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TeachWithMovies.org; Create Lesson Plans from 425 Movies and Film Clips, Ballet, England, 1984 Coal Miners Strike, Billy Elliott

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Newsela - Boys and girls pick up harmful stereotypes very young, study says

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A study says boys will be boys and girls will be girls despite attempts at gender neutrality.

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A few weeks ago, the Hungarian State Opera was staging its own production of Billy Elliot. This was its third season of putting on the feel-good musical, and the production - with its heartfelt message of accepting people as they are - was a success bringing in new audiences and delighting families.

All was going well until Hungarian journalist Zsofia N Horvath, for the pro-government newspaper Magyar Idok, wrote an article denouncing the production.

"How can such an important national institution as the opera go against the objectives of the state and use a performance made for people around 10, at their most fragile age, for such pointed and unrestrained gay propaganda?", the article asked.

She went on to say: "Promoting homosexuality cannot be a national objective in a situation where the population is already ageing and decreasing and our nation is threatened by foreign invasion."

The message would not have looked out of place on fascist propaganda pamphlets from the 1930s. That they were written last month is shocking.

Hungarian State Opera's director Szilveszter Okovacs defended his decision to put on the show, but Horvath's comments prompted outcry from the public and sent the box office into decline. The Hungarian State Opera chose to close its production early, cancelling the remaining 15 performances.

According to the BBC, the mystery deepened as there is no known journalist called Zsofia N Horvath in Hungary and the newspaper itself is seen as a mouthpiece of prime minister Viktor Orban's nationalist Fidesz Party.

Fidesz's landslide election victory in April has given Orban and his government considerable power, which has been particularly felt across a number of Hungary's cultural institutions, media outlets and by several of its individuals who have been targeted with a clear message to conform.

The message would not have looked out of place on fascist propaganda pamphlets from the 1930s. That they were written last month is shocking

Orban is a keen Trump supporter and has led on a policy of outlawing homosexuality to promote traditional family values, which he believes are the glue to a successful Europe. His popularity and tough stance have made such policies gain traction, with support in pro-government articles by his media allies.

Billy Elliot's closure in Hungary will be seen as a victory for the right and a strong endorsement of Orban's policies.

The fact it's a popular Western musical composed by Elton John, a high-profile openly gay artist, is equally significant. Orban's party has rebelled against Western values and the shows abrupt closure gives the clearest warning to any disparate voices of Orban's and his party's power.

Billy Elliot had already been seen by 100,000 people in Hungary before its closure, but its legacy is now one of being an offensive work. Many Hungarians who did not see it but have read about it since closure will likely make a damning judgement. Meanwhile, Orban and his party supporters have also used the incident to portray him as being the nation's great protector of its family values who will not let their young people be 'corrupted'.

What's surprised me most is the under-reporting of this incident outside Hungary. Several global news agencies ran short news stories about it. But the fact it has not gained more headlines and subsequent column inches is disappointing. This should not be ignored.

These 15 cancelled performances may seem like nothing in the great scheme of global news, but what it represents - and the resulting message conveyed to the Hungarian public - is enormous. Only 16 years ago, Hungary was producing a hit production of Kander and Ebb's celebrated musical Kiss of the Spiderwoman with its strong gay themes and message of acceptance. Today, it's taken serious steps backwards.

It was Mussolini who said: "If you pluck a chicken one feather at a time, people don't notice." It is a stark warning of how, throughout history, hatred and prejudice can begin in the smallest ways, but if left unchallenged or ignored, it can easily fester and escalate into something devastating.

Theatre's position in all this - as a catalyst for change and to build awareness as well as shaming those who want to discriminate and bully others - has never been more important. However, this recent incident in Hungary demonstrates it can itself become a target.

Change, acceptance and understanding must start with education, conversation and listening. Throughout history the popularity of the musical art form has been a vehicle that promotes social change to the widest audience demographics.

Tonight, 500 cinemas across the UK will show a screening of the British musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie live from the West End with its message of being yourself and celebrating difference. It is this generation's Billy Elliot. The broadcast will be significant, being shown within some UK communities where prejudices towards some groups has risen in recent years.

