A poor family gets secret jobs in a rich family's house. Then a secret in the house changes everything.
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These are the new words. Match each word (1–10) to its meaning (A–J). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is C" — then check.
1 = C (a family) · 2 = A (a job) · 3 = B (rich) · 4 = D (a secret) · 5 = F (a plan)
6 = E (poor) · 7 = G (a basement) · 8 = H (to lie) · 9 = I (a flood) · 10 = J (to hide)
Bong Joon-ho's Parasite (2019). Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one. (There are spoilers — that is fine, we want to talk about it. One part talks about violence, but not in detail.)
The Kim family is poor. They live in a small, dark basement flat in Seoul. Ki-taek is the father, Chung-sook is the mother, and Ki-woo and Ki-jung are their adult children. They have no good jobs and not much money.
One day, a friend tells Ki-woo about a job: teaching English to a rich family's daughter. The rich family are called the Parks. Ki-woo never finished university, but his sister makes him a fake certificate. Ki-woo gets the job! The Parks do not know it is fake.
Then Ki-woo has an idea. He tells the Parks about a very good art teacher for their young son — but it is really his own sister, Ki-jung! Step by step, with clever lies and fake papers, all four members of the Kim family get jobs in the Parks' house: driver, cleaner, teacher, art teacher. The Parks never guess that their new workers are one family.
1. Where does the Kim family live, and how does Ki-woo get his first job?
2. How do all four Kims get jobs with the Parks?
1. They live in a small basement flat. Ki-woo gets a job as an English teacher using a fake certificate.
2. One by one, each Kim recommends a "stranger" for a new job in the house — but it is always another member of the same family, using lies and fake papers.
One weekend, the Parks go camping. The Kim family stays in the big house alone, and they enjoy the rich life for one night. But then, late at night, someone knocks on the door. It is Moon-gwang, the old cleaner. She says she left something in the house.
What she left is her husband! He has been hiding, in secret, in a basement room under the house for years. Nobody — not even the Parks — knew he was there. When Moon-gwang learns that the Kim family are all lying about who they are, there is a big, dangerous fight. Then the Parks call: they are coming home early because of the rain!
The Kim family must clean everything, very fast, and run home through a huge storm. When they get home, they find terrible news: their own flat is completely flooded with dirty water.
1. What secret does Moon-gwang have?
2. What happens to the Kims' own home during the storm?
1. Her husband has been hiding, in secret, in a basement room under the Park house for years.
2. A big storm floods it with dirty water, and their home is ruined.
The next day, the Parks have a big birthday party in their garden. It is sunny and beautiful there — but the Kims' home is still full of dirty water. The difference between the two families is very clear now.
During the party, Moon-gwang's husband escapes from the basement. He is not well after all those years alone. He attacks the Kim family with a knife, and Ki-jung is killed. In the panic, something small but important happens: Mr Park, the father, holds his nose because of a bad smell from the dying man — the same way he always complained about a smell from his driver, Ki-taek. This makes Ki-taek very, very angry, and he kills Mr Park.
Ki-taek runs away and hides — in the same secret basement room under the house! Ki-woo later makes a plan: one day, he will become rich and buy the house, to save his father. But we understand this plan is almost impossible. The film ends back at the small, dark basement flat where the story began.
1. What does Mr Park do that makes Ki-taek so angry?
2. Where does Ki-taek hide at the end, and what does Ki-woo plan to do?
1. He holds his nose because of a smell — the same smell he always complained about with Ki-taek.
2. He hides in the secret basement room under the Park house. Ki-woo plans to become rich and buy the house to free him — but this seems almost impossible.
This film is all about comparing two families — rich and poor. English has easy ways to compare two things, and to talk about "the most" of something.
Read the sentence and complete it with the correct form.
1. The Parks' house is much (big) than the Kims' flat. (comparing two things)
2. Of all the families in the story, the Parks are (rich). (the number one)
3. Ki-jung's second forged certificate was (good) than her first one. (comparing two things)
1. bigger (comparative)
2. the richest (superlative)
3. better (comparative)
Put the adjective in the correct comparative or superlative form. Then read it out loud.
1. The storm made that night the (bad) night of the Kims' lives.
2. The basement room under the house was (dark) than any room upstairs.
3. For the Kims, this was the (dangerous) plan they had ever tried.
1. worst (superlative — irregular)
2. darker (comparative)
3. most dangerous (superlative)
Fill each gap with the correct comparative or superlative form. Read it aloud when you finish.
The Kims' flat was much (small) than the Park house. In fact, it was one of the (poor) homes on that street. But after the flood, it looked even (bad) than before.
smaller · poorest · worse
Use the comparative for two things, and the superlative for the top one in a group.
Here is the surprising part: the basement flat, and even the flood, are very real parts of life in South Korea.
Parasite won the Best Picture Oscar in 2020 — the biggest prize in film. It was the first film not in English to win this prize, ever, in the history of the Oscars. It also won three other Oscars, including Best Director.
The Kims' small flat is called a banjiha — a real, common type of home in South Korea, especially in Seoul. Long ago, these basement rooms were built for safety, in case of war. Later, poor families started living in them because they are cheap. Today, hundreds of thousands of people still live in banjiha flats — they are dark, small, and often damp.
Sadly, the film's flood became real too. In 2022, a huge storm hit Seoul, and at least eleven people died. Three of them drowned inside one basement flat, just like in the film, because the water rose too fast for them to escape. After this, the city said it would stop building new basement flats.
Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of Parasite in your own words. Use these steps to help you: a poor family in a basement flat → they get secret jobs in a rich family's house → a secret man hiding under the house → a storm and a flood → a party, a fight, and a sad end.
Try to use some key words (family, job, rich, poor, secret, plan, basement, lie, flood, hide) and comparatives or superlatives (bigger than, the worst, the richest).
The Kim family lie to get jobs, because they are poor and need money. Do you think this is OK? What would you do in their situation?
Talk about rich and poor people in the world, or in your own country. Use comparatives and superlatives.
Not sure what to say? Choose one: