The Tonight show — best videos for your classes

One of the key ingredients of teaching a foreign language is keeping it up-to-date and always showing how this or that aspect of the language can be used in real-life situations. In this respect, talk shows may be of great use, as they cover various contemporary topics, students learn new vocabulary, get used to native speakers’ speech and hold discussions using English in a fun and engaging way. Previously, we have presented a list of the best videos of the Ellen show that can be used in the ESL classroom with Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate learners. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is another popular show that has been on TV since 2014. It opens with Fallon’s topical monologue, then transitions into comedic games, concluding with guest interviews and musical performance. Here are the most fascinating videos from the show that can be used in your classes with Intermediate learners.

Emma Watson Once Mistook Jimmy Fallon for Jimmy Kimmel

Emma Watson and Jimmy chat about the time she mistook him for Jimmy Kimmel and attending princess camp for “Beauty and the Beast”. They also talk about Emma’s new film “Circle” with Tom Hanks based on Dave Egger’s book. The interview will be admired by Emma Watson’s fans and people who are curious about celebrities and their lifestyle. It will also help students to feel the difference between American and British accents.

Questions&Answers for discussion

1. What is Emma Watson famous for? Where is she from? — Emma Watson is famous for the Harry Potter films and He for She campaign. She is from the UK.
2. How did Jimmy Fallon understand that Emma Watson mistook him? — Emma says she loves that Halloween candy thing that he does. But it was about Jimmy Kimmel.
3. Does the host like her role in “Beauty and the Beast”? — Yes, he does. He says that Emma was perfect and fantastic in it and she sang great. The film was shot beautifully.
4. How long did Emma do princess boot camp? — For three months.
5. What did she do there? — She got to ride a horse, to learn to waltz and had singing lessons.
6. What is her new film called and with whom is she starring? —  The film is called “Circle” starring Tom Hanks based on Dave Egger’s book.
7. What is the film about? — The film is about a young woman who joins a big tech company. It is a kind of her journey wrestling with how incredibly powerful this company is. She decides to wear a camera all the time with no privacy.
8. What differences between American and British accents in the show did you notice?

 After watching discussion questions

1. What are the main difficulties actors usually face while filming in a fantasy movie?
2. How important are boot camps for the cast?
3. Have you ever mistaken a celebrity for somebody else? If so, how did it happen?
4. If you were an actor, what genre of movies would you like to film in? Why?

Tonight Showbotics: Jimmy Meets Sophia the Human-Like Robot

If your students are keen on Artificial Intelligence, this video will be quite useful for them. Here Jimmy hosts an incredible human robot that plays rock-paper-scissors and holds an interesting conversation with him.

Questions&Answers for discussion

1. What is Sophia? Where did she come from? — She is a social robot and she came from Hong Kong.
2. What features does Sophia have? — She has artificial intelligence software, which can process visual data. Sophia can see people’s faces process conversational and emotional data.
3. Does Sophia know where she is? — Yes, she does. She says she is in New York City at the Tonight show.
4. What game do they play? Who wins? — They play rock-paper-scissors and Sophia wins. 
5. What do you think of Sophia? Can it be a threat to human beings? Why?
6. Think of possible harmful things robots may bring to our life.

Donald Trump about Muslims, President Obama and Hillary Clinton

President Donald Trump talks to Jimmy about how his controversial remarks have helped his campaign, why he defended President Obama’s tears over gun control and sets the record straight about those secret-Democrat conspiracy theories. The video was filmed in 2016.

Questions&Answers for discussion

1. What is the secret for being number one in the presidential campaign? — He says that their campaign is really good and they travel, they work hard. It is about making their country great again.
2. Why did Donald Trump temporarily ban the entrance of Muslims into the USA? — He wants to figure out what is going on and why there is so much hatred.
3. When President Obama cried, a lot of people said that was a theatre. What’s Trump’s opinion on it? — Though Trump disagrees with many things Obama has done, he said that his tears were real.
4. What does Trump think of Hillary Clinton? — He thinks she is having a tough time. And she has a big problem with emails.

After watching discussion questions

1. What questions would you ask Mr President if you hosted him?
2. Do you think it is a good idea to ban the entrance of some nationalities/religions into the USA or other countries? Why yes/no?
3. What measures can countries take to prevent terrorist attacks?
4. Who was your favourite candidate in the US election 2020?
5. What do you think of the US Election results? Will Joe Biden meet US citizens’ expectations?

Lily James Responds to Mamma Mia! 3 Rumours

Because of the pandemic, The Tonight show now is streamed online and Jimmy hosts his guest only virtually. Here is one of these episodes where he has a video call with Lily James. She shares how she lost her voice before finding out she scored her role in Mamma Mia! She addresses rumours about a third Mamma Mia! film and sets up what her film Rebecca is about.

Questions&Answers for discussion

1. What did the actress do during the quarantine? — She taught a Broadway zoom class.
2. What was that like? How did she get involved in it? — She had never taught a class before and she was a bit nervous and terrified. Her friend made this platform where Broadway professionals teach theatre classes.
3. Once she did it, did she feel better at it? — She was teaching audition technique, which is completely insane because she is terrible at auditions.
4. Would Lily be interested if there was Mama Mia 3? —  Yes, she would love to.
5. What kind of film is “Rebecca”? — It is a part love story, part thriller, part mystery. The film is based on a famous book by Daphne du Maurier.
6. What is the film about? — The film is about a newlywed, who Lily plays. She follows her husband to England to the beautiful estate Manderley. Then the story flip reverses into a gothic horror ghost story. And in fact, it is a psychological thriller.
7. Does the actress have any experience with ghosts?  — She used to have nightmares where a dark figure walked toward her and she woke up screaming.

After watching discussion questions

1. Did you participate in any online classes during the quarantine? If so, what classes? How useful were they?
2. Have you watched Mama Mia? Do you think there will be Mama Mia 3?
3. Do you believe in ghosts? Have you or your friends ever witnessed a ghost?
4. What are the main obstacles for actors that can be faced in filming movies about ghosts?

To sum up, we can certainly claim that talk shows do play a significant role in language learning if used properly. While choosing a video for your classes, mind your students’ interests and age, and they will enjoy it greatly. There are numerous other interesting videos from The Tonight show that can be adapted to your classroom.