASTER / WASTE
'They cocked up the job and I had to do it again.'
RUBBISH
GARBAGE / TRASH / BAD
'That film was complete rubbish.'
DODGY
SUSPICIOUS / QUESTIONABLE
'That man is a bit dodgy. Be careful!'
CUPPA
CUP OF TEA
'Fancy a cuppa love?'
LOO
TOILET
'I'm dying to go to the loo! Is there a loo around here?'
(Meanwhile (SP: mientre tanto IT: nel frattempo) in the Queen’s Palace.)
THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND: A very good afternoon to you Mr. Fred. Here we are in beautiful, windy Balmoral just one hour from London in my private jet. The weather is dreadful (SP: espantoso IT: orrendo); the British are miserable in the cold winter rain, and a strong Siberian wind is blowing freezing air into our faces. Awful! (SP: terrible IT: tremendo) Why don’t you come and give me a cuddle (SP: abrazo IT: abbraccio) ? Pass me my fur coat!
RAJI FRED: A fur coat! It’s fourteen degrees. The sun has just stopped shining. It’s warm and breezy. A cuddle! I can’t. I’m a happily married man.
THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND: Oh come on I’m freezing. Just a little cuddle. Please!
THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND: You’re hot? You’re sweating? You’d better take some clothes off. That’s it take off your jacket. You’d better take off that shirt too. Oh cuddle me, I’m really cold. Look. I’m the Queen of England. I can have as much to drink as I want. When I tell a royal subject to take his clothes off, I expect him to take them off. Now come here you lovely little man.....
11 WAYS TO SAY 'YES'
11 WAYS TO SAY 'YES'
(TEXT VERSION)
1. Yep / Yup!
2. Yeah!
3. Yes Sir / Yessiree!
4. Okay / Okey Dokey!
5. By all means!
6. Sure!
7. Aye!
8. Please do!
9. Great!
10. I would love to!
11. Will do!
STUDENT LISTENING PRACTICE
CLASSROOM LISTENING ACTIVITY
INSTRUCTIONS: READ & LISTEN TO THE ABOVE TEXT. DRAW THE PICTURE.
AUDIO
(TEXT VERSION WITH SPANISH / ITALIAN TRANSLATIONS)
Dear Angelina,
I’m having such a lovely time (SP: pasarlo bien IT: divertirsi) in Brighton.
Look at the magnificent view in the photo. Splendid!
As you can see there is a stony (SP: pedregosa IT: pietrosa) beach in front of you.
That’s Brighton beach. There are several beach huts (SP: chiringitos) and some deck chairs.
Behind the beach is a narrow (SP: estrecha IT: stretta) road that runs along the seafront (SP: paseo marítimo IT: lungomare) with a row of little hotels and restaurants that are facing you.
There are some tall flagpoles (SP: asta de bandiera IT: pennone) on the road, with some flags (SP: banderas IT: bandiere) from various different countries.
There is a strange building to the right that looks like the Taj Majal in India.
To the right there is a long pier (SP: muelle IT: molo) that goes from the road to the sea.
At the far end of the pier is a mini amusement park (SP: parque de atracciones IT: luna park).
It has several merry-go-rounds (SP: tiovivo IT: giostre), a little roller-coaster (SP: montaña rusa IT: montagne russe), and a helter-skelter (SP: tobogán en spiral IT: scivolo a spirale).
On the beach is a little boy who is flying a kite (SP: cometa IT: aquilone).
The kite is in the shape of a bat. (SP: murciélago IT: pipistrello)
There is a woman with a pushchair. (SP: silla de paseo IT: passeggino)
On the left hand side of the picture, there is a young man riding on a donkey (SP: burro IT: asino).
He is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and is carrying an umbrella in his hand because it is raining.
The umbrella has blown inside-out (SP: de dentro hacia fuera IT: alla rovescia) because it is so windy.