Hungary may seem many miles away from the UK but, in reality, the attitudes it has recently displayed are never far away from any country's doorstep.

Through theatre we can help to promote change and greater understanding. From far and wide, we must collaborate to provide a safe, welcoming working environment and platform for different voices to be heard. Most importantly, we need to stand together to collectively challenge ignorance at its most dangerous.

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Richard Jordan: Hungary's attack on Billy Elliot is a stark warning for us all

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Billy Elliot's closure in Hungary will be seen as a victory for the right and a strong endorsement of Orban's policies. Hungary may seem many miles away from the UK but in reality, the attitudes its recently displayed are never far away from any country's doorstep.

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Jamie Bell interview | Open House with Gloria Hunniford | 2000

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14 year old Jamie Bell wins Leading Actor BAFTA in 2001

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Billy Elliot (10/12) Movie CLIP - What Dancing Feels Like (2000) HD

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Edpuzzle video lesson. Make any video your lesson. Take a video and crop it, add your voice or embed questions at any point.

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English Job Interview Tips and Tricks - How to Answer Job Interview Questions in English

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In the case of the Royal Ballet star Philip Mosley it was Barnsley rather than Billy's north-east, and the thumping rhythm of The Jam's A Town Called Malice had to be in his own small head rather than on Dolby cinema speakers.

But the film's key, exhilarating sequence in which the miner's son pirouettes and leaps his way through the cobbled streets with sheer love of dance, came straight from Mosley's briefings to the screenwriter Lee Hall.

"It was dead-on - how could I forget it," said Mosley's mother, Margaret, who was machine-seaming tights for Marks & Spencer when her son was skipping rings round his twin brother, Paul, on the way back from Cudworth junior. "I was chatting to our Philip this morning," she said yesterday. "And we were going over how really close they got that bit and the part where he taps down the street."

Philip remembers how dreams of being Barnsley's answer to Gene Kelly go back "as long as I can remember. There was almost nothing but mining round my village, but my family were very supportive all the way through." He half-ran, half-toddled to dancing class alongside his older sister Anita, whose own daughter Melissa was having her usual Sunday morning with Grandma yesterday.

In the film Billy Elliot pretends he's at boxing while he slips into the girls' ballet class, fearful of his dad's very vocal disapproval. Mosley never hid his passion. His mother said: "He wasn't even three but he went on at me about going with her. I tells him: 'Lads don't go to dancing class' but he was just a bit persistent. So I asks the teacher, Rosalind Wicks, if she takes lads and she jumped at him. She says: 'We certainly do, if we can ever get them'."

Mosley was ribbed at school but protected by three older brothers, including Michael, the only one of the seven children to follow both grandfathers down Darfield Main pit.

Unlike Billy's father in the film, who was initially furious at his youngest son's desire to play "girls'" games, Mosley's dad, Albert, a plumber, was not averse to dance. He and Margaret had seen the South Yorkshire town caught by dance fever at a crucial time in their own lives.

"Everyone remembers the maple floorboards they put across the swimming baths in Race Street," said Annie Storey, a Barnsley local historian who made the famous London Tiller girls in the 1950s. "There was always an extra spring in the dance floor because it wasn't solid underneath. There was one young man who used to go dancing at the baths who had a variety of brightly coloured suits - very vivid, not unlike Showaddywaddy."

It wasn't exactly a tradition, but it gave a bit of history to men gambolling about in a tough mining community. When Philip was nine, two friends joined him at dancing class and when he was entered for a free scholarship to the Royal Ballet's school in White Lodge, Richmond Park, south-west London, the neighbours celebrated heartily.

Mrs Mosley, now retired like her husband, said: "Philip had been doing it so long, that no one really gave it a second thought. They'd come round to our house, just a terrace then though we've got three bedrooms now, and say: 'How's the lad doing?' Everyone knew that Albert was always finding time between jobs to run him around to classes or performances, and there were real celebrations when he got in."

Philip, now 33, is a first artist with the Royal Ballet and his roles have included Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He recalled White Lodge as having an unexpectedly wide social mix. "Though I did keep quiet about my mother working in a factory." He was also on the phone to Cudworth a lot at first, homesick at the age of only 12 and in novel and competitive, rather than cosy, surroundings.

