The Empire State Building & the skyscraper boom

Objective & content

This A2+ documentary presents the Empire State Building on the island of Manhattan, opened in 1931 as the tallest building in the world. The narrator explains why New York built upward (little space, rich companies, a race for height with the Chrysler Building) and how thousands of workers raised a steel frame in about 410 days during the Great Depression. It then compares the record with later towers, up to the Burj Khalifa at 828 metres. Language focus is present simple to describe the building and past simple for dated history, with comparatives and numbers. The main skill is listening comprehension, followed by the in-app quiz.

Materials & prerequisites

The episode comes with a student sheet and a teacher sheet (PDF and HTML). Learners should already know present simple, there is / there are, numbers above one hundred and basic past simple forms (was, were, started, opened).

Curriculum alignment

Tagged for cycle 3 (6e): "L'enfant et le temps qui passe" and "L'enfant et son environnement élargi". The episode targets CEFR A2+.