In spite of (SP: a pesar de IT: nonostante) the bad weather, there is a fat, bald (SP: calvo) old lady in a giant Victorian swimsuit (SP: traje de baño IT: costume) who is up to her knees (SP: rodillas IT: ginocchi) in the water.
She has two small children with her, who are crying because they are cold.
Her husband is at her side. He has a moustache (SP: bigote IT: baffi), a stomach like a taxi driver and the smallest swimming trunks that I’ve ever seen! He must be Italian. It’s making me homesick. Wish you were here.
Lots of love, Giovanni.
BRITISH CULTURE DISCUSSION FOR EFL CLASSES TOURIST BEHAVIOUR
4.1 BETTER ENGLISH PRACTICE ACTIVITY EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCES
(TEXT VERSION)
4.1 EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCES
In Dunkirk the troops went to the beach. / In Dunkirk the troops went to the seaside.
He’s looking at her. / He’s seeing her.
Danish pastries. / Cornish pasties. / Italian pasta.
She told me how to get there. / She told me where to go. / She told me where to get off.
An odd number. / A particular number. / A strange number. / An even number.
I bought a paper at the station. / I bought some paper at the stationer’s.
GIOVANNI: If we are not going to swim, I think that we should get something to eat.
MARIA: Great idea. Where can we go teacher? I really feel like something nutritious.
ZAK WASHINGTON: I don’t know. Let me think.
SOPHIE: I don’t care what we eat as long as it isn’t disgusting (SP: asqueroso IT: schifoso) English food.
ANJA: English fish and chips are just junk food (SP: comida basura IT: cibo spazzatura). It’s all grease and fat, and the fish is not fresh, it’s frozen. Diet is very important, especially when you are travelling. I want quality food.
SOPHIE: I agree. Let’s go to that Burger Queen hamburger restaurant over there.
GIOVANNI. Yeah, that’s always good food.
4.2 SPEAKING ACTIVITY GLOBALIZATION & ADVERTISING DISCUSSION
(TEXT VERSION)
4.2 Discussion points.
Discuss these points in pairs then tell the rest of the group any interesting conclusions that you have come to:
Why do political activists and anti-globalization demonstrators always target[1] American fast food restaurants?
Do you think that hamburger restaurants’ advertising is manipulative?
Should a company be allowed to use marketing strategies that use and are aimed at children?
Other companies have used controversial advertising campaigns.
Which of the following do you think acceptable images for advertising:
newly born babies / copulating dogs and horses / nuns kissing priests / AIDs victims / death row prisoners / war cemeteries.
Discuss them as a group.
Which are acceptable in your opinion?
An NBA basketball player was recently asked by a company if he would use temporary tattoos on his skin with the name of their product.
Should this be allowed?
At what point does advertising go to far?
Some of the bigger fast food chains have special charities.
Is this charity work genuinely philanthropic[2] or is it just cynical propaganda to give the company a good image?
Do you think that using images of women to help sell a product is acceptable in modern society?
Does the public get what the public wants, or does the public want what the public gets?
[1] Target (noun, verb) to have as an objective, to aim at, to direct towards etc.
[2]Philanthropic (adj.) to be generous, helpful or charitable towards people, often in the form of giving gifts or money. ‘The princess was also known for her philanthropic work.’
ASPECTS OF BRITISH CULTURE: YOUTH SUBCULTURES
In this section SUBCULTURE SPECIAL we look at some of the famous musical and fashion subcultures from British history.
THE MODS AND THE ROCKERS
ASPECTS OF ENGLISH CULTURE MODS & ROCKERS Article 1
AUDIO
Extract from ZAKMAG, our complementary easy English learning magazine. #ZakWashington #ZAKMAG
BRITISH CULTURE ARE YOU A MOD OR A ROCKER?
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING MAGAZINE
Click this photo below for the vocabulary, exercises and additional materials in ZAKMAG magazine issue #4 ZAK WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF CRIME