"I always said to him: 'Philip, you can come home any time you want to'," said Margaret, who shares with Albert, 68, a democratic pride that all their children - another plumber, a joiner, an electrician, a hairdresser, a mother and housewife and a mobile phone company executive - "have found themselves a trade." But she added: "I never thought Philip'd give up for a moment. He was that keen to dance. I knew he'd keep at it and he did."

When the Mosleys now pay their annual visit to Covent Garden, dancing takes on 'n extra dimension for their son, who said: "I think of what they gave up to put me through, and I do get quite emotional, because I know my mum's trying to tell everyone in the whole row, 'That's my son up there'."

His mother echoed: "We are very proud of him. We're glad he didn't have to go through everything Billy Elliot had to face."
Topics

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The boy who became the real Billy Elliot

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In the case of the Royal Ballet star Philip Mosley it was Barnsley rather than Billy's north-east, and the thumping rhythm of The Jam's A Town Called Malice had to be in his own small head rather than on Dolby cinema speakers.

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Elton John was in Toronto last week for the official opening of Billy Elliot: The Musical, a production I was lucky to recently see. The musical, which premiered in London in 2005 and won 10 Tony awards in 2009, is a stage adaptation of the popular 2000 coming-of-age film about Billy Elliot, a fictional, 11-year-old, working-class lad who dreams of becoming a professional dancer. As I watched the musical, I was struck by the ways in which the musical's overarching historical context - the British mining strike of 1984-1985 - served as the backdrop to examine issues of class and gender through the story of a struggling community and one very talented boy. Yet I also pondered: what happened to those who lacked the opportunity to leave town like Billy?

Billy Elliot takes place within the context of the bitter conflict between the British National Union of Miners (NUM) and Margaret Thatcher's neoliberal campaign to close unprofitable coal mines. This historical context is presented to the audience at the onset of the musical. As the curtain opens, Billy sits on stage and watches with the audience a film sequence that introduces the nationalization of the British coal industry in 1947 as part of Keynesian postwar reconstruction, and the subsequent push from Thatcher's Conservative government to close the mines. This quick montage of political figures - British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Clement Atlee, and Margaret Thatcher, and NUM leader Arthur Scargill - is then juxtaposed with the people of a northern England mining town, where we see the everyday impacts of the strike on the community.

The Billy Elliot playbill also provides some historical context through a three-paragraph long background on the strike, positioned directly underneath photographs of the production's leading cast members. The programme's short outline is sympathetic to the union cause. As echoed on stage, it notes the destitution of mining families during the strike and the use of riot police to intimidate strikers. In contrast, the programme reflects that Thatcher was "politically opposed to state-owned industry and determined to crush the unions" (italics mine). The summary concludes by revealing the ultimate outcome of the struggle: mining "had been the major employer for hundreds of years" - with approximately 300,000 men employed in the coal industry in 1984 - but today almost all coal used in Britain is imported and less than 1,000 Britains work in the industry.

One criticism of the earlier film Billy Elliot is that it assumes the audience has a comprehensive knowledge of the 1984-1985 coal strike. A lack of knowledge about the strike is particularly true for non-British audiences, so the footage that starts the musical and the programme notes are especially important for audiences watching the production in Toronto.

The intersection of class and gender pervades the musical, as the mining strike and Billy's desire to dance are used to examine the crisis of working-class masculinity in 1980s postindustrial(izing) Britain. The fictive aspect of the musical medium allows the audience to see the intensely personal struggles of people fighting to preserve the traditions of their working-class community. Billy's father and brother, striking miners who initially fear that Billy's dancing may indicate he is a "poof" (British slang for homosexual), serve as vulnerable symbols of a hyper-masculine culture fed by homophobia: they prefer the masculine sport of boxing over the feminine practice of ballet. In this sense, both father and brother are used to illustrate an apparently traditional - and even ignorant - working-class male understanding of sport, art, gender, and sexuality.

