Zhang Xin: China's real estate mogul

To my dear and highly committed student Gaby M.

Before you watch

Look at the woman in the picture. Do you know who she is? Make assumptions about her age- nationality- job- etc using MIGHT- MUST- CAN’T

  

Before you watch, focus on some language that will appear in the video. It will help you undertand the video better and see the expressions in use!

COLLOCATIONS

ADJECTIVES

1.      Real Estate                              business

2.      Assembly                                line

3.      Sweatshop                              corruption

4.      Uncertain                                billionaire

5.      Thriving                                   people

6.      self-made                                developer/ bubble

7.      cutting edge/ futuristic              future

8.      a one way                                skyscraper

9.      Funny looking                         girl

10.  Widespread                            ticket (to London)

VERBS

1.      Go back                                 duties

2.      Split                                       for democracy/ food/

3.      Earn                                       a scholarship/ a masters in economics

4.      look down                              home

5.      crave                                      on the poor

 

Watch

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/zhang-xin-chinas-real-estate-mogul-11-08-2013/

Watch the introduction.What is said about the woman in the picture above? Check (√)  the statement which are right.

Her name is Zhang Xin           She’s 30 years old        
She’s a real estate developer.                     She’s a communist                   
                  She’s now in Wall Street                               
  She’s a  mogul                        She’s come into a fortune

Watch the rest of the video, pause it every 3 minutes and make connections with the help of the following collage.

Watch the video again and put the following events in order:

·         At age 14 she was forced to slave away on assembly-lines as a sweat shop girl in Hong Kong.

·         She was born during the Cultural Revolution, when Mao Zedong brutally purged all the capitalists and intellectuals ("running dogs.")

·         She came back to China and met Pan Shiyi (her future husband), who worked in real estate

·         She decided to get married in 4 days.

·         She earned a scholarship to the University of Sussex

·         She ended up working at a fish and chips stand

·         She got a masters in economics from Cambridge

·         She got hired by Goldman Sachs and sent to the US  to work in the field of investment banking.(competitive and cutthroat)

·         Her parents were sent to countryside (re-education camp)

·         She quit the job at Goldman Sachs and started working with Pan in RE with no money or backing

·         She bought a one way ticket to London - packed up her bags, and left.

·         She went back to England but changed her mind after a short while.

      ·         She got pregnant with the first of their two sons, while Pan was making a success of       
              the company.  (SOHO China)


REVISITING CONDITIONAL 3

Think of Zhang’s life. What would have happened if…?

1.      She hadn’t worked in a sweatshop?

2.      She hadn’t moved  to London?

3.      She hadn’t learned English?

4.      She hadn’t studied economics?

5.      She hadn’t worked in Goldman Sachs?

6.      She hadn’t met her husband Pan?

7.      She and Pan had had some backing at the outset?

8.      She hadn’t changed her mind about leaving China?

9.      She hadn’t been such a gifted designer?

10.  She hadn’t got pregnant?

  
DISCUSS

·         What strikes you about Zhang Xin’s life and career? Do you think she might be a source of inspiration for women in China? Why? Why not?

Transcript

Key to exercises  


FOLLOW UP

 ·         The following are some terms/ names the video makes reference to. How much do you know about them? Pick one or two, do research and be ready to present it/them.

COMMUNIST SOCIALIST CHINA                THE AMERICAN DREAM 

                              THE GREAT WALL                    THE CITY OF BEIJING
                

                        WALL STREET

SELF-MADE BILLIONAIRE WOMEN IN THE WORLD                 

SWEATSHOPS IN CHINA                     FISH & CHIPS STANDS

Dickensian

Piano Man

The following video session is dedicated to Freddy Castro, who brought love and happiness to my life. He was a friend, a father and someone I will never forget.

Before you watch

• The song you’re about to listen to really inspires me in a way that not many songs do. It  makes me feel really emotional. Is there any song that makes you feel this way? Which one? Who is the song by? What is it about? Why do you find it so inspirational/ moving?

Watch the video and listen to the song.

1. Identify

-          Time and place

-          Main characters

-          Reason why they have gathered

-          Kind of atmosphere

2. Listen again and join with arrows

1. The old man                  a. think the piano man is very good and tip him.
2. John                              b. is in the Navy.
3. Paul                               c. practices politics.
4. Davy                             d. sounds like a carnival and brings comfort to the people at the bar.
5. The waitress                  e. is a single real estate novelist.
6. The businessmen            f. wants the pianist to play a song he used to know by heart.
7. The piano man               g. is a bartender who wishes he were a movie star.
8. The manager                  h. get drunk.
9. The people                     i. makes the people at the bar forget their troubles..
10. The piano                       j. is happy about the big crowd that has gathered to see the piano man.

3. Spot words in the word cloud which may help describe the atmosphere at the bar or the feelings the different characters may be experiencing. Explain how the different words may relate to the story.

Word cloud made with WordItOut



  4. Do you know the expressions in the box? Listen to the song again and fill in the blanks with them.

get stoned                    for free                    for a while                 for life                     in the mood (x3)

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes."

La la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all ________________for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks _________________
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
As the smile ran away from his face
"Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place"

Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be _______________

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly ________________
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinkin' alone

Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all _________________for a melody
And you got us feeling alright

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see
To forget about life _____________________
And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"

Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all ________________for a melody
And you got us feeling alright

After you watch

1. The people in the song have come to the bar to listen to the piano man and forget about life for a while. What do you do when you want to forget about life for a while?
2. John works as a bartender but there’s some place that he’d rather be. Is there anything in your life you’re not so happy about or something else you'd rather do? What?
3. Have you ever felt lonely? When? What do you do when you feel this way?
4. At the end of the song the piano sounds like a carnival and seems to bring some comfort to the crowd that has gathered in the bar. What/ who brings comfort to you when you feel (a bit) down?