Views #496 | Low Intermediate 4

English Movie Trailers

Andy talks about his web site for ESL students.

Script
Vocab
Quiz


Andy	Steve

Steve: So do you go by Andrew, or is Andy OK?

Andy: Ah, Andy please.

Steve: Can you tell us about the work you do with your website?

Andy: Sure. I've made a website for people to study English using movie trailers. (OK) Movie commercials. (OK) On the site you can see lots of different trailers, over 100, (Wow) and you can do various activities (Right) you can read a summary. You can do a cloze exercise (OK) you can read a script, you can pop, you can click on a vocabulary word and it will show you definitions, example sentences. (OK, OK) yeah, I added little quizes and stuff. (OK) Yeah, it's pretty fun.

Steve: So you have the subtitles on there?

Andy: Ah, no subtitles. It's all English. (OK, yeah) English trailers with English voices only.

Steve: OK, so do you have the transcripts in English? You have the English subtitiles in there?

Andy: Yes, yes, yes. The students can watch the trailers while they read.

Steve: Right. OK.

Andy: So, yes.

Steve: And what kind of movies have you been able to put into use?

Andy: Oh, gosh, recently we've added "War of the World's".

Steve: Oh, the H.G. Wells classic.

Andy: Yes, the new Speilberg version.

Steve: Oh, OK. OK.

Andy: Yes. Yes. Um, the new "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." is going to be up there shortly.

Steve: Right. OK.

Andy: It looks like a fun trailer.

Steve: Excellent. Yeah.

Andy: Ah, various genres, too, like computer animation or love stories or action (OK. OK) Yeah something for everybody.

Steve: Yeah, and who, which type of people have been accessing the website, and who's getting the most from it?

Andy: Ah, people from all over the world are going now. I've had people e-mail about this site from over 25 different countries, so it's very international.

Steve: Excellent. Excellent. And how long have you had this website up?

Andy: Almost three years now. (Yeah) I guess, yeah about three years.

Steve: Wow. OK. It sounds extremely interesting. I'll be very much looking forward to having a look at it myself. How can I access this website?

Andy: The URL is www.english-trailers.com

Steve: OK, sounds great, Andy, Good luck with it.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

go by

Do you go by Andrew or is Andy okay?

What you 'go by' is the name that most people call you. Notice the following:

He has gone by many different names during his professional career.
My parents named me Theodore, but I have always gone by Theo.

cloze exercise or vocabulary word

You can do a cloze exercise or read a script or click on vocabulary words.

'Cloze exercise' is another name for a practice where you must fill in the gaps in sentences. A 'vocabulary word' is a new word that you are assigned to understand and remember. Notice the following:

Cloze exercises are a great way to test comprehension.
These are the vocabulary words that will be on tomorrow's exam.

subtitles or transcripts

So, do you have the transcripts or subtitles in English?

'Subtitles' are words that appear at the bottom of a screen in a movie. These can be set to the original language of the show or movie or to your native language. A 'transcript' is the entire dialog of something written out. This can be for the purpose of recording information or to make it easier to review. Notice the following:

The court needs a transcript of the telephone conversation.
Are there subtitles in French?

genres

The trailers have various genres, too, like computer animation, love stories, or action.

A 'genre' of movies or books is the topic or the type or classification. Some examples of genres are: action, romance or thriller. Notice the following: