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The boy in the striped pajamas
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a fictional story that offers a unique perspective on how prejudice, hatred and violence affect innocent people, particularly children, during wartime. Through the lens of an eight-year-old boy largely shielded from the reality of World War II, we witness a forbidden friendship that forms between Bruno, the son of Nazi commandant, and Schmuel, a Jewish boy held captive in a concentration camp. Though the two are separated physically by a barbed wire fence, their lives become inescapably intertwined.

I know it’s hard but we’re all having to say good-bye to our friends for the time being.
Leaving? Where to?
The thing about being a soldier is that when your country needs you to go somewhere you go.
Think of it as an adventure. Like in one of your books.
Children look! Our new home.
What are you doing?
Exploring.
No. Not at the back.
Hello, how old are you?
Eight.
Me too!
Why do you wear pajamas all day?
The soldiers, they took all of our clothes away.
My dad’s a soldier, but not the sort that takes people’s clothes away.
That one there to there.
This one.
No, that one.
Here?
No.
It's a work camp. They’re in there because they’re the enemy.
The enemy?
All you need to know about my work here, Bruno, is that it’s very important to our country.
The work your father is doing here is history in the make.
Is everything alright?
They can’t find papa.
I’m a soldier. Soldiers fight wars.
That isn’t war.
It’s a vital part of it.
We’re not supposed to be friends, you and me, we’re meant to be enemies.
Dad’s a good man?
Of course he is.

STRIPED= Having lines or bands of different colour or texture.

FOR THE TIME BEING= At this moment.

THE THING ABOUT BEING...= After prepositions and conjunctions we use the –ING form of the verb, so "to be" here is "being".

PAJAMAS= Night clothes you wear in bed. It is more usual to spell it PYJAMAS, but the pronunciation is usually the same, because the first syllable is pronounced with a schwa most of the times.

THE SORT= The kind.

IT’S HISTORY IN THE MAKE= It’s something very important, of historical consequences (something that is making history, that will be remember in the future as something historically important).

PAPA= Here he pronounces it with the stress on the second syllable. It can also be pronounced with the stress on the first syllable (more common in present English). In England we use PAPA as an old-fashioned word or as a very elegant (or posh) word, using "daddy" more frequently. En America it is more common to say PAPA than DAD or DADDY.

SOLDIER= Pronounced /səʊldʒə*/

VITAL= Extremely important.

WE’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FRIENDS= We shouldn’t be friends; people think we can’t be friends (the second option is the one used on this trailer).

WE’RE MEANT TO BE ENEMIES= The same as the expression above: we should be enemies or people think we have to be enemies; we are expected to be enemies.

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© Angel Castaño 2008 Salamanca / Poole - free videos to learn real English online || InfoPrivacyTerms of useContactAbout
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