Learning English with TV

We're getting married

2010-11-19T05:50:00.000-08:00

This is a scene from the movie "The Proposal"

Watch and answer the questions below:

What is wrong?

Why does she have to leave the country? Can she ever come back? When?

Are they really getting married?

Script:

Read the script and watch it again.

She loves the spotlight

2009-06-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Intro:
This video is an Ally McBeal episode, Playing with Matches, in which Mariah Carey makes a guest appearance by playing a woman who sues a dating agency for labeling her "unmatchable". The scene below features Miss Cushnip testifying in court.

Video:
Watch the video and think of the following:

1. What is the woman testifying to?
2. What fraud is she complaining about?
3. What does she say about the dates she was getting through the matchmaking service?
4. Why does the technician light up the woman's face?

(the particular scene is from 23:22 to 24:29)

Script:
Watch and try and fill the gaps.

Candy: It was awful. She promised me a partner, but it was .
Lawyer: Miss Cushnip, did you get…through the defendant's service?
Candy: Oh yes, dates, but not with men who could remotely be partners. She
dates, and nothing ever
. And then she

me, and that was what was so hurtful.
Ms. Pumple's Lawyer (PL): You put in your video, you like the
.
Candy: Well, a lot of women like attention.
PL: Yes, but you actually travel around with you very own technician and a spotlight, Miss Cushnip.
[Ms. Pumple smirks]
Candy: It's
, that's all. A woman is prettier when she feels good about herself.
PL: I see you brought your technician here today. Would you feel more comfortable if he, he
?
Candy: (Shyly) Hmm…maybe a little…
PL: (Nods) Go ahead sir (to the technician).
[The technician pull out a big spotlight and points it on Candy's face. Candy's face lights up and she immediately smiles. Cage and the other lawyer cringe]
PL: Much better?
[He is standing in the way of her light. She looks at him and gives a small gesture to move out of the way. She flashes and adorable smile as he shifts aside. Cage has a look of disgust on his face.]
PL: I'm sorry
[Candy smiles cutely at the judge and gives him a little wave.]

vocabulary
(double click the words to see their definiton)

fraud
get…dates
peppers you with ...
works out
blamed it on me
spotlight
an esteem device

Grammar focus:

Second Conditional

We use the second conditional (also sometimes called the "present unreal conditional") to talk about a situation that is not real or is unlikely to occur and its consequences. For example, I might say, "If I had a million dollars, I would go on a trip around the world." I don't have a million dollars. That situation is unreal. But if I did have a million dollars, the consequence would be that I would go on an around-the-world trip.

But we also use it to make a suggestion or ask of someone's preferences, as in the video:
"Would you feel more comfortable if he, he lit ya up?"
(ya = this is the way the word 'you' sounds in fast speach)
(lit = the past tense of the verb 'light')

The second conditional is formed with two clauses. The first clause consists of If + subject + past tense verb, as in, "If I loved her." The second clause is formed with "subject + would + verb," as in, "I would marry her." So, all together, the sentence looks like this: "If I loved her, I would marry her."

Grey's anatomy fight scene

2009-06-02T01:04:00.000-07:00

Grey's anatomy fight scene

Coraline

2009-04-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

Coraline is an adventurous girl who walks through that secret door in her house and finds another world that looks like the perfect version of her frustrating life.
Little does she know that this parallel reality will actually turn into a dangerous adventure. Things get nasty when her new-found parents try to keep her forever and Coraline will have to struggle to save her family.

Coraline

Now try this exercise:
Listen and think of the missing words.

"The movie Coraline written by Neil Gaiman is by becoming the first stop motion animated movie to be photographed in 3d."

"Coraline was her simple life until she entered another dimension by walking through a magic door in her house and discovered that maybe the ."

"You know she's very curious. She’s kind of a tomboy. She’s very adventurous and she really to kind of fight against this evil."

"Right. And I agree with you that that's the message. and I think it is so that, you know, you don't recognize what you have until it's gone."

"Yeah. It’s so to put the glasses on to see it and I loved that. Especially with this one I think you wish you could be in some of those . "

"She kind of because of this kind of animation and I was so to be a part of it and to see all this heartbreak come to life after such a long time of working on it."

Twilight

2009-04-24T03:07:00.001-07:00

Twilight is that special light when the surface of the Earth is not completely lit nor completely dark, for example between dawn and sunrise, and the time between sunset and dusk. It has long been popular with photographers and painters for its unusual, romantic quality of the ambient light.

The movie Twilight is a cute romantic-fantasy movie based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. Read more ...

Check video, questions, transcript and notes on the key vocabulary.

Actress Kristen Stewart - Twilight

Seven Pounds - Will Smith

2009-04-22T01:45:00.000-07:00

When using his cell phone while driving, Tim Thomas (Will Smith) causes a car crash and kills seven people (six strangers and his fiancée, Sarah Jenson).

He decides to make up for the lives he took away by saving other seven lives and starts donating his organs. He uses his brother's credentials, an IRS employee, to check out people's records. He targets people with rare conditions and makes sure they really deserve it. For example, he calls a blind guy who needs a transplantation of corneas and harasses him to see if he's quick to anger and if he's a good person.

After he gives his luxurious beach house to a mother of two living with an abusive boyfriend, he moves into a motel and prepares his suicide. His friend Dan (Barry Pepper) acts as executor to ensure that his organs are donated to a young woman with a critical heart problem and a rare blood type and the blind person. When he decides he's ready, he calls his friend, fills the bathtub with ice water to preserve his vital organs, climbs in, and commits suicide by pulling his box jellyfish into the water with him.

Seven Pounds - Will Smith

Mr Bean's Holiday

2009-04-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Mr Bean's Holiday

Friends - Thanksgiving

2009-04-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Friends - Thanksgiving

Now I'm Suspicious of My Wife

2009-04-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Now I'm Suspicious of My Wife

Bedtime Stories - Adam Sandler

2009-04-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

Bedtime stories

Ford Model T

2009-04-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Ford Model T

My Blueberry Nights

2009-04-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

My Blueberry Nights

ComCast - Big Bucks

2009-04-13T05:24:00.000-07:00

ComCast - Big Bucks

Porshe Commercial

2009-04-13T05:20:00.000-07:00

Porsche commercial

Top Gun

2009-04-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

Top Gun (1986) Trailer

Marly and Me

2009-04-13T01:51:00.000-07:00

Marley and Me