1,204,986 Votes Decided: What Is The Best Thing? – Tom Scott

1,204,986 Votes Decided: What Is The Best Thing? – Tom Scott

In this video from Tom Scott, he surveyed over 1.2 million people to find out what was the best thing! After making a long list of things to rank (7,188) he got people on the internet to vote for items in head-to-head battles. Things that were voted for many times moved to the top of the list. Things that didn’t get voted for got moved to the bottom. Simple! 

The speaking is very fast in this but the questions and transcript are fairly simple. Students will have a good opportunity to talk about their favourite things.

This lesson uses the third part of the video from 5:45

Note : If using this in class please note there is a brief mention of sex and orgasms around the 8:30 mark. Easily skippable. Use this skip to pause and ask the students what they think the number one thing is. This part of the video is missing from the transcript.

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The Best Thing? – PDF
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Did People Used To Look Older? – Vsause

This video from Vsause tries to answer the question of why, in photos from the past, people seem to look older for their age. What are the reasons for this? Great lesson for talking about generational differences.

This lessons content is upper-intermediate but the questions and tasks could be done by an intermediate student. There are warm-up, listening and followup discussion questions. Download the PDF or Word file below.

Thanks everyone!

Eating Dandelions from NPR

 In this short documentary for NPR Debbie Naha talks about, collects and cooks dandelions. A “weed” she considers delicious and nutritious. What do you think? This is an upper beginner level lesson. The video will help students find the answers with its fun visuals and text. The narrator has a clear and slow way of talking that will also be easy to understand. There are warm-up questions, listening questions, a transcript and answers. Enjoy!

By the way, I have been getting good feedback on my lessons recently. If you have anything to say please leave a message or send me an email!

The Lonely Goalkeeper by Dress Code Films

This animated short documentary is about how it feels to be a professional football (soccer) goal keeper. It is narrated by Bob Wilson who was a very successful goal keeper. 

This lesson has a short introduction, listening questions and a transcript. It is a pre-intermediate and above level but is short so can be watched many times in one class. There are no subtitles with this one but the transcript I have made is accurate (about 90% I hope!). The answers to the questions are on the last page. I suggest this worksheet can be a good supplement to any lesson about sports or about being nervous. Enjoy!

Most romantic spots in Paris 

from Lonely Planet

 

In this video from Lonely Planet the narrator introduces three of Paris’s most romantic places. Students will listen and watch the video to choose the correct details for each of the locations. There is also a discussion about cities and people’s favourite places in them. This is an easier lesson suitable for beginners.

Can I Trust my weather APP – BBC

This video from the BBC talks about where weather apps get their information and how it is presented to people. The video also talks about why weather apps can be wrong sometimes. 

In the lesson students will talk about using apps, percentage and odds and, of course, bad weather! The listening questions are true and false and the speaking is very clear, so pre-intermediate level students should be able to handle the material. If you are studying alone the answers are at the bottom of the third page.

The world’s Most expensive thing (By weight) – Tom Scott

 This video, from Tom Scott, talks about the history of what is the most expensive object in the world by weight. It is very small and very expensive.

More importantly it is ‘non-fungible’ – things means it cannot be split up into smaller parts and keep the same value. 

In this lesson students discuss the things they own. How the history of an object is important and if they collect anything. The PDF has comprehension and discussion questions and transcript of the video with answers highlighted. This video is definitely intermediate level English and above.

2021 Review of the Year from Vox

In this video from Vox the news 2021 is reviewed from an American perspective on the world. Students are asked to discuss the year they have has, talk about how they themselves have changed and answer simple comprehension questions on the video. The vocabulary is relatively simple as are the questions and most pre-intermediate classes and up should be able to comprehend and discuss the ideas in the video.



Happy New Year everyone!

Latte Art – 60 Second Docs

This is a nice simple video that would be a great supplement to any beginner level class on coffee shops or ordering in a cafe. The video has hardcoded subtitles and is only 60 seconds long but has an interesting story and a compelling images. As a follow up activity I had my students leave comments (if they liked) on the artists Instagram. They really enjoyed that.

  1. Play the video
  2. Read the questions – Try to answer from memory
  3. Watch again – check Answers
  4. Discussion questions

Comprehension Questions

Where is he originally from?

What did he do before he became a barista?

How do you become a good latte artist?

How much fat should the milk have?

Discussion Questions

Do you like coffee? How do you take your coffee?

Where do you go if you want to relax and talk with friends?

Which of his pieces of latte art did you like the most?

Latte Art - ESLTube
PDF Worksheet

Latte Art – ESLTube – Word

Latte Art – ESLTube – PDF

 

I absolutely recommend checking out all of 60 Second Docs other videos. They are perfect for quick, natural listening practice.

Enjoy!

How to Live to 100!

Want to know how to live to 100? Watch this video from The Infographics Show to hear a summary of research on the subject of living to a ripe a old age.

In this simple lesson plan students will watch the video and read its transcript to answer questions on health and old age. This is followed by a series of discussion questions brought up by the video.  The video has embedded subtitles that students can read along with.

Please like and subscribe to The Infographics Show. They have a lot of great content that can be used in classrooms.

how to live to 100 worksheet100 transcript

How to live to 100 – Transcript – PDF*

How to live to 100 – Lesson – Word

How to live to 100 – Lesson – PDF

Health and Old Age Questions:

What exercises should you do?

How can you fight stress?

Why is loneliness bad for you?

In Sweden, what do they think are the secrets to a long life?

How much sleep is too much?

How much alcohol, should you drink alcohol if you want to live a long life?

 

 

*Taken from the Transcript available on the video.