Description:

People's parts?

OP Introduction

Modern Family is an American comedy television series that has received mostly positive reviews from critics and multiple award nominations. It was created by Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan (famous for Frasier). He developed the series while telling stories about their family – then they thought that it could be a good idea to work around a family being observed in a mockumentary (falso documental irónico) style show. Finally, they decided it would be a show about three families and their experiences. The show was originally called My American Family.

Characters (Family tree: Julian's multimedia presentation)

The show revolves around three families who live in Los Angeles, that are interrelated through Jay Pritchett, the patriarch, and his children, Claire Dunphy and Mitchell Pritchett.

After splitting with his longtime wife, Jay Pritchett, is currently re-married to a much younger Colombian woman, Gloria, and is helping her raise her pre-teen son, Manny.
Claire is a homemaker mom married to Phil Dunphy, a self-professed cool dad. They have three children: Haley, Alex, and Luke.

Jay's son, Mitchell, is in a gay relationship with his partner Cameron Tucker and together they have adopted a Vietnamese baby, Lily.

Jay Pritchett is on the old side of middle age. He is married to Gloria and he is a stepfather to Manny. He is much older than Gloria and has been mistaken for her father more than once. At times, there is a cultural clash between him and his wife and stepson because of their strong Colombian heritage. He is not very comfortable with his son being gay, so when he goes to Mitchell and Cameron's place, he always announces himself by knocking loudly on the door, fearing he might find them kissing.

Gloria Pritchett is a Colombian from a small village, which also happens to be the murder capital of the country. She is much younger than Jay, which doesn't matter to her. She is a loving wife and mother. She is also known to say whatever is on her mind. One of her most distinctive traits is her very thick Colombian accent. She often supports Manny when Jay tries to tell him to be less sensitive or hide his cultural background. She is also considered attractive by almost everyone she meets, and has turned Phil Dunphy's head on more than one occasion.

Manny Delgado is very outgoing and not the least bit self-conscious. He is very mature and intuitive for his age and is often shown doing adult-like things, such as having conversations with Claire about her marriage and kids, and drinking coffee. Manny is not afraid to take chances, like asking out older girls. He idolizes his absentee father, and often speaks about him in a positive light, even after being repeatedly flaked on.

Claire Dunphy: She is Jay's daughter and Mitchell's older sister, the overprotective mother of the Dunphy family and its three very different kids. She was once a wild-child who made a lot of mistakes over the years, so now she is fearful that her mistakes could be made by her children.

She is often exhausted from stress created by her family but is still a loving mother. She has difficulty controlling Haley's hormones, Alex's manipulative nature and Luke's lack of common sense. She is seen as an experienced parent by Cameron and Mitchell so she is frequently called for advice.

Claire is also the most active family member when organizing family get-togethers. She used to have a successful job but quit it when she married Phil. A few months later she became pregnant with Haley. She shows frustration towards the abandonment of her working career, but realizes her family is more important.

She enjoys running and reading.

Phil Dunphy: Claire's husband for 16 years. He is a real estate agent who is very confident in his work. He is very competitive. He has a very juvenile attitude, and sometimes acts like a kid.

He loves his wife Claire. He sees himself as a "cool dad" and constantly tries to find ways to bond with his three kids.

At times he shows a sort of crush-like affection for Gloria, however he says "[He] would never stray from Claire."

Phil, along with his son Luke, is supposed to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Haley Dunphy: She is Claire and Phil's older daughter, a typical teenager. Haley is supremely independent but sometimes a little naïve, especially when she argues with her parents and sister, who is always kidding her. Haley is embarrassed by her dad, especially when he tries to buddy up to her boyfriend Dylan.

She is concerned about her popularity at school, so she is always talking on her cell phone to friends. She is just starting to drive and it is funny because she is a little clumsy.
Alex Dunphy: She is the middle child of Claire and Phil's, and also the most clever and intelligent of the three siblings. She enjoys messing with both her older sister and younger brother equally, often taking advantage of their inferior intellect by fooling them into believing unrealistic things, for instance: once she convinced Haley and Luke that they could charge electronics by rubbing the battery on their head or putting it in your mouth. Although she enjoys torturing her brother and sister, she always helps them when there are in trouble.

She plays the cello and lacrosse which are just two of the many things that make her an overachiever or highly-gifted.

Luke Dunphy: He is the younger sibling, who is often doing his own thing. At times, he can be a trouble maker (once he shot his sister with a toy gun) and he usually gets into a fight with Manny at school, but he is very innocent and does not always understand the repercussions of his actions.

Both parents agree that they "dropped the ball" with regards to raising Luke. Phil once tells Claire that he considers Luke to be their dumbest child.

Mitchell Prittchet is Jay's son and he is gay. In fact, he's been with Cameron for five years. He's a low-key, mild mannered (easy-going, sociable), quiet person. He works as a lawyer and he's ambitious and pretty competitive. He is sometimes more worried about money and job than about family.

He's not ashamed of his homosexuality, but his father isn't completely comfortable with this, which most likely explains why he became a momma's boy.

Cameron Tucker: He's Mitchell's partner and has a very dramatic personality. His outgoing personality contrasts with Mitchell's uptight manner. He has many unusual hobbies, such as collecting antique fountain pens (plumas estilográficas), and is a classically-trained clown named Fizbo. He acts as a stay-at-home dad to Lily (their adopted daughter), because he's more familiar with that than Mitchell.

Audiovisual Activities

Julián prepared an audiovisual listening activity. You can watch the video and do it as you watch, and/or print the worksheet and actually fill in the gaps! The answer key is in Julian's second video. Enjoy!
Video 1: Listening activity ! Listen and work out the gaps you'll see! - it's played twice. Worksheet (1 page): Fill in the gap activity
Video 2: Answers! Check your answers :)

C's multimedia work!: learn some expressions used in the episode while to watch to different bits where those are used!
Video 3: Learning Expressions ! Watch and answer the questions!