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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · ELEMENTARY (A1-A2)

SWEARING
PARROTS

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1 Warm up

Read the title and look at the pictures below. What do you think the news will be about?

zoo parrot

swear warning sign

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2 Listening 1

Watch or listen to the news report. Answer the following question. Audio

Video

What problem does the zoo have? →

3 Listening 2

Watch the news report again and answer the following questions.

1. When did the five swearing parrots arrive at the zoo?

2. What did the zoo put up to warn visitors?

3. How did the zoo first try to solve the problem?

4. What problem might the zoo create?

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4 Vocabulary 1

Complete the definitions with the words from the list.

copy do monkey mouth

nose share surprising word

1. ability (n) – the fact that you can something

2. imitate (v) – somebody

3. voice (n) – the sounds made by your when you speak

4. communicate (v) – information

5. trunk (n) – the long of the elephant

6. pronounce (v) – say a in a particular way

7. incredible (adj.) – very , difficult to believe

8. ape (n) – a large animal like a

5 Reading 1

Read the article about animals that can imitate human voice. Six parts of the text have been removed
from the text. Put them back in the correct place.

a. including ‘hello’ and ‘stay’

b. that’s not the case

c. that can do that

d. to imitate the human voice

e. by copying them

f. why we can talk and they can’t

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Animals that Can ‘Speak’

The swearing parrots in the Lincolnshire Zoo show the amazing ability birds have to imitate human
voice. However, they are not the only ones 1) . Here are other ‘talking’ animals.

A. Orca whales

A study in 2018 showed that we can teach orca whales2) . In a recording, the animals were able
to repeat phrases like ‘one, two, three’ and ‘bye bye’ after the researchers. The study confirms that young whales
can learn how to communicate with older ones 3) .

B. Asian Elephant

In 2012, an Asian Elephant called Koshik from the zoo in Seoul, South Korea, made the news because it could
pronounce six words in Korean, 4) . Perhaps even more incredible than what it could say was
how. Elephants don’t have the mouth parts to pronounce some sounds, so Koshik put her trunk in her mouth to
help it ‘speak’.

C. Orangutans

Great apes like gorillas and orangutans are the closest animals to humans, and scientists still don’t know for sure
5) . At first, experts believed it was because they don’t have the necessary voice ‘machine’, but
a study at Durham University suggests 6) . Rocky, an 11-year-old orangutan, was trained to
repeat lots of different sounds we make.

Sources: National Geographic, The Guardian

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6 Reading 2
Read the article again. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1. Birds are the only animals that can copy the human voice.

2. Orca whales could repeat phrases the researchers said.

3. Whales learn language by copying older whales.

4. Koshik could pronounce six English words.

5. Koshik used another part of its body to help it ‘speak’.

6. Scientists understand why humans can speak and apes can’t.

7. Rocky learned to speak full sentences.

7 Grammar
Read the Grammar Box and complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

Grammar Box - Passive

We use the passive when we don’t know who did something or when the object is more
important.

We form the passive with the verb be + past participle. We can use the passive with
different tenses by changing the verb to be. Look at these examples from the worksheet:

Swear words are very easy for parrots to learn because they are usually said in the same way...

They hope that their swear words won’t be heard with all the noise...

Rocky, an 11-year-old orangutan, was trained to repeat lots of different sounds we make.

1. Animals can be to say words, but don’t understand what they mean. (train)

2. In 2018, the whales were imitating the researchers’ voices. (record)

3. In nature, young whales are to ‘speak’ by older ones. (teach)

4. They first thought that orangutans don’t have the mouth parts to speak, but that idea was
wrong by Rocky. (prove)

5. I think more studies about animal communication will be soon. (present)

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8 Taboo

Follow the instructions below to play Taboo.

• Form pairs.
• Your teacher will give you vocabulary cards.
• One student chooses a card and explains the underlined word without using any of the words
below it (or the word itself).
• The other student has two guesses, and then it is their turn to choose a word.

9 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the questions below.

1. What do you think will happen at the Lincolnshire zoo?

2. Would you like to visit the swearing parrots?
3. What do you think of swearing?
4. Do you ever swear? If so, in which situations?
5. Do you think it’s possible to teach an animal to actually speak?

10 Extension activity 1

In groups, record a video about the swearing parrots at the Lincolnshire Zoo. Include information
about other animals that can ‘speak’. Then show your videos to your colleagues.

