The empty seat

A big final, a very expensive ticket... and an empty seat. Why didn't anybody come? Listen to the joke told in three different ways, work on could have / should have, then tell the joke yourself!

Final task: you will have to film yourself telling the joke in one shot, without reading any notes. Don't learn it by heart: tell it in your own words, play the two characters, and keep the punchline for the very end! You can choose your own setting: a football final, a big concert... Check the assessment grid (Step 4) to see how you will be marked.

These activities are designed to support teachers, who can include them in their own lesson sequences.

Step 1: discover the joke (B1/B2)

A cricket final in London, an expensive ticket, and an empty seat.

• General comprehension Listen to Richard telling the joke. Why is the seat empty?
• Detailed comprehension Listen again and catch the exact words: in advance, turned up, funeral…
• The vocabulary list A final, a ticket, a seat, a funeral… all the words of the joke, with ▶ to listen.
• Listen and match Listen to the words and find their translation: can you remember them all?
• Richard's version: drag the words Listen to Richard and put the missing words back in the story.

Step 2: listen again and think (B1/B2)

The same joke, told in three different ways.

• The Stanley Cup: drag the words Same joke, new setting: the ice hockey final. Put the missing words back.
• The American version A longer version with an American accent: what new details can you hear?
• Three versions, one joke Cricket or ice hockey, short or long… what never changes in a good joke?

Step 3: grammar in context (B1/B2)

“Couldn't you have given the ticket to a friend?” — the past that didn't happen.

• The lesson Should have, could have, would have: three ways to talk about the past that didn't happen.
• Choose the right form Given or gave? Should or could? Choose the right form and read why.
• What should have happened? Match each situation of the joke with the right comment.
• Say it in English! Ten French sentences: say them in English with should, could or would have, then click to check.

Step 4: tell the joke yourself (B1/B2)

Now it's your turn to make your classmates laugh!

• Listen and repeat Richard's version, sentence by sentence: listen, repeat and imitate his voice!
• Tell the whole joke Six steps and a few key words: now tell the joke your way.
• Assessment grid How will your joke be marked? Read the grid before you film yourself.