Yet once Billy's father sees his son dance, he realizes Billy's individual talent offers an escape out of the conditions of working-class existence. In order to afford transportation for Billy to an audition at the Royal Ballet School in London, the father decides to scab, which leads to a confrontation between himself and Billy's politically radical brother. The dispute signifies the conflict between the longing for individual success held by Billy and his father, and the brother's vision of working-class solidarity. Ultimately, a resolution occurs when Billy's father is spared the plight of strikebreaking as the community bands together to provide funds for Billy's travel to London.

Although the musicalpresents a highly personal narrative of issues of masculinity and working-class consciousness, critics have questioned Billy Elliot's dichotomous presentation of class and gender during the coal strike. In particular, David Alderson, a senior lecturer of modern literature at the University of Manchester, has pointed out that the death of mother Elliot before the strike's outbreak means the audience is not shown the essential role of women during the strike. Women Against Pit Closures mounted a national campaign in support of striking miners; indeed, women joined picket lines, were arrested, and suffered physical violence from police. The existence of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and Lesbians Against Pit Closures, groups that supported and found support from striking miners, especially complicates the homophobic narrative. Although Alderson cautions against an exaggerated understanding of solidarity between striking miners and gay supporters, he asserts that "[h]ad the miners won, the strike might have contributed to a transformed, more diverse political future for a truly socialist Left. Instead, their defeat made it possible for a film like Billy Elliot to represent the strike as the collapse of a straightforwardly repressive patriarchal order."

Billy Elliot: The Musical ends with the strike over and miners returning to work in defeat. The eradication of the mining community following the strike is foreshadowed through the song "Once We Were Kings," in which miners reflect on their proud past and unsure future. Billy, in contrast, leaves for London's Royal Ballet School as he walks through the audience, signifying his entrance into the middle-class. We see that individual talent and leaving behind one's working-class community, not the promise of equality promoted by an evaporating welfare state, is the only opportunity for success in neoliberal Britain. Billy may have been able to use his dancing talent to succeed, but we are left to wonder what happens to the children of the other 300,000 British miners.

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Performing History, Class and Gender in Billy Elliot: The Musical

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Elton John was in Toronto last week for the official opening of Billy Elliot: The Musical, a production I was lucky to recently see. The musical, which premiered in London in 2005 and won 10 Tony awards in 2009, is a stage adaptation of the popular 2000 coming-of-age film about Billy Elliot, a fictional, 11-year-old, working-class lad who dreams of becoming a professional dancer.

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Feature films and documentaries are sometimes used as research sources. They are also used quite frequently as supplemental learning tools in the classroom. A common writing assignment is a critical review or analysis of films.

Your instructor will choose a specific film or documentary for a reason -- because it relates to the material at hand in some way. A good review will explain how the film has enhanced the learning experience, but it should also provide an account of your personal response.

The components and format of your film analysis will depend on the course and your instructor's preferences, but there are several standard components of a review.

The elements listed here do not appear in any specific order. The placement of these items (or the omission of them) will vary, depending on relevance.

You'll have to decide, for example, if artistic elements are so important that they should be included in the body of your paper (as in a film class), or if they are so seemingly insignificant that they appear at the end (perhaps in an economics class).

Title of the film or documentary: Be sure to name the film in your first paragraph. State the date of its release.

Summary: What happened in this film? As a reviewer, you must explain what happened in the film and express your opinion about the success or failure of the film maker's creation.

Don't be afraid to express your opinion, but include specific reasons for likes and dislikes. (You can't say "it was boring" unless you provide justification.)

Filmmaker: You should do a little research on the person who created this film.

Is the director or writer a controversial figure?

Is the filmmaker known for a political stance?

Does the filmmaker have a significant background?

If the filmmaker is known for controversy, this segment of your paper can be lengthy. Devote several paragraphs to an assessment of his or her other works and establish the significance of this work in the film maker's career.

Significance to your class: Why are you seeing this film in the first place? How does the content fit into your course topic?

Is this film important for historical accuracy? If you are viewing a motion picture for your history class, be sure to make note of embellishments or over-dramatization.

If you are reviewing a documentary for a history class, be sure to observe and comment on the sources used.

