Bangkok Dangerous & Take Shelter: Sign Language

A sign language (also signed language) is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns - manual communication, body language - to convey meaning and express a speaker's thoughts. Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign languages develop. Their complex spatial grammars are markedly different from the grammars of spoken languages. Hundreds of sign languages are in use around the world and are at the cores of local Deaf Cultures.



Work in pairs:

1. Have you ever learned a sign language? Why (not)?

2. What do you think is easier? Learning a foreign language or sign language? Why?

 3. Should learning sign languages be mandatory in schools? Why (not)?

4. Would you learn sign languages if someone in your family were deaf? What if your neighbor were deaf?

5. Should all teachers learn sign languages in case he/she has students with hearing special needs?



Watch the scene from the movie Bangkok Dangerous and discuss the questions:




















1. Describe the scene.

2. How difficult was their communication?

3. How did he manage to understand her? What strategies did he make use of?

4. What was easiest and most difficult thing for him to understand her?

5. Would you like to get involved with someone with that sort of special need? What would you do to overcome it?


Read the questions below and choose what you believe is the correct answer. Then watch the scene from the great movie Take Shelter and check your answers.

1. What is the main focus of ASL with children from 4 to 7 years old?

a. the alphabet

b. the signs

c. the movement of the mouth


2. Where is the male sign for males?

a. the forehead

b. the cheek

c. the eyes


3. How do you say "I'm sorry" in ASL?

a. making a circle with your hands around your heart.

b. putting your hands together like a prayer.

c. showing the palm of your right hand


4. How do you say "excited" in ASL?

a. pulling your hair

b. placing both hands in the air

c. rolling your hands and fingers in front of your chest.

1b, 2a, 3a, 4c,

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - TAKE SHELTER

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - BANGKOK DANGEROUS

Serendipity: Fate, Destiny

FATE: what happens to a particular person or thing, especially something final or negative, such as death or defeat  

DESTINY: the force that some people think controls what happens in the future, and which cannot be influenced by people.

  Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.


 1 - What is the difference between Fate and Destiny, according to the definitions above. Do you agree with it?

 2 - Do you believe in Fate or Destiny? Explain it.

Read the following quotes about destiny and fate. In pairs, decide what they mean and if you agree with them. Taken from http://www.manifestyourpotential.com/life/game_of_life/fate_destiny/quotes_fate_and_destiny_famous.htm


Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.(Marcus Aurelius)

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.(Voltaire)

Men are not prisoners of Fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.(Franklin Roosevelt)

How a person masters his fate is more important than what his fate is.(Karls Wilhelm von Humboldt)

When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate.(Jung)

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. (Shakespeare) The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)  

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved (William Jennins Bryan)  

Destiny is usually just around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it. (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)


Watch the movie segment from the movie Serendipity and discuss the questions.







1. Describe the scene

2. Is the scene about Fate or Destiny? Explain it.

3. Do you believe this is a possible situation? Would you do anything if you were told that?

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - SERENDIPITY

Hotel Rwanda: Rwanda Genocide

Beginning on April 6, ________, Tutsis were killed by Hutu militia using clubs and machetes, with as many as 10,000 killed each day. It is one of the most tragic human tragedies in human history. Answer the quiz below and make guesses about the massacre facts. The winning group is that who answers most correct items.


 1. In what year did the Rwandan genocide take place?

a. 1994
b. 1990
c. 1980
d. 1992

2. The countries around Rwanda have all played strong roles in its politics, including the genocide. Which of the following is a correct list of the countries bordering Rwanda?

a. Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi.
b. Tanzania, South Africa and Kenia
c. Nigeria, Niger and Ivory Coast
d. South Africa, Zambia, Niger and Togo

3. About how many people were killed in the Rwandan genocide?

 a. about 400.000
b. about 800.000
c. about 1.100.00
d. about 90.00

4. Which European former colonial power has been accused of being complicit in the genocide?

a. Belgium
b. England
c. The Netherlands
d. France

5. About how long did the Rwandan genocide last?

a. 10 days
b. 30 days
c. 45 days d
. 100 days

6. Which of these media did the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide use in order to organize the genocide?

a. the Internet
b. newspapers
c. radio
d. fliers

7. What percentage of the population was killed?

a. Over one-tenth of the population, an estimated 800,000 persons, had been killed.
b. half of the population had been killed
c. 1% of the population had been killed
d. 65% of the population had been killed.


 Answers 1a, 2a, 3b, 4d, 5d, 6c, 7a


Now watch the segments from the movie Hotel Rwanda and work in groups:


 PREPARE A NEWS REPORT SAYING WHAT HAPPENED IN RWANDA. DESCRIBE THE SCENE, THE FACTS PRESENTED, THE CHARACTERS REACTIONS, AND WHAT YOUR PERSONAL OPINION ON WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IS. IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE THE REPORTER IN THE SCENE AND THAT THE GENOCIDE IS STILL IN PROCESS. FINALLY, PRESENT IT TO YOUR PEERS.


Part 1: footage
part2 :

genocide scene part 3

final credits





























MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - HOTEL RWANDA I - FOOTAGE SCENE

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - HOTEL RWANDA I - GENOCIDESCENE

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - HOTEL RWANDA I - FINAL CREDITS SCENE