Fonejacker is a British comedy programme broadcast on Chanel 4 in which actor Kayvan Novak makes a series of prank telephone calls to members of the British public.
In the following clip, a regularly-featured character called Brian Bedonde phones a gallery with a query regarding a piece of art that he has bought:
Having your name misspelled is a fundamental part of learning a foreign language while living in a new country, especially when dealing with giving personal details over the phone. No matter how clearly I try to pronounce the letters in Spanish, people invariably think that I am el Señor Kettye, Kidd-eye or even Kettle. Students that are learning English might have similar experiences.
In the following activity, students role play the telephone conversation before seeing the YouTube clip in full. They are then given an opportunity to practise spelling their own names using the NATO alphabet (included because I have found it useful to refer to a similar system when spelling my name on the telephone in Spain).
Thanks for this - used it with new elementary-ish Myanmar students today: they thought it hilarious and it was a great start to a PSI session - chezu ba!
Left by Jane V on September 25th, 2009