Manuel the Spanish waiter working in a hotel in England is trying to learn English, but Basil his boss sometimes speaks Spanish to him.. butter trays hire sb keen to learn dialect Video
Trang 1LISTENING ACTIVITIES:
1) Watch this fragment of Fawlty Towers (one of the BBC’s most popular TV series in the
80’s) Manuel (the Spanish waiter working in a hotel in England) is trying to learn English, but Basil (his boss) sometimes speaks Spanish to him Sybil, Basil’s wife, watches the scene
Vocabulary: do you know these words?
butter
trays
hire (sb)
keen to learn dialect
Video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-oH-TELcLE&feature=fvwrel
2) Questions:
Which 2 words sound similar at the beginning
of the video clip?
Which animal is Manuel imitating?
Basil’s wife, Sybil, asks Basil why he decided
to hire Manuel as a waiter What does Basil
answer?
What does Sybil say in the end? Does she
think that Manuel is a good waiter?
3) Discussion time
a Manuel wants to learn English It may be difficult for him, but he succeeds Can language be a barrier if you work in a foreign country?
b In other episodes, Manuel constantly makes mistakes and he says that he comes from Barcelona Basil knows this and he usually treats him like an idiot
Do you think that cultural or country stereotypes influence our opinion of foreign people? Do you think that other people may judge you because of
these cultural stereotypes?
Trang 2Basil: Manuel, there is too much butter on those trays
Manuel: ¿Qué?
Basil: There is too much butter on those trays
Manuel: No No, no, señor Not on, dos, treis No, sir Uno, dos, tres
Basil: No, no Hay mucho burro alí.
Manuel: ¿Qué?
Basil: Hay mucho burro alí.
Manuel: Ah, mantequilla
Basil: What? ¿Qué?
Manuel: Mantequilla Burro is… i-oh! Burro… i-oh! I-oh!
Basil: Manuel, Manuel, por favor, momento
Manuel: Sí, sí
Sybil: Basil, what happens?
Basil: Nothing, dear I’m just dealing with it
Manuel: He speaks good… what do you say?
Sybil: English
Basil: Mantequilla Solamente dos…
Manuel: Dos…
Sybil: But don’t look at me You’re the one who is supposed to be able to speak it Basil: Two pieces Two each Arriba! Arriba!
Sybil: Oh, I don’t know why you wanted to hire him, Basil
Basil: ‘Cos he’s cheap and keen to learn, dear In this day and age, such a…
Sybil: Why do you say you speak the language?
Basil: I learnt classical Spanish, not the strange dialect he seems to have picked up Sybil: It would be easier to train a monkey!