Coffee Break English, Season 1, Episode 2.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Coffee Break English.
My name's Josie. And my name is Mark.
We are very happy to be back with you for another episode.
How are you today, Josie?
I'm very well. Thank you, Mark.
How are you? I'm okay.
I'm a little tired today.
Well, hopefully today's episode can wake you up a little.
That sounds good. What is our topic today, Josie?
Today we're listening to a text all about films.
And we're focusing on the past simple tense of the verb be.
Okay, let's have a listen to our text.
And today, we're listening to Kate from the United States of America.
And don't worry if you don't understand every word that Kate says.
The most important thing is to understand the general meaning.
Okay, let's have a listen to our text.
Do you like watching films?
I do. I love fantasy films because the stories are always really exciting.
I also like biopics because they help me learn about real events from history.
The word biopic comes from the words biography and picture.
So it is a film about someone's life.
The last biopic I watched was First Man, which tells the story of Neil Armstrong, who was the first man on the moon.
The script was excellent and the special effects were impressive.
I like most genres of film, but I really don't like romantic comedies.
The stories and characters are always unrealistic.
The last romantic comedy I watched was terrible.
The plot wasn't interesting and the actors weren't very good.
I was very bored and it was difficult to stay awake.
I quite like horror films, but they're very scary.
Once I watched the horror film A Quiet Place in the cinema with my friends.
We were very scared because the cinema was so dark.
As well as that, there wasn't any music in the film, so the atmosphere was very tense.
We were all terrified.
Now I prefer to watch horror movies at home with the lights on.
What genres of film do you like?
What was the last film you watched?
Well, Josie, what was the last film you watched?
Hmm, good question Mark.
I think the last film that I watched was a Monty Python film.
Ah. So a classic British comedy film.
Excellent. What about you?
What was the last film that you watched?
The last film I watched was a French film.
It's called a Toucheable.
Ah, the Untouchables in English.
I think so. Let's take a look at our text again.
Yes. Let's read each line and then we'll talk about the language.
So can you read the first line, Mark?
Okay. Do you like watching films?
I do. Great. So the first thing to notice here is we're starting with a question.
Do you like watching films?
Remember, with most questions, we use an auxiliary verb or a helping verb, which helps us make the question.
In this case, it is do because we're in the present simple.
Okay. So we said, do you like watching films?
And then the answer was I do.
That's right. We just repeat the auxiliary verb.
And also, do you like watching films?
Is there another word for film, Mark?
We could say movie.
That's right. Film is British English and movie is American English.
But to be honest, we can use both, can't we?
Absolutely, yeah. Okay.
Let's continue. I love fantasy films because the stories are always really exciting.
Good. So fantasy films.
Can you give me an example of a fantasy film?
Perhaps some of the Marvel films could be fantasy films like Avengers Endgame.
That's right. Yes. Something with superheroes or something in an imaginary world like the Lord of the Rings films.
Okay. I also like biopics because they help me to learn about real events from history.
The word biopic comes from the words biography and picture.
So it's a film about someone's life.
Good. So the word biopic, it's a film about someone's life.
Good. The last biopic I watched was First Man, which tells the story of Neil Armstrong, who was the first man on the moon.
Good. Did you see this biopic, Mark, First Man?
No. Did you see it?
Yes, I did. It's a really good film.
I recommend it to you.
Oh, thanks. Also in this phrase, we have the word was.
The last biopic I watched was First Man.
Was is the past tense of the verb be in the third person in this case.
So Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon.
That's right. Okay.
The script was excellent and the special effects were impressive.
Good. So the script was excellent.
Again, the past tense of be.
And what is a script, Mark?
A script is the words that the actors speak in the film.
That's right. And the special effects were impressive.
Special effects are the things which are added by a computer in a movie.
Because this film was not filmed on the moon.
No, it wasn't. I think it would be a bit too difficult to film a movie on the moon.
Here, we use the past tense of be again, which is were.
The special effects were impressive.
In this case, were is the third person plural of to be.
Okay. Should we go through all of the parts of to be?
That's a good idea.
Yes. So I was. You were.
He, she or it was. We were.
And they were. Good.
So it's not too difficult.
There are only two forms to choose from was and were.
Okay. We're going to take a short break, but we'll be back in just a moment.
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Welcome back. Today we're talking about cinema.
Yes. We talked about fantasy films and biopics.
And now we're going to talk about more types of movies.
Okay. I like most genres of film, but I really don't like romantic comedies.
Good. So this word genres.
What does that mean, Mark?
It's just like saying types or sorts of film.
Types, sorts, kinds of film.
And it's a French word, which we use in English.
Okay. So, but I really don't like romantic comedies.
So a romantic comedy is a film which has some, some romance, some love, a love story and some comedy.
