English, baby!

The Fighter

Date: Feb 16 2011

Themes: Sports

Grammar: Passive Voice

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Sports movies usually follow a similar formula. They tell the story of an underdog or outsider who desperately wants to get to the top of his sport of choice. The underdog tries, fails, tries again, and finally succeeds at achieving some kind of big victory. Then the audience goes home feeling invigorated and inspired.

Even though most sports movies tend to have a similar plot, some are better than others. The Fighter has been called the best sports movie of 2010. Find out if Jason and Ella agree.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Ella

Jason: Have you seen The Fighter?

Ella: I haven’t, but it looks good.

Jason: Yeah, it’s apparently, I mean you should see it, it’s been called the best sports movie of the decade. I’m not sure which decade they’re referring to, the one that’s a little over a month old, or…

Ella: What sports are in it?

Jason: Boxing. It’s about Mark Walhberg, he is a boxer and his brother, Christian Bale is also a boxer. And what I really liked about it was the way that by being boxer brothers, they sort of help each other to get better at the sport, but at the same time, they hold each other back.

Ella: So there is some sibling rivalry, it’s not downplayed at all in a movie about boxing.

Jason: Right, yeah. I mean, I don’t have any siblings, but it kind of reminded me of these three brothers I knew who were all musicians, and they would all kind of race to be the best at whatever style of music they were into right then.

Ella: That sounds interesting, you know. I do have a sister, and we were definitely rivals growing up. It’s definitely beneficial to have someone push you.

Jason: What has your sister pushed you to do?

Ella: Who can party harder. Right when I think I’ve got it, she’ll just outdo it.

Jason: So you guys must have been popular.

Ella: Yes. Too popular.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Jason tells Ella that The Fighter has gotten great reviews. It’s a true story about two boxing brothers. The brothers push each other to be better fighters, but they also sometimes act like rivals and compete with each other.

Ella says she had a similar relationship with her sister when they were growing up. They were always trying to outdo each other. Jason asks Ella what kinds of things they competed about. Ella says that they mostly competed about partying. They both tried to be the biggest party girl. Jason thinks that must have made them pretty popular.

Who pushes you to be be better in different areas in your life?

Comments

sabz ali khan

Pakistan

the fantastic way to learn english language..great..htanks Ebaby

happysmilesunny

China

Usually, I would read Brian Tracy's BOOK-Goals-How to make everything fast than you ever thought possible, this book would push myself hard towards my life goals! So my teacher also are those one of the best friends who puse myself harder. Also, Friends can be good as a example, give some good words and emotion ^^

Romio79

Russian Federation

Usually I push myself. It works good when the goal is clear and you know exactly what to do to achieve it. But sometimes I have rivals. It stimulates good enough too.

raul1002

Peru

This movie is amazing, sibling rivalry reminds me the Australian movie Swimming Upstream that is about two brothers fighting to be the best swimmer of the country.

Well, my parents really push me to be a better man, with their advices and experiences but it's very important to push yourself too to suceed whatever you want in this life

daynong

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i thnk push ur self to do almost anything or in other word , u should able to light fire under urself to what u wana do ,i wish luck of all memebers , specially director and doers of this website….

daynong

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

hello , i am mohammad from iran ,u know i am studying english translation major in university, u know in classes i try to be volunteer to speak about anything and u know i always wana light fire under my self or in other word push my self to do almost anything i wana do,moreover u know , the rival between sb can make some one be expert in what he or she wana do…..i wish luck of all members of this astonishing website

andrespretty2

Colombia

My parents push me to be better human being, and the formula is to study.

Nando Santana

Brazil

My girlfriend push me to be be better an human.

rafael.ufla

Brazil

My parents and my girlfriend push me to be be better in the studies and my friends push me to be be better in cycling!

lucas thet naung

Myanmar

To be honest, my girl friend and my dream push me to be be better … :P :P

spacedragon

Brazil

i push myself to be be be better hahahaha

cherrybirbie

Austria

I have a sister who is way too genius than I am. You know having the baby sister who is smarter than you is, sometimes, so annoying. So, I push myself to be better than her. But, deep down, I know I'm really really proud of her. My point is that it's not someone else is pushing you to be better in your life. It's you, your philosophy and your attitude which push you to be better in different areas in your life. Then, there would be no sibling rivalry. Believe me, Sibling rivalry cannot make anything good.