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Front of the Class · 2008 — 第 1 / 17 章 · 5'03" · B2

Brad Asks for a Chance, Explained：elephant in the room

Brad is not asking anyone to feel sorry for him. In a job interview, he names the thing everyone is avoiding — "Maybe we should talk about the elephant" — and explains that his noises are like sneezes. What he wants is simple: interviews, and a chance to prove he can teach.

あらすじ

Pulled over for speeding, Brad tells the officer he has Tourette's syndrome and that he is going to be a teacher. Later, in a job interview, he asks his interviewer to talk about the obvious subject, explains that his tics are like sneezes, and says all he wants is a chance.

Job interviewExplainingAskingStrangersB2mediumamericanClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

take it easygo intoelephant in the roomset up

00:00 / 05:03
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  36. ❝ 独白Brad explains his Tourette's4 行練習ページ ↗
  66. ❝ 独白Brad on his father5 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

elephant in the room

the obvious issue nobody mentions

At the end of the interview Brad raises the thing everyone is avoiding: his Tourette's.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room before it gets worse.

このシーンの他の表現

  • take it easy

    relax, don't worry

  • go into

    enter a profession

  • set up

    arrange something

  • let's just say

    a soft way to hint without explaining

  • shrink

    a psychiatrist, informally

このシーンのメモ一覧

95 行のセリフに 27 件のメモ

表現 · B1X miles over the limit

faster than allowed

12 miles over the limit.
表現 · B1a little + adjective

slightly unfocused

I guess I was a little distracted.
文法 · B1you been drinking

dropped have: Have is dropped in casual speech; it means have you been drinking.

Son, you been drinking?
表現 · A2take it easy

relax, don't worry

On the roadside the officer sees how nervous Brad is and softens his voice to calm him down.

Take it easy, son.
発音going to

In speech going to often reduces to gonna.

I'm going to need you to sign this.
表現 · A2what kind of something

which type of

So, what kind of job you looking for?
表現 · B2get to someone

bother or upset me

But I never let it get to me.
表現 · B1go into something

enter a profession

The interviewer asks Brad why he chose this line of work, using go into teaching.

What made you decide to go into teaching?
文法 · B1made you decide

causative make: Make someone do something is causative; made is simply its past form.

What made you decide to go into teaching?
発音made you

Link made and you so it sounds like may-joo.

What made you decide to go into teaching?
表現 · B1talk about something

raise the obvious issue literally an elephant; here the subject everyone avoids

Maybe we should talk about the elephant.
文法 · B1Once they understand

once-clause: Once sets a condition: as soon as they understand, they accept it.

Once they understand, they're fine with it.
表現 · A2cause a problem

create trouble

It's never caused a problem in the classroom. [barks]
表現 · B2be entitled to something

have a right to a chance

Just get me the interviews and let me prove to them that I can do the job. [barks three times] The Americans with Disabilities Act says I'm entitled to a chance.
表現 · A2set up something

arrange

Yeah, they're setting up interviews with some principals.
表現 · A2wait for something

await

Uh, I don't know, I've got to wait for their calls. Wah!
発音got to

Got to reduces to gotta, with the t nearly dropped.

Uh, I don't know, I've got to wait for their calls. Wah!
スラング · A2got to

have got to — In speech it usually reduces to gotta.

Uh, I don't know, I've got to wait for their calls. Wah!
文法 · B2It's about time you started

subjunctive after it's about time: After it's about time the past tense means it should already have happened.

It's about time you started meeting some chicks.
スラング · B1chicks

girls, casually — Playful between friends; not in formal talk.

It's about time you started meeting some chicks.
表現 · A2focus on something

concentrate on

I can't focus on dating right now. [barks] Has anybody ever told you that you're obsessive?
スラング · B1shrink

psychiatrist, informally — Casual for a psychiatrist; use the full word in formal talk.

Uh, only every shrink I ever saw.
表現 · A2call someone back

return a call

Maybe you should call him back.
表現 · C1like nails on a chalkboard

grating and hard to bear

Recalling his childhood, Brad says his tics wore his father's patience down like a grating sound.

