WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.520 Before Bahambug, before Christmas movies, and 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:06.700 before gift -giving traditions, the holiday looked 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:10.900 completely different. But one short book changed 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:14.400 it all. Welcome back to the Learn English Podcast, 00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:16.920 the podcast teaching English in context so you 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:19.839 can learn naturally. It is almost the end of 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.239 the year, and it is also almost Christmas time. 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:26.120 Christmas is a major holiday here in the United 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:28.940 States. But it hasn't always been like that. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:33.500 Modern day Christmas is relatively new. How we 00:00:33.500 --> 00:00:36.399 celebrate Christmas has only really been occurring 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.280 for a little over 100 years. And prior to that, 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:43.020 Christmas really wasn't such an important holiday. 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:46.640 So on today's episode, I want to discuss why 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:49.439 we celebrate Christmas the way that we do by 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:53.079 focusing on the story that is credited with creating 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:55.840 modern day Christmas. Do you know what story 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.439 I'm talking about? If you don't, don't worry. 00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:01.340 We're going to discuss it today while, of course, 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:03.880 helping you with your listening comprehension 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:06.659 and building your English vocabulary. So if you 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:09.680 want to know more about why we celebrate Christmas 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.359 the way that we do, follow along because we're 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:20.060 about to begin. Before we get started, I want 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:22.219 to remind you to look at the description of this 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:24.780 podcast episode. There you will find the list 00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:27.040 of the words and phrases that I used in the episode 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.760 so you can take them, study them, and build your 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.359 English vocabulary. Now let's talk about this 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:35.140 story. You might have already guessed it, but 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:38.079 the story that I'm talking about is A Christmas 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:40.930 Carol by Charles Dickens. I'm going to start 00:01:40.930 --> 00:01:43.969 with talking a little bit about the history of 00:01:43.969 --> 00:01:47.750 this story and who Charles Dickens was, and then 00:01:47.750 --> 00:01:51.409 its impact on Christmas and the different adaptations 00:01:51.409 --> 00:01:54.989 that you can watch to help you build your English 00:01:54.989 --> 00:01:57.010 vocabulary and practice your listening comprehension. 00:01:57.250 --> 00:02:00.709 A little bit about Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:04.409 was born in 1812 in England, and he was the second 00:02:04.409 --> 00:02:07.170 of eight children. And when he was just 12 years 00:02:07.170 --> 00:02:10.569 old, his father was sent to a debtor's prison. 00:02:10.770 --> 00:02:14.210 Now, these prisons don't exist nowadays. But 00:02:14.210 --> 00:02:16.710 at the time, it was where you were sent if you 00:02:16.710 --> 00:02:19.650 owed money and you could not repay it. Because 00:02:19.650 --> 00:02:22.169 his father was sent to this prison, his father 00:02:22.169 --> 00:02:25.669 was no longer able to work. And Charles Dickens 00:02:25.669 --> 00:02:28.590 actually had to leave school and start working 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:31.479 so he could support his family. At the time, 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.580 there were no child labor laws. That meant that 00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:37.020 he could work even though he was only 12 years 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:40.460 old and he no longer had to go to school. This 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:43.319 experience with child labor and poverty left 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:47.259 a lot of scars and influenced his writing. Charles 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:50.319 Dickens did become a famous writer and he has 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.120 a number of famous works. A lot of them focus 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:56.659 on these themes of poverty and social criticism 00:02:56.659 --> 00:03:00.099 and difficult childhood experiences. You may 00:03:00.099 --> 00:03:03.460 or may not have read his books. Dickens is known 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:05.900 for having a style of writing that can be a little 00:03:05.900 --> 00:03:08.360 bit difficult to read, and a lot of his stories 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:10.939 are very long. But you might be familiar with 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:13.520 the ideas of the stories, or maybe you've seen 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:16.800 some of the adaptations. For example, Bleak House, 00:03:17.180 --> 00:03:20.919 Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations all have 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:24.520 these ideas of social criticism, social class, 00:03:24.580 --> 00:03:28.520 and poverty throughout the stories. By the early 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:31.900 1840s, Dickens had already become a very popular 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:35.500 writer, but his career was on the decline. That 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:38.379 means that he wasn't selling as well as he had 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:41.599 before, his books weren't really doing as well, 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.419 they weren't as well received, and he really 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:47.680 needed to have some really good book come out 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.960 to help boost his career. In October of 1843, 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:54.800 Charles Dickens gave a speech in Manchester. 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:58.020 calling for better conditions for the working 00:03:58.020 --> 00:04:01.840 class and for better education. He had read reports 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.400 of children working in factories and in conditions 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:08.259 that were really horrible. He had had experience 00:04:08.259 --> 00:04:12.520 as a child working in child labor, and he was 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:14.259 really horrified that it was still occurring 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:16.980 in his country, that children were still being 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:19.819 forced into these really bad working conditions. 00:04:20.649 --> 00:04:23.910 He wanted to continue to raise awareness, and 00:04:23.910 --> 00:04:26.790 his first thought was to write a political pamphlet. 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:29.689 But then he decided to instead write a story. 00:04:29.829 --> 00:04:32.449 I don't know about you, but personally, I can 00:04:32.449 --> 00:04:35.029 say I don't think I've ever read a political 00:04:35.029 --> 00:04:38.389 pamphlet. It maybe is something that people would 00:04:38.389 --> 00:04:40.769 read, but it also seems a little bit boring. 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:44.149 If you were given the option to read some political 00:04:44.149 --> 00:04:48.529 writings or to read a story. I would say most 00:04:48.529 --> 00:04:51.290 people would probably go for the story. You're 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:53.990 more likely to pick that option. So Dickens thought 00:04:53.990 --> 00:04:56.209 maybe he could come up with a story that could 00:04:56.209 --> 00:04:58.949 get people's attention and raise awareness on 00:04:58.949 --> 00:05:02.149 the issue, but maybe not sounding so preachy. 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:04.769 To sound preachy means to sound like you're lecturing 00:05:04.769 --> 00:05:08.029 someone, to tell them what to do, how to act 00:05:08.029 --> 00:05:10.939 in a moral way. So he wanted to raise awareness, 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:14.399 but not sound so preachy while he was doing it. 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:17.579 And he also really wanted his story to be a ghost 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:20.699 story, one that had warmth and emotion while 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.560 highlighting the issues of poverty and greed. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:27.600 He started working on A Christmas Carol, and 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.800 he would walk through the streets of London at 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:32.759 night, acting out the scenes with himself. He 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.220 ended up completing the story in just six weeks. 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:38.819 When he took it to his publisher, his publisher 00:05:38.819 --> 00:05:41.360 actually did not think it would sell very well. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.139 Like I said, Dickens was on a decline in his 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:46.860 career. He was not selling as many books as he 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:50.220 had previously, so his publisher did not have 00:05:50.220 --> 00:05:52.519 a lot of confidence that this book would sell 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:56.199 well. Dickens, though, was undeterred. Undeterred 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:58.939 means that nothing was going to stop him. His 00:05:58.939 --> 00:06:01.560 publisher telling him no was not going to stop 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.300 him from publishing. Instead, what he did was 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:07.769 he self - He actually paid for the publishing 00:06:07.769 --> 00:06:11.050 himself. So his publisher didn't have to pay 00:06:11.050 --> 00:06:14.910 it and didn't have to take the risk if the story 00:06:14.910 --> 00:06:18.050 did not sell well. The story was published on 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:23.350 December 19th, 1843. There were 6 ,000 copies 00:06:23.350 --> 00:06:26.029 that were published and all of them were sold 00:06:26.029 --> 00:06:28.410 out by Christmas Eve. You might not know Christmas 00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:32.629 Eve is December 24th, so within five days, all 00:06:32.629 --> 00:06:36.889 6 ,000 copies were sold. And the story sold so 00:06:36.889 --> 00:06:40.889 well because it was so popular. Critics and readers 00:06:40.889 --> 00:06:43.750 fell in love with the story. The story focuses 00:06:43.750 --> 00:06:47.430 on the character Ebenezer Scrooge. He's a businessman. 00:06:47.569 --> 00:06:51.490 He is known for treating his workers with contempt, 00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:54.050 which means he doesn't respect them. He doesn't 00:06:54.050 --> 00:06:56.279 really like them. He doesn't really like anyone. 00:06:56.459 --> 00:07:00.819 He's kind of a mean, grumpy old man. One of his 00:07:00.819 --> 00:07:03.300 employees is the father of a sick child, and 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:06.379 this child needs money to help with his medical 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:10.379 condition. Scrooge really does not help this 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:14.600 employee or anyone really in the story. And that's 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:17.100 really the setup. What ends up happening is that 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:20.879 Scrooge is visited one night by three ghosts. 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:23.560 The ghosts go through different parts of his 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:28.160 life and this experience changes him. It changes 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:32.399 his outlook on life because he sees what his 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.120 life has become and what it will be like in the 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.360 future. Because of the story's emotional impact, 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:41.180 there were reports that readers actually cried 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:43.920 when they were reading the book. There's a story 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.540 that a business owner actually gave his employees 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:50.279 one extra day off as a result of reading A Christmas 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.180 Carol. And that really shows you the emotional 00:07:52.180 --> 00:07:55.519 impact that the story had at the time. In the 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:58.819 mid -1800s, Christmas wasn't actually celebrated 00:07:58.819 --> 00:08:01.759 in the way that it is now. It was considered 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:04.860 more of a religious holiday, and it was maybe 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:08.680 more of a minor holiday. If you don't know, Christmas 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:12.740 was actually banned during the 1600s in England. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:15.660 Oliver Cromwell was in charge during this time, 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.980 and the Parliament was really dominated by Puritans. 00:08:19.310 --> 00:08:21.009 I've done an episode where I've talked about 00:08:21.009 --> 00:08:24.230 Puritans. They have a very big impact in the 00:08:24.230 --> 00:08:27.310 history of the United States. And I mentioned 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:30.329 them when I talked about the Salem Witch Trials. 00:08:30.410 --> 00:08:33.690 The Puritans were very religiously conservative. 00:08:33.929 --> 00:08:37.909 They thought that Christmas was ungodly and too 00:08:37.909 --> 00:08:41.190 tied to the Catholic faith. So they actually 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:43.909 banned the celebration of Christmas for a number 00:08:43.909 --> 00:08:47.279 of years. The ban didn't last very long, but 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.419 this idea that Christmas should be a very strict 00:08:50.419 --> 00:08:53.759 religious holiday still stuck around. People 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:57.679 really thought of Christmas as a religious observance, 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:01.440 but A Christmas Carol changed that. The story 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.049 really focused on celebrating family. being generous 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:07.149 with your neighbors and helping those who are 00:09:07.149 --> 00:09:09.929 in need. Really having this whole idea of the 00:09:09.929 --> 00:09:12.769 spirit of giving, something that we talk about 00:09:12.769 --> 00:09:15.009 now when we talk about the Christmas season. 00:09:15.110 --> 00:09:18.909 We say that it is the time to give back to people, 00:09:19.009 --> 00:09:21.269 the time to give back to your local community. 00:09:21.389 --> 00:09:24.250 And that idea really started with this book. 00:09:24.649 --> 00:09:27.149 And that's why A Christmas Carol is credited 00:09:27.149 --> 00:09:31.289 with creating modern day Christmas. It rebranded 00:09:31.289 --> 00:09:34.370 Christmas. It took it from a minor religious 00:09:34.370 --> 00:09:38.009 observance to a holiday where you celebrate your 00:09:38.009 --> 00:09:40.769 family, where you help others, where you give 00:09:40.769 --> 00:09:44.549 to other people. There's also a number of vocabulary 00:09:44.549 --> 00:09:47.409 terms that became popular because of the story. 00:09:47.610 --> 00:09:50.370 Here in the United States during the month of 00:09:50.370 --> 00:09:54.759 December, you hear and see Merry Christmas. That 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:57.820 phrase, Merry Christmas, actually was not very 00:09:57.820 --> 00:10:01.460 popular before A Christmas Carol came out. The 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:05.350 book helped popularize that saying. Calling someone 00:10:05.350 --> 00:10:08.549 a Scrooge also came from the book because of 00:10:08.549 --> 00:10:11.389 the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge. Like I 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:14.009 said, Scrooge is not a nice person at the beginning 00:10:14.009 --> 00:10:16.929 of the story. He's very greedy. He doesn't want 00:10:16.929 --> 00:10:20.789 to help anyone. And his name became synonymous 00:10:20.789 --> 00:10:25.850 with calling someone maybe a grumpy, unhelpful 00:10:25.850 --> 00:10:29.250 person. So if you call someone a Scrooge, you're 00:10:29.250 --> 00:10:31.509 saying that they're greedy. that they don't like 00:10:31.509 --> 00:10:34.149 to help people. Maybe they're a little bit mean 00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:36.490 and people don't really want to be around them. 00:10:36.570 --> 00:10:38.769 That's not a nice thing to be called a Scrooge. 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:42.710 Scrooge also says bah humbug. And that's something 00:10:42.710 --> 00:10:45.570 that I opened this episode with. That saying 00:10:45.570 --> 00:10:48.809 bah humbug is what he says when he doesn't want 00:10:48.809 --> 00:10:52.490 to help someone when he really is pushing back 00:10:52.490 --> 00:10:56.450 against this idea of a Christmas spirit or helping 00:10:56.450 --> 00:10:59.190 people who are in need. That's something that 00:10:59.190 --> 00:11:02.100 you might hear. People will say it, at least 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:05.299 I've heard it being said as a joke. When someone 00:11:05.299 --> 00:11:08.399 says bah humbug, it's them kind of joking that 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.960 they don't want to be happy, that they don't 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.220 want to participate in Christmas. I've never 00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:15.659 heard someone say it and actually mean it, but 00:11:15.659 --> 00:11:18.960 maybe more as a joke saying bah humbug. If you 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:21.779 want to read A Christmas Carol to help you with 00:11:21.779 --> 00:11:23.860 your English, that is definitely something you 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:26.539 can do. It is called a novella, which means it's 00:11:26.539 --> 00:11:29.539 not that long of a story. Like I said, some of 00:11:29.539 --> 00:11:31.940 Charles Dickens' stories are very long. They're 00:11:31.940 --> 00:11:34.059 known for being very long. So this is something 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:36.740 that's more accessible. It's something that you 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:39.539 might be interested in reading if you want to 00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:41.700 use it and use reading to improve your English. 00:11:42.269 --> 00:11:44.029 But if you don't want to read it, that's okay 00:11:44.029 --> 00:11:46.450 too, because there are a number of adaptations. 00:11:46.809 --> 00:11:48.710 We're going to talk about the different adaptations. 00:11:48.830 --> 00:11:51.649 I'm going to give you a brief summary, maybe 00:11:51.649 --> 00:11:54.549 why you might want to watch that one versus another, 00:11:54.710 --> 00:11:57.809 so you can see if there's a particular adaptation 00:11:57.809 --> 00:12:00.049 that you would like to watch to help you with 00:12:00.049 --> 00:12:02.980 your English. The first one is a TV movie from 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:06.899 1984. It is titled A Christmas Carol. It was 00:12:06.899 --> 00:12:09.440 filmed in England and it is considered to be 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.860 the most faithful adaptation to Charles Dickens' 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:17.220 original story. It stars George C. Scott as Scrooge 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.059 and is considered to be a classic in England. 00:12:21.230 --> 00:12:24.330 One of my favorite versions is actually from 00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:28.210 1999. It is another TV movie that is titled A 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:31.450 Christmas Carol, but in this one it stars Patrick 00:12:31.450 --> 00:12:34.450 Stewart as Scrooge. Stewart had actually starred 00:12:34.450 --> 00:12:38.429 as Scrooge before on stage in a play. He was 00:12:38.429 --> 00:12:41.490 in a one -man stage adaptation of A Christmas 00:12:41.490 --> 00:12:44.129 Carol, so he had already played this character. 00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:47.710 Therefore, in this adaptation, he has a very 00:12:47.710 --> 00:12:51.769 intense Sharp adaptation of Scrooge. It is a 00:12:51.769 --> 00:12:55.549 little bit darker than the 1984 adaptation. The 00:12:55.549 --> 00:12:57.610 ghost scenes at the time were considered to be 00:12:57.610 --> 00:13:00.269 a little bit more intense, but it is a very good 00:13:00.269 --> 00:13:03.590 adaptation. I also think it is free on YouTube. 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:06.970 I have seen it in the past, in past years, free 00:13:06.970 --> 00:13:10.009 on YouTube during the month of December. Search 00:13:10.009 --> 00:13:12.230 for it. You might be able to find it for free. 