Professional Documents
Culture Documents
thats-embarrassing-british-english-teacher
thats-embarrassing-british-english-teacher
THAT’S
EMBARRASSING!
Expemo code:
1DM3-95DB-5QFC
1 Warm up
Read the following situations and rate them from 1 (least embarrassing) to 10 (most embarrassing).
✷ You walk into a room with people you don’t know and realise that your shoelace is undone.
✷ You’re walking your dog and see someone you think is very attractive. Your dog goes to the
toilet just as they get near to you.
✷ You use a friend’s toilet without realising that it is broken and won’t flush.
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
2 Focus on vocabulary
1. a feeling of being ashamed because you look stupid in front of other people
and have lost respect
2. not being suitable in a particular situation
Part B: Complete the following sentences with the vocabulary from Part A. You may need to change
the form of the word.
1. In retrospect, the decision to run naked into the police station was a pretty one.
2. Any sense of I had was lost when I angrily walked out and hit myself in the face
with the door.
3. When he emerged from the toilet to realise he was still on the video call, his was
complete.
4. After all these years, my brother is still of the time I pulled his swimming trunks
down in front of a group of girls he liked.
5. I thought it was hilarious when my sister farted loudly in church, but I turned around to see my
mother looking very about it.
6. Not realising he’d ripped the back of his trousers was made all the funnier by his .
7. The kids’ laughter over the chair collapsing only served to the teacher’s anger.
8. With him being well over six foot and her being just over four feet tall, they made for a rather
couple.
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
3 Focus on idioms
For each of the following sentences, write the meaning of the words in bold.
1. He was so full of self-importance that people couldn’t resist taking him down a peg or two.
2. I ended up with an egg on my face when it turned out that she’d been right all along.
3. I was sitting there minding my own business when a cow came over to me and started eating my
lunch.
4. When he walked into the room with toilet paper stuck to his shoe, everyone fell about laughing.
5. When everyone turned around to look at me, I wanted to curl up and die.
6. I was trying to enjoy being with my friends, but the situation at work was preying on my mind.
7. I fell over in the middle of the dance floor which everyone saw. I wished the ground would open
up and swallow me.
8. He tried to regain some dignity after he’d squirted ketchup in his face, but there was no coming
back from that one.
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
Listen to the podcast about an embarrassing situation and possible reasons for its humour. Which of
the following idioms were not mentioned by the speakers?
5 Listening comprehension
Listen to the podcast again and choose the best answer a - c for each of the questions 1 - 7.
a. crowded.
b. virtually empty.
c. about half-full.
2. The first man to use the toilet was ... the second man.
b. shouted at by
c. disturbed by
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
4. What does the female host think causes the laughter in that situation?
a. The enjoyment derived from seeing a figure of authority looking foolish in front of other
people.
b. The physical comedy involved in a very public situation that was a complete surprise for
everyone.
c. Its unexpected nature and observers who felt relieved that it was someone else who was
embarrassed.
a. shock.
b. irritation.
c. amusement.
6. How does the female host think that culture plays a part in the episode?
a. There’s a lot of jokes based around going to the toilet which is inherently funny to a lot of
people.
b. There’s a particular love of people being humiliated, no matter who they are.
c. People get a lot of enjoyment from watching people who think they are better than others
look silly.
7. What does the male host think everyone was laughing about?
7. A. off B. out C. away
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
Everyone knows!
Viral embarrassing situations
1
a. One morning, Anne Hughes was waiting to start work at a store in her hometown in Wales
when a life-changing accident happened. When her boss opened up the shop to begin the day, she was leaning
2
against the shutter with her shopping trolley. to her, her coat had got caught on the metal
screen and, as it went up, she was hoisted into the air with it. In a panic, she grabbed her shopping trolley, but to
no avail. The trolley went with her. She shouted to her boss to close the shutter, but she was drowned out by the
3
noise and was hanging several feet above the ground.
