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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

LIFE ON
HORSEBACK

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1 Warm up
What country do these photos all relate to? What do you know about this country?

2 Before you watch

You are going to watch a short clip from a TV documentary. Before you watch, read the introduction
on the next page and find the word or phrase in the text which means:

1. people who live by travelling from place to place:

2. people who keep animals for milk and meat:
3. connect people or groups who have different experiences:
4. travelling with the goal of achieving something:
5. money given by an organisation to pay for study or travel:
6. very old:

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LIFE ON HORSEBACK

What’s it like to live among Mongolian nomads and herdsmen? Chris Bashinelli, the host of
the National Geographic Channel show Bridge the Gap: Mongolia, is on a quest to find out.
Chris received a grant from National Geographic to travel across the country and learn more
about what happens when an ancient nomadic culture meets the modern world.

3 Watching for the main idea

Now watch a clip from the documentary and choose the best summary:

1. Chris took a lot of photographs of the nomads but they didn’t want to speak to him.
2. Chris tried some traditional Mongolian activities but he couldn’t understand much.
3. Chris lived with the nomads and made a strong connection with them.

4 Watching for detail

Watch the clip again and write the missing words in the transcript:

I’m in Mongolia to discover what it means to be a modern-day nomad. Wrestling is

1
in Mongolia you know. Was it physically difficult? Yes. Was I scared? Yes.
Did I lose? I was slaughtered. What made it special was at the end of that whole day, I had
2
this man speaking to me in Mongolian and sharing his philosophies of . You
3
need to be able to ride on to be a nomad. Children learn to do this, literally in
4
many cases, before they even . I’ve never been on a horse in my life. There was
5
no – it was get on your horses and go. In that moment it felt like there was
6
no between myself the horse, the earth, the land, the culture. It all blended
into one and I will remember that for the rest of my life. Mongolian life is extremely difficult
7
but you don’t hear a lot of . I don’t even think they would define it in those
8
terms as or difficult. It was just life. Could I survive as a nomad for more than
9
a month? Well, definitely not. But just a glimpse into their will help to dissolve
the wall between our self and others. We can walk away feeling that this Mongolian wrestler,
10
this Mongolian herdsmen or nomad is just us.

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5 Vocabulary in context

Choose the best meaning for each word in bold as it is used in the clip/transcript, using the context
to help you.

1. Wrestling is traditional in Mongolia you know. ... Did I lose? I was slaughtered. /’slO:t@d/

a. killed b. completely defeated c. angry

2. ... it felt like there was no separation between myself, the horse, the earth, the land, the culture. It
all blended into one ...

a. not able to see b. became very confusing c. mixed together

3. But just a glimpse into their experience ...

a. a short look b. a conversation c. thinking deeply

4. ... will help to dissolve the wall between ourself and others.

a. identify b. break down c. repair

6 Grammar: habits and changes

Match these forms with their uses:

1. used to + infinitive
2. be used to + verb with -ing/noun/pronoun
3. get used to + verb with -ing/noun/pronoun

a. to describe past habits, repeated actions and states

b. to talk about new things that are strange and difficult at first, but are becoming familiar, normal and
easy for us
c. to talk about things that are already familiar, normal and easy for us

Now decide if these sentences are true, false or not given, based on the information in the video. Be
ready to explain your answers using information from the clip/transcript.

1. Herding used to be the main way of life in Mongolia.

2. Chris was used to wrestling so he wasn’t worried about trying the sport.
3. Children get used to riding horses from an early age.
4. Chris used to ride horses when he was younger.
5. Mongolians are used to hard work but Chris isn’t.
6. He was interested in the way the nomads were getting used to modern technology.

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7 Practice

Complete the six sentences about yourself. Of the sentences, make four true and two false. Be careful
with grammar!

1. I used to ... 2. I never used to ...

3. I’m used to ... 4. I’m not used to ...
5. I’m getting used to ... 6. I will never get used to ...

Then work in pairs. Student A, read all your sentences to Student B. Student B, decide which two are
false and explain why. Change roles and repeat.

8 Extension – presentation skills

Read these sentences from the transcript. How many speakers were there? Why are these sentences
unusual? Why did the speaker choose to present information in this way?

Was it physically difficult? Yes. Was I scared? Yes. Did I lose? I was slaughtered.
Could I survive as a nomad for more than a month? Well, definitely not.

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Transcripts

3. Watching for the main idea

0:00-1:00

I’m in Mongolia to discover what it means to be a modern-day nomad. Wrestling is traditional in

Mongolia, you know. Was it physically difficult? Yes. Was I scared? Yes. Did I lose? I was slaughtered.
What made it special was at the end of that whole day, I had this man speaking to me in Mongolian
and sharing his philosophies of life. You need to be able to ride on horseback to be a nomad. Children
learn to do this, literally in many cases, before they even learn to walk. I’ve never been on a horse
in my life. There was no instructions - it was get on your horses and go. In that moment it felt like
there was no separation between myself the horse, the earth, the land, the culture. It all blended
into one and I will remember that for the rest of my life.

1:00-1:40

Mongolian life is extremely difficult but you don’t hear a lot of complaining. I don’t even think they
would define it in those terms as hard or difficult. It was just life. Could I survive as a nomad for
more than a month? Well, definitely not. But just a glimpse into their experience will help to dissolve
the wall between our self and others. We can walk away feeling that this Mongolian wrestler, this
Mongolian herdsmen or nomad is just like us.