Is this a motion picture based on a play you've read in English class? If so, make sure you specify whether the film illuminated or clarified elements you missed when reading the play.

If you are reviewing a film for your psychology class, be sure to examine the emotional impact or any emotional manipulation you observe.

Creative elements: Filmmakers go to great lengths to choose the creative elements of their films. How are these elements important to the overall product?

Costumes for a period film can enhance a film or they can betray the intent of the film. Colors can be vivid or they can be dull. The use of color can stimulate and manipulate moods. Black and white shots can add drama. Good sound effects can enrich the viewing experience, while bad sound effects can destroy a film.

Camera angles and movement can add elements to the story. A jagged transition adds intensity. Gradual transitions and subtle camera movements serve a specific purpose, as well.

Finally, actors can make or break a film. Were the actors effective, or did poor acting skills detract from the film's purpose? Did you notice the use of symbols?

The order and emphasis of your paragraphs will depend on your class. The format will also depend on the course topic and your instructor's preference. For example, a typical documentary review for a history class will follow guidelines for a Turabian book review, unless your instructor states otherwise. A typical outline would be:

Introduction, to include film title, topic, and release date

Accuracy of the depiction

Use of sources

Creative elements

Your opinion

A paper for your literature class, on the other hand, should adhere to MLA formatting guidelines. The film would most likely be a feature film, so the outline might go like this:

Introduction, with title and release date

Summary of the story

Analysis of story elements -- like rising action, climax

Creative elements, use of color, camera techniques, mood, and tone

Opinion

Your conclusion should detail whether the filmmaker was successful in his or her purpose for making this film, and re-state your evidence. It may also explain how the film was (was not) helpful for illuminating and providing a deeper understanding of a topic in your class.

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Here's How to Write a Stellar, Insightful Film Review

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Feature films and documentaries are sometimes used as research sources. They are also used quite frequently as supplemental learning tools in the classroom. A common writing assignment is a critical review or analysis of films. Your instructor will choose a specific film or documentary for a reason -- because it relates to the material at hand in some way.

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20 Words Brits and Americans Say Differently

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Billy Elliot is about a young boy who finds his passion for dance. The film is set in Northern England in the mid-80s and explores gender stereotypes, different social classes, the 1984 miner's strike and the use of police violence. This is a British social realism film due to its realistic depiction of British people. Directed by Stephen Daldry, it stars Jamie Bell and Julie Walters.

Breaking gender stereotypes

Gender definitions and divisions are shown in the gym where boys box and girls attend ballet lessons. As Billy's father simply puts it 'lads do football, boxing, or wrestling - not friggin' ballet!' However, Billy wants to dance. Through a beautifully conducted tracking shot of the dancer's feet, the different genders are clearly presented. Not only can we see his masculine, stumpy feet, but the choice of colour - the pink ballet slippers for girls and the blue boxing shoes for Billy - depicts the stereotypical colours of both genders.

Billy Elliot is set in the 1980s, where homosexuality was still a fragile topic to discuss compared with today. Gender stereotypes are explored through homophobic comments by family members. The film stresses that Billy is not actually gay, like his family members think. With a short pillow fight with the dance teacher's daughter we see Billy falling for the girl and proving to the audience that he is actually interested in girls. It is through Billy's friend Michael that the homosexual topic is raised. He is not a ballet dancer himself, yet confidently cross-dresses and helps Billy with his dance routine.

Different social classes

The film is set during Margaret Thatcher's time as Prime Minister. When she was elected, Thatcher was faced with a devastated and chaotic country. Many things had to be changed and re-organised. However, it was high inflation that led to mass unemployment, which caused an even greater divide in social classes. It is the wallpaper and the shabby furniture displayed in the home that portrays class and reiterates just how little money the family has. When Billy is dancing around the streets, the cinematographer made used of wide shots to show the audience the small houses and the run-down neighbourhood as a whole. With these shots we get a sense of the town and realise that it is not just Billy's family who lives poorly.

When Billy gets to audition for the Royal Ballet School a crass contrast is created between the shots of the household and the school's interior. The statues, the high pillars and the grand entrance all demonstrate the high class and conservative attitude of the school.