b. The entire incident was caught on security CCTV and, as is the way in these modern times, it wasn’t
4
before it found its way onto TikTok bringing Mrs Hughes’ awkward encounter to the attention of
an international audience. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt, just shaken. Her boss quickly realised what was happening
and came out to save her from the ordeal. Anne was able to see the funny side of the situation. She joked that
5
she would now have to always have her on, thanks to her newfound fame. ‘I’ll never hear the
end of it,’ she said. ‘My boss has said he’s never liked his staff hanging around.’ Shortly afterwards, a local graffiti
6
artist was paid to depict ‘shop shutter gran’ in a mural at the place where it happened. Mrs
Hughes says she’s very proud of it.
c. In terms of embarrassment, this situation undoubtedly pales in comparison to another viral episode in 2017. Liam
7
Smith went with a woman he’d met on Tinder for a second date, enjoying dinner along with
a few beers. They had a good evening and decided to return to his flat to end the evening. After they got in,
8
the woman, who was not for reasons which will become clear, asked to use the toilet. What
happened next is perhaps one of the worst possible scenarios on an early date.
9
d. Having used the toilet, she tried to flush it, but the poo she had just done refused to . In a
panic, she scooped it out of the toilet in a plastic bag and attempted to throw it out of the window into the garden.
Unfortunately, it became wedged between two non-opening windows instead. In an attempt to save the rapidly
deteriorating situation, she climbed up and tried to retrieve the unpleasant package, but got stuck herself. She
10
finally had to Liam to the situation and, as he was unable to pull her out, he was forced to call
the fire brigade. They had to carefully break the window to get the hapless woman out, but only once they had
finished giggling.
sources: bbc.com
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
7 Reading comprehension
Part A: Decide if the following sentences are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).
6. The viral incident was the first time Liam Smith had met the woman.
7. The fire fighters were amused by the situation when they arrived.
2. What did Anne Hughes mean when she said I’ll never hear the end of it in paragraph B?
8 Talking point
1. What is the most embarrassing situation that you have ever been in?
2. What is the most embarrassing situation that you have seen someone else in?
3. What situations generally have the potential to embarrass you?
4. Is there anything you avoid doing because you’re worried about embarrassment?
5. What do you think is the best way to react to an embarrassing situation? Why?
6. What would you have done in any of the situations described in the reading article or the podcast?
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
Transcripts
Jamie: ... Talking of embarrassment, I’ve got a perfect example for you. So you know the fairly
modern trains in the UK where the toilet is close to the door and it’s operated by buttons?
Inside there’s a button that opens and closes the door and another that locks it? They’re
quite large and wheelchair accessible?
Dakota : Oh yeah, with the thing above the sink that gives you water, and soap and dries your hands?
Jamie: Yes. So I was on one of those recently and it was quite busy, so a lot of people were standing
up because they couldn’t get a seat. So this guy comes through and goes into the toilet.
Everyone was just looking at their phones and minding their own business. He disappears
into the toilet and the door shuts. So far, so good. No problem.
Dakota: Oh no. I’m feeling embarrassed already and I don’t know what happens.
Jamie: About a minute after he’d gone in, another guy comes around the corner and goes to use
the toilet too. He pushes the button and it slowly opens to reveal the first guy, sitting on
the toilet, trousers around his ankles. He’d forgotten to lock the door. He looks up to see
about fifteen strangers looking at him. He can’t do anything about it because he’s too far
away from the door. The second guy apologises and hits the button again and the door -
very slowly - closes again.
Dakota: (laughs) Oh my word! I’d want to curl up and die! What happened?
Jamie: Fifteen strangers fell about laughing is what happened. It was kind of beautiful as everyone
bonded over this poor guy’s humiliation. Of course, he then had to come out of the toilet
in front of everyone when he’d finished. When he came out, he said something like ‘Ha ha,
very funny,’ but very quickly got out of there, unsurprisingly.
Dakota: It’s interesting, isn’t it? Because I think anyone listening to that story would find it funny
and it’s because there’s a couple of things going on. Firstly, there’s the incongruous element
of seeing someone in such a personal situation in a public setting. Then there’s the relief
that you’re not the one that it’s happening to.
