Hibiscus Teach · Movies
Back to the Future
Show Me How You Know
Introduce a demonstration, ask what to observe and support an unusual claim with checkable evidence.
Individual audience review; strong language and fictional time travel. No dangerous experiments, driving instructions or real-world scientific claims.
Created by Denis M., British English teacher.
The DeLorean
Doc shows Marty an unusual car and introduces his experiment.
Watch for: What makes this more than a demonstration of a car?
Clip A quiz: 6 questions
Answer about this clip. Replay when you need to. Choose one answer for each question.
1–2 minGrammar in a minuteB2 · Duration foregrounded without completed waiting being asserted
“the one I've been waiting for all my life”
Clip 1, quotation excerpt
Have been waiting foregrounds the duration leading up to the present experiment. It does not mean the experiment has been repeatedly completed throughout that time.
Useful English
Let me show you before I explain the details.
You say: Introduce a new harmless app feature.
One possible response
Let me show you the feature before I explain the details.
What should I be looking for?
You say: Ask what matters in a demonstration.
One possible response
What should I be looking for in the result?
Keep talking: 3 questions
Speak before opening the help or example. With a partner, ask a follow-up. On your own, say your answer aloud.
What makes a demonstration easy to follow?
Help me start
A clear aim and…
Show an example
A clear aim and one thing to watch for make it easier to understand.
What would you ask before testing an unfamiliar app?
Help me start
What does…?
Show an example
What does the button change, and can I undo it?
Introduce a harmless feature and give the listener one thing to observe.
Help me start
Watch what happens when…
Show an example
Watch what happens to the text when I change the font size.
I'm From the Future
Marty tries to convince a younger Doc that he has travelled from the future.
Watch for: Which evidence does Doc find unconvincing, and what changes the discussion?
Clip B quiz: 6 questions
Answer about this clip. Replay when you need to. Choose one answer for each question.
1–2 minGrammar in a minuteB2 · A perfect passive with a time-traveller’s reference point
“I haven't even been born yet.”
Clip 2, quotation excerpt
Have been born is perfect passive. Yet gives the endpoint as the speaker’s current setting, which is earlier than his birth. The oddity comes from the story’s timeline, rather than from the passive being future tense.
Useful English
What evidence would help you check my claim?
You say: Ask what would help verify a booking.
One possible response
What evidence would help you check the booking?
I understand why that sounds unlikely.
You say: Acknowledge that a surprising result needs checking.
One possible response
I understand why that sounds unlikely; let us check the original record.
Keep talking: 3 questions
Speak before opening the help or example. With a partner, ask a follow-up. On your own, say your answer aloud.
Which is more convincing: confidence or a checkable detail?
Help me start
A checkable detail…
Show an example
A checkable detail allows the listener to test the claim.
How can you acknowledge doubt without withdrawing a true statement?
Help me start
I understand…; here is…
Show an example
I understand why you doubt it. Here is the original confirmation.
A reservation is missing from a list. Explain your claim and offer evidence.
Help me start
I booked…; I can show…
Show an example
I booked on Monday, and I can show the confirmation number.
Mastery: use your English
Apply language and ideas from both clips in new situations.
Mastery: 6 questions
Use the English in a new situation. Choose one answer for each question.
Put it all together: speaking
Use English from both clips. Start with the two short questions, then take a private role each. On your own, practise both roles.
How do showing a result and describing evidence differ?
Help me start
A demonstration…
Show an example
A demonstration lets the listener observe a result, while a record may help verify a past event.
What should happen when a convincing explanation and the record disagree?
Help me start
Check…
Show an example
Check the exact record and conditions rather than choosing the more confident speaker.
Can you reach a workable outcome together using the two private role cards?
Private Role A
You booked a study room for three o’clock. Your email confirms room B, but the desk list shows room A. You want a usable room, not an argument.
Private Role B
You manage the room list. Room B is unavailable because of repairs, but room C is free. Ask to see the confirmation and explain the discrepancy.
Open only your own role card. Share its information by speaking, without showing the card.
Help me start
Discover the missing information; explain your constraint; respond to your partner; agree on a practical next step. Use language from both clips.
Check your conversation
- Complete the practical goal on both role cards.
- Use at least three target items naturally, including language from each clip.
- Ask a relevant follow-up and respond to information you did not know.
- End with a clear agreement, next step or summary.
Show an example
A: I understand the list is different, but I have a confirmation. B: Could I see the room and time? A: Here they are. B: Room B is under repair. I can offer C instead. A: That works; could you confirm the change in writing?
Try again: The confirmation shows four o’clock, not three. Correct the claim and negotiate a solution without denying the evidence.
1–2 minGrammar masteryB2 · Reducing a passive relative clause
“I came here in a time machine that you invented.”
Clip 2, quotation excerpt
That you invented makes you the inventor and the machine the object. A reduced passive relative uses invented by you to preserve those roles.