The Gift

Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper

Intermediate (B2)
Learner type: Teens and adults
Time: 90 minutes
Activity: Watching trailer and a short
film, writing and speaking
Topic: Romantic love and relationships
Language: Vocabulary related to romantic
relationships
Materials: Trailer and short film
Overview

This EFL lesson is designed around a beautiful

short animation by Julio Pol and the themes of
love and relationships. Students watch a trailer
and predict a story, watch a short film and write
a narrative based on it and discuss relationships.

Step 1

Tell your students they are going to watch a

trailer for a short animated film titled The Gift.
As they watch their task is to decide why the film
is titled The Gift.

Show the film: https://vimeo.com/60493091

Step 2

Get feedback from your students. They will

probably be able to tell you that ‘the gift’
refers to the gift of romantic love.

Step 3

Pair your learners and ask them to come up with

any vocabulary they know related to romantic love
and relationship. Set a time limit of 5 minutes.

Step 4

Get feedback from each pair and write up the most

The Gift

useful vocabulary. Elicit or explain vocabulary

such as:

to meet to go out together to fall in love

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to be jealous to argue to make up

to be in love to settle down to break up

to split up to get back together

Step 5

Put your students into small groups and ask them

to predict what story they are going to see in the
film. Encourage them to use the vocabulary they
have looked at in the previous step. Set a time
limit of 10 minutes.

Step 6

Ask a student from each group to read out their

story and ask members of the other groups for
their comments.

Step 7

Tell the students they are now going to watch the

film. As they watch their task is to try to
understand the story the film tells and then
compare it with their own stories.

Show the film: https://vimeo.com/59179537

Step 8

Pair your students and ask them to compare their

stories with the one shown in the film.
The Gift

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Step 9

Tell your students they are going to watch the

film a second time and that after watching it they
should write a narrative using the vocabulary from
Step 4 to describe the story told in the film.

Show the film again.

Step 10

Students write their narratives. Walk around the

class providing help with vocabulary as necessary.
Set a time limit of 15 minutes.

Step 11

Pair your students and ask them to read their

narratives to their partners.

Step 12

Hold a plenary session based on the following

questions:

Do you think the film illustrates a typical

relationship?

What adjectives would you use to describe the

film?

How did the film make you feel?

The Gift

Homework

For homework students write a more polished

version of their narrative.

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I hope you enjoy this ESL lesson.

Film English is a labour of love, it takes

hundreds of hours and thousands of euros a year to
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experience — which is important to me and, I hope,
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if you find any inspiration, joy and stimulation
in these English language lessons or if they help
you teaching English, please consider a modest
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The Gift

www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy 5