Favorite Movies as ESL Conversation Topics

One of the easy conversation topics I use during my private ESL lessons with adults is my student's favorite movie or TV program. One student recently described her favorite movie to me. It was "The Shawshank Redemption." I haven't seen the movie in years, although I remember the setting and the main actors.

I asked my ESL student if she remembered when the movie took place. She thought it was set in the 1940s or 1950s. I told her that it was significant that an African American man and a white guy would become friends at that time. She asked why.

This topic opened the door for a conversation about "race relations" in the U.S. There's always something to talk about during ESL classes!

It was interesting to me that my student was unaware of the history of segregation and legalized discrimination in the U.S.
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