Uploaded April 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
“There was a chap who was a passenger on a flight to New York, and when they started the film, he had seen it before on the telly, and he was so disgusted he got up and walked out…” It is at this point that things start getting really interesting… :-)
Jokes are excellent language practice material: they are short, they are fun and they can help students improve their fluency and (crucially) their prosodic features as well; you cannot tell a joke well unless you play with stress, pitch, intonation and pausing. But students still need a good model. Here is the great Ronnie Corbett in one of his inimitable monologues. Enjoy!
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this audio clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
“There was a chap who was a passenger on a flight to New York, and when they started the film, he had seen it before on the telly, and he was so disgusted he got up and walked out…” It is at this point that things start getting really interesting… :-)
Jokes are excellent language practice material: they are short, they are fun and they can help students improve their fluency and (crucially) their prosodic features as well; you cannot tell a joke well unless you play with stress, pitch, intonation and pausing. But students still need a good model. Here is the great Ronnie Corbett in one of his inimitable monologues. Enjoy!
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this audio clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
![Ads for ELT - Hands Only CPR 1 [Vinnie]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/imcFo7bxSU0/mqdefault.jpg "Ads for ELT - Hands Only CPR 1 [Vinnie]
[To get a free worksheet (+KEY, +Script) just click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByC3QwWZuGXdY2pkQzNCaWQtazQ/view?usp=sharing ]
Tough guy Vinnie shows that there are times in life when it pays to be tough. Like when someone is having a cardiac arrest for instance. A fantastic concept – the incongruity of having someone who looks like a psychopathic thug delivering a pro-social message makes it extremely memorable. Entertaining, excellent listening practice, PLUS students get to learn something which might prove to be a life-saving skill for real life. What more could one ask for?
Level: C1 – C2. Topic: Health / First Aid / Emergencies
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
SCRIPT
My name is Vinnie Jones and I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget. There are times in life when being tough comes in handy. Say some geezer collapses in front of you. What do you do? We need a volunteer that ain’t breathing.
Here’s one I made earlier. First thing you do is you check him over. If he ain’t responsive or he ain’t breathing or he’s making noises like this. (SOUND: serious weezing) then his heart has stopped working and he’s having a cardiac arrest. Look lively. First, call 999. Then you do Hands-only CPR. And no kissing. You only kiss your missus on the lips. Watch. Lock your fingers together, knuckles up. Then push down. Right on the sovereign.
Push down five or six centimetres. That’s about two inches in old money.
Push hard and fast about two times a second, like to the beat of ‘Stayin’ Alive’. Worried you’ll hurt him? Better a cracked rib than him kicking the bucket. Keep this up until the ambulance arrives.
So, don’t forget. Check him over. Call 999. Push hard and fast to ‘Stayin’ Alive. It work’s. Hands-only CPR. It ain’t as hard as it looks.
If you want to come in handy in an emergency, why not sign up for one of our HeartStart courses.")