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Key

1. Warm up

Time: 5 mins. Working with the whole class, focus student’s attention on the pictures and elicit the vocabulary to
describe what they are seeing and that all the images relate to Mongolia. Encourage individuals to say if they know
anything about this country. It’s fine if the class has limited knowledge – the purpose of this task is to establish a
context for the video clip on which the lesson is based.
ANSWERS: the images show a traditional Mongolian tent called a ‘ger’ or ‘yurt’, a child riding a horse, traditional
Mongolian costumes, and a traditional wrestling sport.

2. Before you watch

Time: 5 mins. Focus students’ attention on the short introductory text and allow a minute or two to read the text.
(Variation – the teacher reads the text to the students.) Then ask students to locate vocabulary in the text with
the meanings – they can do this quickly in pairs before you check answers with the class. Make sure students can
pronounce all the words – the stressed syllable is underlined.
1. nomads
2. herdsmen
3. bridge the gap
4. on a quest
5. a grant
6. ancient

NOTE: a ‘herd’ is a group of animals, eg horses or cows. ‘Herd’ is also a verb (to herd).

3. Watching for the main idea

Time: 5 mins. Before watching the clip, go over the three summaries with the students and explain the instructions,
so they have a reason to watch. The clip is under two minutes. Students could quickly compare answers in pairs
before you check with the whole class.
ANSWER 3. Chris lived with the nomads and made a strong connection with them.

4. Watching for detail

Time: 10 mins. Before watching the clip for a second time, explain the task and give students a couple of minutes
in pairs to recall or predict the missing words. Then watch again. If students need one more viewing, the clip is
short enough to allow this. Explain the meaning of any problematic vocabulary.
1. traditional 2. life 3. horseback 4. learn to walk 5. instructions
6. separation 7. complaining 8. hard 9. experience 10. like

5. Vocabulary in context

Time: 10 mins. In this stage, students use the context of the clip to choose the best meaning for the words in
bold. Guessing the meaning of new vocabulary is a useful skill at any level. Students can work in pairs before you
check answers as a class. Make sure students can pronounce all the words – the stressed syllable is underlined.
1. b 2. c 3. a 4. b

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NOTE: 1 - answer is ‘b’ in this context, Chris was defeated; in another context, the word can also mean killed, ie
when an animal is killed so people can eat it.

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6. Grammar: habits and changes

Time: 10 mins. This stage presents three grammar items which are frequently confused by students. First match
the items with their uses and call attention to the difference in forms.
1. a 2. c 3. b

Students will now apply these three forms, shown in bold in the sentences, to the context of the clip/transcript.
Make sure students understand that they are using the transcript of the clip only for this exercise, not the Introduction
in the Before you watch stage. Students sometimes have difficulty understanding the difference between false
and not given. ‘False’ means the statement is wrong, according to the information in the text. ‘Not given’ means
that this information is not included in the text – it may be true or false but we can’t tell from the text. This type
of question is included in some exams, eg IELTS. You might demonstrate the first sentence with the class if you
think they need support. For true and false answers, students should be ready to find supporting information in
the transcript to explain their choice. You can also ask them to explain their thinking further, using the information
in the previous exercises, as indicated in the answers below.
Answers:
1. NG: this information is not directly stated in the clip/transcript. However, we could assume it is true from the
information in the Introduction.
2. F: "Was I scared? Yes." Chris seems to find wrestling strange and difficult.
3. T: "Children learn to do this, literally in many cases, before they even learn to walk." Learning could be a synonym
for getting used to something.
4. F: "I’ve never been on a horse in my life." Horse-riding is not a repeated past action or habit for Chris.
5. T: "Mongolian life is extremely difficult. Could I survive as a nomad for more than a month? Well, definitely
not." Hard work is normal to Mongolians but not to Chris.
6. NG: this topic was not included in the short clip we saw. However, according to the Introduction, it was
something Chris wanted to find out during his visit, ie modern technology is something new and must be a bit
strange and difficult for the nomads, although it is becoming easier.

7. Practice

Time: 15 mins. Explain the task and make sure students understand the instructions about writing true and false
sentences. Show them this example, so they can see how the activity works:
A: I’m used to getting up really early in the morning.
B: I don’t think that’s true. You’re always late for class!
You could refresh their memory of forms by asking them these questions:
- When do we complete the phrase with verb with -ing/noun/pronoun? (be/get used to)
- When do we complete the phrase with infinitive? (used to)
Give students around 5 minutes to write their sentences and monitor as many students as possible to check the
accuracy of their grammar before they do the speaking pairwork.
When students are ready to speak, remind them that it’s more interesting if one student reads all their sentences
to their partner at once, and then their partner chooses the two false ones, rather than reading the sentences
one at a time. Make sure students are reading to each other as a speaking and listening exercise, rather than just
showing each other their papers.
You could conduct some quick class feedback at the end, to see who told the best lies, and/or you could write some
student sentences (anonymously) on the board to show good examples of accurate grammar, and/or sentences
which need correction – and invite the class to correct the mistakes.

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8. Extension 1– presentation skills

Time: 5 mins. If you have a few minutes left at the end of the lesson, you could explore these questions with the
class. This technique is often used in informal spoken English and in presentations.
ANSWERS: There is only one speaker and it’s unusual for the same person to both ask and answer a question.
The speaker does this to engage the listener’s attention and also to make their points very clearly.

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