Some students followed my advice and watched movies for English practice. Each student brought me one or two sentences from a different movie. I was very interested to see what caught their eye!
Now look, you two are the best I’ve got. Put aside your differences and stop this madman… whoever he is. - Wild Wild West
They’re frat boys with trigger fingers. - The A-Team
I’ve moved on. -The Italian Job
To be honest I was a little surprised that they couldn’t understand these sentences. I shouldn’t be surprised though! The trouble is in the idioms. “Moved on” isn’t easy to find in a dictionary, nor are “trigger fingers,” “frat boys,” or “put aside your differences.” “The best I’ve got” didn’t make any sense until I explained that it means, “Of all the employees I have in this company, you are the best employees which I have.”
It’s hard for me to guess what my students do or don’t know sometimes. I hope they’re getting something out of this, and they’ll continue to approach me with these questions.