So it's funny too. Exactly.
So maybe a film like Notting Hill is a romantic comedy.
Okay. Or Love Actually.
That's right. A Christmas romantic comedy.
Okay. The stories and characters are always unrealistic.
Good. So the characters, these are the people in the story, the people in the film, and they are unrealistic.
So if the stories and characters are unrealistic, that means it's hard to believe them.
That's right. Yes. We can see the word real in the word unrealistic.
So realistic means like real life, like reality.
And unrealistic is the opposite.
It's not like reality.
I don't believe it.
Excellent. The last romantic comedy I watched was terrible.
Yes. So here we have some more past tense of to be, was.
The last romantic comedy I watched was terrible.
Third person again.
And terrible means really, really bad.
Let's find out why it was terrible.
The plot wasn't interesting and the actors weren't very good.
Hmm. Let's look at some vocabulary first in this phrase.
The plot. What's the plot, Mark?
That's the story. What happens in the film?
Exactly. We can talk about the plot of a film, the plot of a TV series, or the plot of a book.
And the actors are the stars of the film.
That's right. Brad Pitt is a famous actor.
Okay. Also in this sentence we have the past tense of be in the negative form.
The plot wasn't interesting.
Wasn't is short for was not.
This is a contraction.
And weren't is short for were not.
So we can say the plot was not interesting and the actors were not very good.
That's right. Let's continue.
I was very bored and it was difficult to stay awake.
Good. So I was very bored.
I wasn't interested.
I was bored. And it was difficult to stay awake.
Awake is when you are not asleep.
Yes. Think of the verb to wake up in the morning.
That's right. I quite like horror films but they are very scary.
Yes. So a horror film is a film which is very scary.
Maybe it has monsters or ghosts in it.
For example, The Exorcist is a famous horror film.
That's right. I hate horror films.
They are too scary for me.
Do you like horror films, Mark?
I don't like horror films at all.
But Kate says once I watched the horror film, A Quiet Place in the cinema with my friends.
We were very scared because the cinema was so dark.
Yes. Kate says she likes horror films but when she watched A Quiet Place she was very scared.
And why was she scared, Mark?
Because the cinema was so dark.
That's right. It was dark.
It wasn't light. There were no lights on in the cinema.
Okay. As well as that, there wasn't any music in the film.
So the atmosphere was very tense.
Good. So another example of B in the past tense.
There wasn't any music.
And the atmosphere.
What's the atmosphere, Mark?
It's the feeling. It's the impression that you get when watching the film.
That's right. Yes. And the atmosphere was very tense.
Tense is the opposite of relaxed.
So they were tense.
They were scared. The cinema was dark.
There was no music.
That doesn't sound like fun to me.
Me neither. Kate says we were all terrified.
Now I prefer to watch horror movies at home with the lights on.
Good. So we were all terrified.
Terrified means very, very scared.
And so now she doesn't like going to the cinema to watch horror films?
Yes. She watches them in her house at home with the lights on.
So not in the dark.
Okay. Then she says, what genres of film do you like?
What was the last film you watched?
Yes. So here she finishes with a question with the verb be in the past tense.
What was the last film you watched?
Remember to make a question with to be.
We simply change the subject and the verb in the phrase.
For example, Mark, what was your favourite film when you were a child?
When I was a child, my favourite film was The Sound of Music.
Oh, me too. I love that film.
It's still my favourite film.
I think that's, it's a good choice.
Okay. Let's listen again to Kate's text.
The last biopic I watched was First Man, which tells the story of Neil Armstrong, who was the first man on the moon.
The script was excellent and the special effects were impressive.
I like most genres of film, but I really don't like romantic comedies.
The stories and characters are always unrealistic.
The last romantic comedy I watched was terrible.
The plot wasn't interesting and the actors weren't very good.
I was very bored and it was difficult to stay awake.
I quite like horror films, but they're very scary.
Once I watched the horror film A Quiet Place in the cinema with my friends.
We were very scared because the cinema was so dark.
As well as that, there wasn't any music in the film, so the atmosphere was very tense.
We were all terrified.
Now, I prefer to watch horror movies at home with the lights on.
What genres of film do you like?
What was the last film you watched?
That's it for this lesson.
Don't forget, you can improve your English even more with the Coffee Break English course.
We provide extra materials for each lesson and you can find out more about this at coffeebreakacademy .com That's right, Mark.
And if you'd like to practice your English, you can also do so on social media.
Just search for Coffee Break English on Facebook and on Instagram, where we post regular language challenges and cultural information.
And this week, we're asking you about the last film you watched.
We look forward to your answers.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you, Josie. Thanks, Mark.
And see you next time.
Bye -bye. You have been listening to a Coffee Break Languages production for the Radiolinguine Network.
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