The 1984 miner's strike

Coal used to be one of the most important parts of the British economy. By the mid-80s only 17% of the once-active coal mines in the United Kingdom were still operating. Although it did not stop there, as many more were closed by the government. Many miners previously went on strike, but the 1984 strike was the height of them all. The reason behind the strike was the vast amount of mines being closed down, which left hundreds of men unemployed. The miners were also trying to earn fair wages and get benefits, but most importantly get their jobs back.

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The fictional town where the film is set is covered with political posters encouraging the miners to go on strike. Such miners are embodied by Billy's brother and father. By setting the film in this time period we are able to experience a personal insight into how the strike affected families around England. Billy's father is a single parent and his desperation for money forces him, despite his political beliefs, to go back to work at the factory. When the strikes finished, it was also the end of the coal industry in the UK. Today, only three mines remain active.

Police violence

Another way the film depicts the strike is through continuous violence. Through a bird's eye view we see the miners in the top half of the frame and the bottom half is filled with the police. By seeing both parties in such close proximities it demonstrates how personal the fights were between the people and the authorities. Billy's brother is even arrested for his violent protesting.

The police can be seen at every corner of town. One of the most shocking images in the film is when the young girl walks around with Billy and goes from striking the fence to the shields of the police. It is a moment where we hold our breath and think that something could potentially happen to the kids. However, this depiction shows how the police have essentially become part of the town, standing in place just like the fences.

The strike was reported as a bloody battle due to the high amount of violence by the police against the miners. When the strike was over, high fines had to be paid by the government to compensate for the violent acts.

You can watch this hopeful story in the musical version of Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre.

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What Billy Elliot Taught Us About British...

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Billy Elliot is about a young boy who finds his passion for dance. The film is set in Northern England in the mid-80s and explores gender stereotypes...

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Newsela | One Indiana school is helping girls find their footing in STEM fields

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The STEM Scouts program at an all-girls school in Gary, Indiana, emphasizes science and math in an effort to encourage female students to defy gender stereotypes

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Billy Elliott Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or Jamie Bell movie

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Billy Elliott Script taken from a transcript of the screenplay and/or the Jamie Bell movie

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Billy Elliot (3/12) Movie CLIP - Pirouette Practice (2000) HD

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Edpuzzle video lesson. Make any video your lesson. Take a video and crop it, add your voice or embed questions at any point.

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Billy Elliot from Tes.com

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Few prospects get butterflies fluttering in your stomach like a job interview. Scary though it seems to sit down and discuss yourself with a hiring manager, it's something 99 percent of people have gone through. But don't worry! With a bit of practice (and a few no-fail phrases up your sleeve), you'll stroll into your job interview looking as cool as an ice cream on a summer's day.

To help you prepare we've put together some handy phrases covering what you'll typically discuss at a job interview: your personality, strengths, experience and why you want the job, of course.

Describing your personality

As they sit down with candidates, the interviewer (your potential boss) is looking to find out if the interviewee (you) will or won't fit in well with their existing team. So now's the time to show them who you are and why you're a great person to work with. Here are some adjectives to use:

Easy-going: a relaxed person who is easy to get along with

Hard-working: someone who works well and isn't lazy

Committed: a person who is loyal to a project or person

Trustworthy: someone who you can rely on

Honest: someone who tells the truth

Focused: someone who is not easily distracted

Methodical: a person who pays attention to details and works in a logical way

Proactive: someone who takes steps to complete tasks without supervision

If you'd like to add punch, use an intensifier like . ( very, extremely, really "I'm very trustworthy," "I'm an extremely focused employee.")

Describing your strengths

Your interviewer will also want to know what you're good at. Why? Because the job you're applying for requires certain skills - so now's the time to explain what you can do well!

Some positive traits and skills managers look for include:

Organization

The ability to multitask

Perform to a deadline

Solve problems

Communicate well

Work in an international environment and with people from all over the world

Speak foreign languages

Enthusiasm

You can use phrases like: multitasking/working under pressure/working to a deadline, or My strength is/are my ability to problem solve/be enthusiastic/speak fluent English etc.