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11 Extension activity 2

Complete the extract from the script with one word from the list in each gap. Then listen again and
check.

an be but for is
other same there up with

1
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park has unusual problem to solve: five parrots that moved
2
into the zoo in 2020 became famous swearing at visitors. The managers of the zoo
3
even had to put a sign to warn those who came to see Billy, Tyson, Eric, Jade, and
4
Elsie. The zoo first separated them and put them with other parrots, these birds
5
also learn words from each , and now the zoo has three more swearing birds to deal
6
: another Eric, Captain, and Sheila!Swear words are very easy for parrots to learn
7
because they are usually said in the way and without other words before or after
8
them. Now the zoo trying a different solution: they are putting the eight swearing birds
9
in an area with 92 other parrots. They hope that their swear words won’t heard with
10
all the noise and that the parrots will learn other words, but the zoo manager admits
is a risk they will create a much bigger problem: a hundred swearing parrots!

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Transcripts

2. Listening 1

Reporter: The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park has an unusual problem to solve: five parrots that moved
into the zoo in 2020 became famous for swearing at visitors. The managers of the zoo
even had to put up a sign to warn those who came to see Billy, Tyson, Eric, Jade, and Elsie.

Reporter: The zoo first separated them and put them with other parrots, but these birds also learn
words from each other, and now the zoo has three more swearing birds to deal with:
another Eric, Captain, and Sheila!

Reporter: Swear words are very easy for parrots to learn because they are usually said in the same
way and without other words before or after them. Now the zoo is trying a different
solution: they are putting the eight swearing birds in an area with 92 other parrots. They
hope that their swear words won’t be heard with all the noise and that the parrots will
learn other words, but the zoo manager admits there is a risk they will create a much
bigger problem: a hundred swearing parrots!

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Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
Ask students to read the title, look at the pictures and predict what the content of the report will be. Elicit some
ideas, but don’t provide much information at this stage because they will watch a news report about it.

2. Listening 1

5 mins.
Students watch the news report to answer the question. Correct as a whole class.

What problem does the zoo have? → eight parrots that swear

3. Listening 2

5 mins.
Students read the questions and try to remember the answers. They then watch the report again and match the
questions to the answers. Before correcting, ask students to compare answers in pairs.

1. in 2020
2. a sign
3. they separated the birds
4. a hundred swearing parrots

4. Vocabulary 1

5 mins.
Ask students to look at the words and think about what they mean. They then complete the definitions with the
words in the box. When correcting, elicit examples sentences using the words.

1. do 2. copy 3. mouth
4. share 5. nose 6. word
7. surprising 8. monkey

5. Reading 1

10 mins.
Read the title and heading with the students. Ask students to read the article and think about what information
might each gap contain. They then read the sentences and fit them back into the text. Remind them that there is
a phrase that they do not use. Ask them to read again the information before and after the gap, along with the
phrase they have chosen, to check. Correct as a whole class.

1) c. that can do that

A. 2) d. to imitate the human voice ≀ 3) e. by copying them
B. 4) a. including ‘hello’ and ‘stay’

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C. 5) f. why we can talk and they can’t ≀ 6) b. that’s not the case

Sources:
www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-animals-elephants-whales-parrots
www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/10/talking-animals-species-capable-of-speech-mimic-human-voice

6. Reading 2

5 mins.
Students read the sentences and try to remember if they are true or not. Students then read the article again and
confirm. Elicit correct answers, as well as why the false sentences are incorrect.

1. False. The article mentions three more animals that also can.
2. True. For example ‘one, two, three’ and ‘bye bye’
3. True. They imitate older whales.
4. False. Korean
5. True. Its trunk
6. False. They don’t know for sure.
7. False. Only different sounds

7. Grammar

10 mins.
Read the Grammar box with the students or give them time to read it on their own. Then ask them to complete
the sentences using the passive form of the verb in brackets.

1. trained 2. recorded 3. taught 4. proven 5. presented

8. Taboo

10 mins.
Explain how to play the game Taboo: in pairs, Student A chooses one of the eight underlined words and has to
describe it to Student B without saying the word itself or any other in the box. Demonstrate yourself, then tell
students to play the game. Monitor and help when necessary.

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9. Talking point

5 mins.
Students discuss the questions in pairs. Elicit some ideas as a whole class.

10. Extension activity 1

15 mins.
In small groups, students record a video with the information from the news report and the article. Allow them
some time to prepare, but encourage them not to write down everything they’re going to say. Once they’re ready,
they can record themselves. Tell them they can either start again if they’re not happy with the result, or record it
in parts. Once they’re ready, ask them to show their videos to other groups, who should choose the best videos
in the class.

11. Extension activity 2

15 mins.
Ask students to complete the extract with one word from the box in each gap. They can rely on what they
remember from listening, as well as which words fits grammatically. They then listen again and check. After
correcting, you can use the extract to practice shadowing, i.e., play the extract one more time and students read
out along with the speaker (not afterwards).

1. an 2. for 3. up 4. but 5. other

6. with 7. same 8. is 9. be 10. there

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