Jamie: That’s right. And later I wondered if he ever saw the funny side. He seemed quite resentful
when he came out, and you can understand why. No one wants to be laughed at by people,
but in a lot of ways he exacerbated the situation by being so po-faced about it. Some
people started laughing even more when he reacted against the situation which made him
look even more foolish.
Dakota: Well, yes. There’s quite a tradition in our culture of laughing at self-importance too. We
love to take people down a peg or two. So, by trying to regain some dignity, he made
everyone want to laugh at him more. Everyone’s just seen you on the toilet. I mean, there’s
just no coming back from that one, is there?
FOOOOTERAPPENDIXRIGHT
Learn without forgetting! i
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Oluwatobi Eniola's lessons.
HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
Jamie: Yes, and the thing is, people don’t remember details in situations like that. I’m sure it preyed
on his mind for days afterwards. But I’d be willing to bet that if the people there saw him
half an hour later, they wouldn’t have recognised him. The humour came from the situation,
there was nothing personal about it. You could have swapped him for absolutely anyone
else and it would still have been funny.
FOOOOTERAPPENDIXLEFT
Learn without forgetting! ii
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Oluwatobi Eniola's lessons.
HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
Key
1. Warm up
5 mins.
This task is a light-hearted introduction to the subject of embarrassment. People are embarrassed by different
things, so it will be interesting to note how students react to the different situations. Note that there will be
the chance to discuss more personal examples of embarrassment at the end, so try to keep this focused on
hypothetical situations.
2. Focus on vocabulary
10 mins.
Part A
Students match the vocabulary items to their correct definitions.
1. foolish 2. dignity
3. humiliation 4. resentful
5. po-faced 6. self-importance
7. exacerbate 8. incongruous
3. Focus on idioms
5 mins.
Students write the meaning of the words in bold. Monitor the task.
Note that fall about laughing (laugh without being able to stop) is a phrasal verb.
1. make someone realise that they are not as important or as good as they believe themselves to be
2. made to look stupid
3. not being nosy or showing interest in anyone else’s affairs (note: not to be confused with ‘mind your own
business’ which is telling someone not to interfere or be nosy)
4. laughed a great deal
5. feel a great deal of embarrassment
6. constantly worry about something
7. want to find some relief from a very embarrassing situation
8. no ability to recover from a very embarrassing situation
FOOOOTERAPPENDIXRIGHT
Learn without forgetting! iii
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Oluwatobi Eniola's lessons.
HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
5 mins.
Students listen to the podcast and tick all idioms not mentioned in the recording.
3. ✓ egg on your face 8. ✓ wish the ground would open up and swallow me
5. Listening comprehension
10 mins.
Students listen to the podcast again and choose the best answer a - c for each of the questions. Ask students to
answer the questions after the first listening, then listen again to check their answers.
1. a. 2. c. 3. b. 4. c. 5. b. 6. c. 7. a.
10 mins.
Students read an article about viral embarrassing situations and choose the best word A - C to complete the gaps
1 - 10 in the text. You may want to set a strict time limit on this task to encourage students to skim the text.
1. convenience 2. Unbeknown
3. left 4. long
5. make-up 6. very
7. out 8. named
9. disappear 10. alert
Article sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-68480196
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-68582018
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-41167296
7. Reading comprehension
10 mins.
Part A
Students decide if the following sentences are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG). Ask them to underline where
they find the answer. If they are unable to do this, the answer is likely to be not given.
FOOOOTERAPPENDIXLEFT
Learn without forgetting! iv
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Oluwatobi Eniola's lessons.
HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
THAT’S EMBARRASSING!
8. Talking point
10 mins.
Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Circulate and help as needed.
10 mins.
Students complete the crossword using vocabulary from the lesson.
Answers:
Across: 4) shutter, 6) ordeal, 7) scoop
Down: 1) hapless, 2) deteriorate, 3) mural, 4) shaken, 5) hoist
FOOOOTERAPPENDIXRIGHT v
Learn without forgetting!
Scan the QR at the top of Page 1 to review the lesson flashcards with Expemo.
© Linguahouse.com. Photocopiable and licensed for use in Oluwatobi Eniola's lessons.