Interviews

Intermediate

What were (are) your favorite classes in high school or in college? Explain the qualities of a great class.

1. Everyone has one class they enjoy more than all the others.
2. A good teacher can make any class your favorite.
3. Favorite classes are usually the easiest ones.
4. Students do better in classes they enjoy.
5. Your favorite class can change from semester to semester.
6. Most students prefer hands-on classes to lecture-based ones.
7. Elective classes are often more fun than required ones.
8. Favorite classes usually have less homework.
9. People remember their favorite classes for many years.
10. You can enjoy a class even if you aren’t good at it.

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the video:

footnotes (noun): a note placed at the bottom of a page in an essay
– I have to add several footnotes to my essay to provide additional context to the topic

entertaining (adjective): enjoyable, amusing
– The play was very entertaining, and I couldn’t stop laughing.

fascinating (adjective): extremely interesting
– The teacher gives fascinating lectures, and I never fall asleep in her class.

heavy-duty (adjective): strong, not easily damaged, serious
– You might need a heavy-duty backpack to carry around your books and computer on campus.

– He is a real heavy-duty thinker, and we always get into deep conversations.

Now, watch the interview and answer the comprehension questions. You can also turn on the automatically-generated captions for the video once you start it.

Randall: In this video, let’s talk about your favorite and least favorite classes that you had, whether they were in high school or in college. What were they?

Aubrey: Yeah, I think that’s an interesting question because I think in college, my favorite and least favorite classes were both English classes.

Randall: So what was it?

Aubrey: So I took several literature classes from this one professor, and it was great fun. And the key point is he didn’t make us write very many papers, okay, Because I hate writing papers and that’s why English classes are my least favorite, ’cause you have to write papers.

Randall: Often You do? That’s correct.

Aubrey: I hate it. I think I have gotten some pretty good grades on papers, though, because when I really stopped caring about the paper, and I just sit down and write it, I write papers that are different than a lot of people. Like I wrote a paper for my philosophy class that had a bunch of jokes in the footnotes. And that . . .  That was my paper, and I got a B on it. It was a terrible paper, but I think it was just entertaining enough that I got a B on it.

Randall: And so how were some of those classes your favorites as well?

Aubrey: Yeah. So like in the literature classes like I took, um, this professor teaches a class on J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote Lord of the Rings. That’s fascinating, so, you know, we would read all of Lord of the Rings. Obviously, we would read The Silmarillion. Um, we would write a couple of papers on it, but not very many. And you know, it’s just fun. He taught a class on Stephen King one year, and that was great. You know, just some of these like fun literature classes versus like heavy duty writing classes, which are awful.

Randall: All right. Well, thank you very much for sharing those thoughts on your favorite and least favorite class.

Imagine that you have the choice of taking three elective classes at college. Which would you choose from this list and why?

• Introduction to World Foods
• Photography
• Ballroom Dancing
• Horseback Riding
• History of Rock and Roll