I mean, I wore out his patience like nails on a chalkboard.
文法 · B2It didn't help that

it-clause: It didn't help that... introduces the fact that made a bad situation worse.

It didn't help that my brother, Jeff, was also a little hyper.
スラング · A2gonna

going to — Everyday speech; avoid in writing.

You're not gonna beat me.
表現 · A2calm down

relax

Yeah, calm down.

「Brad Asks for a Chance」を読み解く

What's really going on

Brad has learned to turn the awkward moment into an opening. When an interviewer cannot bring herself to mention his Tourette's, he takes the lead: "Maybe we should talk about the elephant." He is not looking for sympathy; he is controlling the story before someone else does. His explanation is deliberately ordinary — "They're like sneezes, irrepressible" — and his confidence rests on the law and on his record: "The Americans with Disabilities Act says I'm entitled to a chance." Every rejection soundbite he repeats to his friend is proof that the world still sees the barking before the teacher. So "All I want is a chance" is not a plea so much as a demand, and he keeps making it because the alternative is to disappear.

Theme

CourageBrad names his Tourette's out loud instead of hiding it, and keeps asking for a chance after every rejection.
IdentityHe refuses to let his tics define him, insisting he was born to teach and that the classroom is where he belongs.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Brad asks for one opening instead of arguing his case.
  • The elephant line turns a legal minefield into honesty.
  • His comic tic never turns him into the joke.
  • Talking to his father still costs him a moment of courage.

発音のポイント

  • going to — In speech going to often reduces to gonna.
  • made you — Link made and you so it sounds like may-joo.
  • got to — Got to reduces to gotta, with the t nearly dropped.
All I want is a chance.

Brad's bottom line: not pity and not special treatment, just the interviews and the opportunity to prove he can do the job.

Maybe we should talk about the elephant.

He raises the subject everyone is avoiding — his Tourette's — before it can quietly decide the interview for him.

I mean, I wore out his patience like nails on a chalkboard.

His image for how exhausting he could be to his father: a sound that grates on you until you cannot stand it.

Once they understand, they're fine with it.

His experience with children: explain the tics plainly and acceptance follows, which is why he trusts the same approach with adults.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Brad tell the interviewer about his Tourette's?

Because he would rather define it himself than let it hang in the room. He explains it the way he does to his students, so the interview is about whether he can teach, not about his tics.

What does "the elephant" mean in the interview?

It is the idiom "the elephant in the room" — the obvious thing nobody wants to mention. Brad means his Tourette's, which the interviewer is carefully avoiding.

Why does Brad want to teach in Atlanta?

He tells the interviewer that Georgia honors his Illinois certificate, that he fell in love with the city while working there as a camp counselor, and that his father and stepmother live nearby.

What is the scene with the boy racing about?

It is a childhood memory of Brad and his brother playing. It cuts in to show how long his tics have shaped family life and how much patience he wore out at home.

Front of the Class · 全 17 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 2 章drive someone nutsBrad's Tics Drive His Family Crazy
再生中 · 第 1 章elephant in the roomBrad Asks for a Chance第 2 章drive someone nutsBrad's Tics Drive His Family Crazy第 3 章at the end of one's ropeBrad's Childhood with Tourette's第 4 章live withBrad Learns He Has Tourette's第 5 章face something head-onBrad Refuses to Hide第 6 章get in the wayBrad's Dad Offers Him a Job第 7 章take something as a challengeBrad Stands Up in a Job Interview第 8 章have the giftDiane Tells Brad He Has the Gift第 9 章color outside the linesBrad Cohen's Best Interview第 10 章go to bat for someoneBrad Gets Kicked Off the Golf Course第 11 章talk the talk, walk the walkBrad Gets His First Teaching Job第 12 章a whole alphabet of problemsMr. Cohen Teaches Second Grade第 13 章take it to heartAmanda's Dad Pulls Her from Class第 14 章make an exceptionBrad's Dad Threatens a Lawsuit第 15 章give up on someoneBrad Won't Give Up on a Student第 16 章fed upBrad Worries He'll Hurt Nancy第 17 章je ne sais quoiBrad's Dad Finally Says He's Proud
第 1 / 17 章 · 残り約 73 分