Describing your experience

If you've had a job before you have valuable experience to bring to this new position. Depending on the sort of job you're applying for, your education might also be important to highlight. Here are some phrases to use:

I have five years' experience as a waitress/in retail/as a teacher

I worked in retail for seven years and was promoted to manager in my second year

I studied at the University of Queensland

I worked for Anderson and Assoc. as a lawyer

Be prepared to run through and explain the main points in your CV. Use the opportunity to elaborate on what's on your CV and give more details.

Describing your goals for the future and why you want this job

Here's your moment to tell the interviewer why you want the advertised position. Maybe you want to gain experience in your field, learn a particular skill, believe you are a great fit for the company or particularly respect them in their industry. These phrases can help:

I'm looking to further my skills as a barista/in hospitality, as a childcare worker/in early childhood education

I'm want to further my career in physiotherapy/as a physiotherapist, in administration/as an administrator, in retail/as a branch manager

I believe your company is an important player in its industry

I feel my skills set is a perfect fit for your team and I can contribute by...

It's very important to emphasize the last point - your interviewer will want to be convinced that you really want the role. Don't overdo it, of course, but do make sure you make this point clear.

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Useful phrases for a job interview - EF Blog

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Few prospects get butterflies fluttering in your stomach like a job interview. Scary though it seems to sit down and discuss yourself with a hiring manager, it's something 99 percent of people have gone through. But don't worry!

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British vs American | English Pronunciation Lesson

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British English and American English

British people and American people can always understand each other - but there are a few notable differences between British English and American English

Grammar

Americans use the present perfect tense less than speakers of British English and a British teacher might mark wrong some things that an American teacher would say are correct.

In British English, ' have got' is often used for the possessive sense of ' have' and ' have got to' is informally used for ' have to '. This is much less common in American English.

There are a number of other minor grammatical differences.

Vocabulary

There are a lot of examples of different words being used in British and American English. Here are a few of the commonest.

There are British words which many Americans will not understand and vice versa. There are also words which exist in both British and American English but have very different meanings.

Spelling

There are also a number of different spelling rules between British English and American English.

1 Some words that end in '-tre' in British English end in '-ter ' in American English.

2 Some words that end in '-our' in British English end in '-or ' in American English.

3 Some words are shorter in American English than in British English.

There are other minor spelling differences between British and American English.

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British English and American English British people and American people can always understand each other - but there are a few notable differences between British English and American English Grammar Americans use the present perfect tense less than speakers of British English and a British teacher might mark wrong some things that an American teacher would say are correct.

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Introduction:

In this lesson learners will revise some film review vocabulary through pair-work discussions. They they will write their own film review after analysing a model. Then they will read each other's reviews and have a class vote about which film looks most interesting.

Topic: Films

Aims:

To encourage students to join in a discussion

To develop students' writing skills

To train learners to spend time planning before they write.

Age group: Teenagers and young adults

Level: A2 - B2

Time: 60 minutes +

Materials:

Teacher's notes

Film review worksheet

The plan and worksheet are downloadable in pdf format - right click on the attachment and save it on your computer.

Copyright - please read

All the materials on these pages are free for you to download and copy for educational use only. You may not redistribute, sell or place these materials on any other web site without written permission from the BBC and British Council. If you have any questions about the use of these materials please email us at: teachingenglish@britishcouncil.org

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Introduction: In this lesson learners will revise some film review vocabulary through pair-work discussions. They they will write their own film review after analysing a model. Then they will read each other's reviews and have a class vote about which film looks most interesting.

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Flawless British tale of a young boy from a harsh mining community during the 1980s strike who hopes to become a ballet dancer.

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Reading and listening

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This is BritLit's first foray into the world of full length novels. We think it works!

How to use this BritLit kit
There are a range of activities to use based around the text, as well as a complete teacher guide and answer key. Some activities in the pre-reading and the guided reading downloads have related audio, below. To download pdf files and audio from the Attachment box below, right click on the file and save to your computer.

This BritLit kit was first published in 2009

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This is BritLit's first foray into the world of full length novels. We think it works! How to use this BritLit kit There are a range of activities to use based around the text, as well as a complete teacher guide and answer key.