An EFL lesson for middle-level students

Mar 2024. eflsuccess.com ⇔

Warm up: When you hear the term “beautiful place,” what do you think of? (please keep your answer short!)

Vocabulary:

(*key terms) [click here for common English abbreviations]

• *blockbuster: a book or film that enjoys enormous success
• *decade=ten years
• dragon: a large, imaginary lizard-like animal with a long tail, that can fly and can often breathe out fire
• *duplicate: an exact copy
• dwarf/dwarves: (in legends and fairy tales) a person who looks like a small man (in many stories, these people work underground, as miners)
• *facade: the front of a building. “That old church has a beautiful facade.” “In this part of the city, you can’t change the historic facade, though some builders hide modern buildings behind the facade.”
• *furnished: with furniture, and sometimes artwork, washer/dryer, and other things. “Do you live in a furnished apartment, or do you own that bed and desk?” 
• goblin: (in legends and fairy tales) a small ugly creature that likes to trick people
• *interior: the inside (of a building, car, etc). “The interior shots included Bilbo’s kitchen and dining room.”
• landowner = landlord; one who owns land
• movie set: the place where you shoot a film scene, including all the items (props, lights, mics…) needed, and all of the people involved 
• *scout: one who is sent ahead to look for something needed/valuable (e.g., a suitable location, a talented athlete, a path for the army)
• *a shot/to shoot: a picture or part of a movie, or the action of making that picture. “That photo is a nice shot of your friend.” “They shot this film in New Zealand.”
• *tourism: the business of providing things for people on vacation (places to see, hotels, food, interesting activities, etc.)
• trilogy/trilogies: a series of three books/movies/etc about the same place or people
• wizard: (in legends and fairy tales) someone who was very old and wise, and had magical powers

Hobbiton

Underlined vocabulary terms are defined above, followed by discussion questions.

Two blockbuster movie trilogies—The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings—were largely filmed in New Zealand, introducing fans to the country’s vast, beautiful spaces. A New Zealand tourism website says that one-fifth of the country’s visitors discovered NZ through these films, and a third of all tourists go to see a film location during their stay. One of those locations is Hobbiton^TM, near Matamata, New Zealand.

In 1998, Director Peter Jackson’s team of location scouts were looking for the hills and pastures where Hobbits might live. They called the place they found Hobbiton.  The Hobbit was a book, published in 1937 by J.R.R. Tolkien, a professor at Oxford University. Hobbits, according to this children’s book, don’t grow very tall and like simple things like gardening, eating, and being friendly. Bilbo Baggins is the center of the story. Here’s a short summary:

Hobbiton features rolling hills, leading down to a magnificent pine tree, towering over a lake. Bilbo’s home now sits atop the big hill, with other “Hobbit holes” along paths down to the lake and the Green Dragon Inn. You can see all of these in the movies.

It took nine months to create Hobbiton for The Lord of the Rings, plus about three months to film the needed shots. The movie set included 39 Hobbit Holes (though all they really built was the doors; the interior shots were filmed in a studio elsewhere). The area reverted to a sheep/cattle farm in 2000, leaving behind 17 wooden facades. But soon after the movie was released, fans started to visit the farm, and the owner started to give simple tours.

In 2009, Jackson returned to film The Hobbit trilogy. This time, he and the landowner decided to create a beautiful movie set that could be enjoyed by visitors for years to come. Hobbiton features 44 facades of Hobbit Holes (not deep, but you can open the doors and see inside). In 2023, they added a furnished interior for guests to walk through. 

The stories feature people of normal size, tall Elves, taller Wizards, and short Hobbits and Dwarves. Because the films’ actors were not “short people”, some duplicate doorways and interior sets were created in two sizes: one is Hobbit-size, and the bigger set makes people “look like Hobbits.” 

We hope you will enjoy looking at the photos below from our 2024 visit. And if you are ever in New Zealand, buy your tickets online in advance, and go enjoy this taste of movie magic.

Hobbiton photos

Discussion:

Are there any terms you want to ask your teacher about? (As always, please do not answer any question that makes you uncomfortable.)

1. Tell us (briefly) about one of the stories you liked best when you were a child.
2. Do you wish things like dragons and wizards were real? Why or why not?
3. If you have seen the movies mentioned here, or read the books, how would you describe a Hobbit? (or what did you learn about Hobbits in the text above?)
4. After looking at the photos from Hobbiton, do you think you would like to live in a simple place like that? Explain.
5. A good book includes situations we all deal with. Choose one of these themes from The Hobbit, and relate it to your own life.
   • a. Not wanting to go away from the comforts of home
   • b. Finding something of great value
   • c. The problems caused by a deep love of gold/money
   • d. The effects of a war
   • e. Trying to “fit in” with a group of unfamiliar people, who are not like you
   • f. Becoming close friends with someone you didn’t like at first
   • g. The reward for hard work, and/or getting through difficult situations
6. Almost every day, hundreds of people tour Hobbiton (it is almost always “sold out” for the current day). Why do so many people go there?
7. Ask the class/teacher a question about the movie-making process. See if anyone has an answer! 
8. What do you think a “location scout” does? Would you like to be a location scout? Why or why not?

If you have extra time:

The blog “tea with Tolkien” says that the heart of “being a Hobbit” is to “Do something inconvenient for the sake of another.” Tell us about something you have done (or could do) to “live like a Hobbit,” going out of your way to support and care for another person.

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Francis Chan

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Sources include:

https://www.hobbitontours.com/our-story/
https://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/sir-peter-jackson/ (a promotional website for New Zealand)
https://www.cosmoschaise.co.uk/hobbit/lesson1.php (This website, Hogwarts Online, has five informative lessons on the Hobbit, which also tell the difference between the book and the films.)
https://www.criticfilm.com/peter-jacksons-filmmaking-style/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001392/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson
https://nationalgrographic.co.uk/travel/2022/10/how-to-explore-lord-of-the-rings-filming-locations-in-new-zealand
https://www.teawithtolkien.com/blog/category/Living+Like+a+Hobbit

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