The kit is based on the short story of the same name by author Andrea Levy. The story was first published in ‘The Independent on Sunday' and later in the anthology ‘Underwords - The Hidden City' published by Maia Press Limited.

It concerns a woman, the narrator, seeking change for a ten pound note in the National Portrait Gallery in London who strikes up a reluctant conversation with a young woman whose plight gradually becomes revealed. The narrator is plunged into a moral conflict, and the reader is drawn into the hard realities of the life of refugees and how they are treated.

This kit was produced by teachers who attended the first international BritLit course at NILE in Norwich, UK in 2007. http://www.nile-elt.com. These teachers are:

Spain
Liliana Russo

Italy
Laura Campagnone
Lucia Zarelli
Silvia Minardi

Portugal
Manuela Gamero
Umbelina Lima
Carmo Rodrigues

This kit has been produced in two separate sections for copyright reasons. Most of the worksheet materials and project work appear on this website. However the full text and some additional activities are available in print form. Write to the BritLit project at brit.lit@pt.britishcouncil.org and a copy will be sent free of charge on request.

How to use this BritLit kit
The material is divided into four sections: Pre-reading, Context, After Reading and Word Work

‘Pre-reading’ (pdf) examines the background to the story, and asks students to think about the possible narrative the story will follow.  This section starts with a map and listening exercise, introducing us to one of the characters.  Following this we get to know a little about the other characters in the story.  Students arew then asked to speculate on the interaction of the elements they have been introduced to to create their own story.

The text of the story is available only in hard copy (available free from britlit@pt.britishcouncil.org) due to copyright restrictions.  After this has been read, there are some activities in 'Context’ (pdf) which look at the some of the issues that can be explored from the story: immigration and emigration; living in a big city; webquest and diary construction. ‘After Reading’ asks students to summarise the characters and the events of the story as a way of rounding off the reading activities.  'Word Work' (pdf) takes some aspects of language in use from the text – must have and should have.    You can find the answers to activities and exercises plus some suggestions in Loose Change Key (pdf).

 Further activities for pre-reading (story building and knowing the characters), context (text comparison) and word work (vocabulary) are available with the printed text, available free from brit.lit@pt.britishcouncil.org

The materials in this BritLit Kit are avialable to download in the Attachments box below. To download pdf files and audio, right click on the file and save to your computer.

You can also listen to the audio from the kit streamed here on the site: