Without doubt the biggest viral video hit of the past week has been the Eton College students' hilarious parody of Korean pop star Psy's incredibly successful Gangnam Style.
While the Eton version has a long way to go before it matches the half a billion (and counting) YouTube views of the original, it has achieved a very respectable score of 989,192 at the time of writing. One YouTube commenter claims that, with this Eton spoof of Gangnam Style "572 years of hate from the general population turned into respect". I don't know about that, but it did strike me that Eton Style would make a very good centrepiece for a lesson about England's most famous, and most exclusive public school (David Cameron and Boris Johnson are Old Etonians).
You'll find the lyrics on YouTube (just click on the Show More tab beneath the video), and The Guardian has helpfully provided a guide to some of the arcane lingo used (based on a much longer glossary on the official Eton College website).
Depending on the level of your students you could do a gapfill (boring, I know), work on some of the articles listed below, produce a web quest based on the Eton website, have a discussion about public schools (which, despite the name, are independent fee-paying schools in the UK), or even get your students to produce their own Gangnam parody (now there's an idea!). Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section below. Yah!
ARTICLES
• Eton's Gangnam Style lingo explained (The Guardian)
• Eton Gangnam style: the story of a viral sensation (The Guardian)
• Rapping, Eton-style: Now pupils at Britain's most exclusive school make a Gangnam parody for YouTube (Mail Online)
• 'Eton Style:' British Students Parody Psy's Smash Hit In Hilarious Music Video (Huffington Post)
• Yah, we’ve got Eton style! Posh pupils poke fun in hilarious Gangnam spoof (The Sun)