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:14.940 If you have children who are trying to learn 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:16.779 English, if you're trying to help them learn 00:13:16.779 --> 00:13:18.799 English at a young age, there definitely are 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.679 adaptations that are more marketed and geared 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:25.980 for children. One is from 1983. It is Mickey's 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:29.340 Christmas Carol. It is a Disney production. It 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:32.379 has Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, the 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:35.200 characters that you have seen in other Mickey 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.500 animations. Definitely good for children because 00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:42.220 it is an animated movie marketed for younger 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:45.259 children. It's only 25 minutes long, so if you 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:47.200 do have a young child who maybe doesn't want 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.159 to watch a very long movie, this is a really 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:52.460 good adaptation. The one that I watched a lot 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:56.100 when I was a child was from 1992, and it is The 00:13:56.100 --> 00:13:58.860 Muppet Christmas Carol. This one is very popular 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:02.440 because the Muppets are very popular. It is again 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:05.159 more geared for children but maybe a little bit 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:08.159 older children than ones that would like Mickey 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:11.440 Mouse. It actually stars Michael Caine as Scrooge. 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:14.320 Michael Caine I think is one of the better actors 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:17.460 who played Scrooge. And then you have Kermit 00:14:17.460 --> 00:14:19.879 and Gonzo and a lot of the other Muppet characters 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:23.679 in the movie. Because it is a Muppet movie, because 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:27.539 it is maybe for children, it does have a lot 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:30.580 of humor thrown in, but it does stay pretty faithful 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:32.980 to the story and still tries to have that emotional 00:14:32.980 --> 00:14:36.259 impact. And Kane's serious performance along 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:38.639 with the Muppets really helps balance the film. 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:42.940 There is a motion capture one as well from 2009. 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.879 It is called A Christmas Carol, and it stars 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:49.620 Jim Carrey as Scrooge and actually all three 00:14:49.620 --> 00:14:53.139 ghosts as well. It uses motion capture technology, 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.259 which was new at the time. It was considered 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:58.980 to be, I guess, groundbreaking in a way because 00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:01.500 it did use the motion capture technology when 00:15:01.500 --> 00:15:04.460 it was still relatively new. I will say personally, 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.679 I don't like it that much. I find it to be a 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.340 little bit creepy and weird because the faces 00:15:10.340 --> 00:15:13.220 just seem a little bit strange. This is probably 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:16.340 my least favorite adaptation, not because of 00:15:16.340 --> 00:15:18.429 the performance or anything. But just because 00:15:18.429 --> 00:15:21.210 I find the motion capture technology to be a 00:15:21.210 --> 00:15:24.250 little bit weird. However, the technology did 00:15:24.250 --> 00:15:26.990 allow for some of the more surreal scenes, some 00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:29.809 of the more ghostly scenes to be portrayed in 00:15:29.809 --> 00:15:33.210 the movie. There's also films that have been 00:15:33.210 --> 00:15:36.269 inspired by A Christmas Carol, but try to do 00:15:36.269 --> 00:15:39.330 a more modern take on it. For example, there 00:15:39.330 --> 00:15:43.470 is Scrooge from 1988. This stars Bill Murray 00:15:43.470 --> 00:15:46.669 as the main character. He actually does not play 00:15:46.669 --> 00:15:50.809 Ebenezer Scrooge. He plays Frank Cross. Frank 00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:54.269 Cross is not in England in the 1800s. Instead, 00:15:54.429 --> 00:15:57.269 he is supposed to be in modern day, and he is 00:15:57.269 --> 00:16:00.990 a TV show executive. He is considered to be very 00:16:00.990 --> 00:16:04.000 cold -hearted. Just like Scrooge was, he's not 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.600 very friendly. He really only cares about money 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:09.919 and the network's performance and ratings. This 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.679 adaptation is definitely more comedic because 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:16.000 Bill Murray is a comedian. It also is definitely 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.299 influenced by the 1980s. There's a lot of 1980s 00:16:20.299 --> 00:16:24.080 look and references in it. But it still is supposed 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:27.039 to follow the general storyline and still have 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.659 that emotional quality to it. And there's also 00:16:30.659 --> 00:16:34.779 a more modern comedy from 2022. This is actually 00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:38.840 on Apple TV +, and it is called Spirited. It 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.120 stars Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell, but it 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:45.480 flips the premise. Instead of the ghost helping 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:48.220 a person, a person is actually supposed to help 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:51.360 the ghost in this one. This is a musical comedy. 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:54.419 If you have seen anything that Will Ferrell or 00:16:54.419 --> 00:16:56.759 Ryan Reynolds have been in, you know that they 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.519 like to do comedy. They like to have a lot of 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.940 humor in their work. So this definitely follows 00:17:01.940 --> 00:17:05.319 those lines. It does have a lot of original songs. 00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:07.460 So if you like musicals, this could be a good 00:17:07.460 --> 00:17:11.240 option. And our last film on our list is actually 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:14.799 a film that tells the story of Charles Dickens 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.460 writing A Christmas Carol. This is from 2017, 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:20.720 and it is called The Man Who Invented Christmas. 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:24.559 This stars Dan Stevens as Dickens and Christopher 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:27.400 Plummer as Scrooge. Christopher Plummer, of course, 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:30.539 is great in a lot of things that he does. And 00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:33.700 in the film, it shows the characters of the book 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:36.779 actually coming to life around him and how he 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:38.920 interacts with them. Like I said before, when 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:41.779 he wrote this book, he actually went around the 00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:43.799 streets of London acting it out while he was 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:45.940 walking around in the streets. This film kind 00:17:45.940 --> 00:17:49.039 of draws on that inspiration, showing it from 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.619 his perspective how these characters are coming 00:17:51.619 --> 00:17:55.500 to life. Of course, it is slightly fictionalized, 00:17:55.539 --> 00:17:57.839 but it does show the behind -the -scenes story 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.539 of how Dickens created his Christmas classic. 00:18:02.509 --> 00:18:04.690 I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you learned 00:18:04.690 --> 00:18:07.589 a little bit about Charles Dickens, why he wrote 00:18:07.589 --> 00:18:10.490 A Christmas Carol, and about the cultural impact 00:18:10.490 --> 00:18:13.609 that story has had on modern day Christmas. I 00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:15.789 hope you also heard about these different adaptations 00:18:15.789 --> 00:18:18.529 and maybe found one that you would like to use 00:18:18.529 --> 00:18:20.900 to help you improve your English. If you want 00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:22.799 more episodes like this in the future, please 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.400 let me know. We are already going to be going 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:28.140 into 2026, so I'm going to start planning our 00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:30.119 episodes for the coming year. So if you want 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:32.220 more episodes like this, please leave a comment 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:34.539 and let me know. I just want to thank everyone 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:37.240 who has listened to this podcast over this past 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:40.210 year and really since I've started it. I cannot 00:18:40.210 --> 00:18:43.009 believe that it has grown so much since I started 00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:46.349 the podcast. It is just me here in my house recording 00:18:46.349 --> 00:18:48.549 these episodes trying to help you with your English. 00:18:48.609 --> 00:18:50.890 Thank you to everyone who has supported the show 00:18:50.890 --> 00:18:53.329 and helped us grow. Hopefully we can continue 00:18:53.329 --> 00:18:56.529 to grow next year as well. So if the podcast 00:18:56.529 --> 00:18:58.990 is helping you learn English, if you're enjoying 00:18:58.990 --> 00:19:02.069 it, please consider leaving us a rating on whatever 00:19:02.069 --> 00:19:04.809 app you are using to listen to this podcast on. 00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:07.250 You can also tell a friend, tell a family member, 00:19:07.349 --> 00:19:09.450 tell someone who is learning English so we can 00:19:09.450 --> 00:19:11.910 continue to grow our audience. You can follow 00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:14.390 us on social media at Learn English Pod. The 00:19:14.390 --> 00:19:17.410 website is learnenglishpod .com. And remember 00:19:17.410 --> 00:19:19.869 to like and subscribe so you don't miss our next 00:19:19.869 --> 00:19:24.430 episode when it comes out in 2026. Until then, 00:19:24.509 --> 00:19:25.690 keep learning English.