Advanced English Listening And Vocabulary Practice For TV Shows - Speak Fluent English Confidently

All right, for this lesson, we’re going to talk specifically about a lot of interesting

words and phrases that are specifically related to TV and entertainment. So, it can be the

entertainment industry. So, the business side as well as the consumer side. So, if you’re

watching things or listening to things, you’re a consumer. You’re consuming entertainment.

But I think, uh, in this lesson you’ll enjoy, uh, as I, as I cover not only this vocabulary

but also introduce some patterns of speech that really, uh, will help you understand

not only for this, uh, because you can use these speech patterns no matter what you’re

talking about. So, we’ll give some examples of this and I’ll weave this all together.

I like to do the Fluency Corner lesson as kind of a, a bit more of a story so you can

hear how things are connected to each other. But there will be lots of individual words

and phrases as well. So, if you’re ready, let’s begin.

First, listen carefully to this whole phrase. Those who have read the book, know that. Those

who have read the book, know that. Now, this is just a kind of one phrase here that you

would practice, and natives would use this all as one thing. But we can exchange the

words, depending on what we’re talking about. So, those who have read the book. So, if we’re

talking about reading a book, those who have read the book, know that the main character

dies in the end. So, that’s the full sentence, but if we’re just talking about this thing,

those who have done something, know something else or have done something else or do something

else.

So, those who have, so the people who have done something or people who have read this

book, or people who have seen this movie. This is a way of talking about the inside

of a group. So, you’re kind of contrasting the people who have done something like this

and the people who have not.

So, those who have been to Japan know that you, people use chopsticks there when they’re

eating. I mean, actually, a lot of people use forks as well. But, uh, but just as a

kind of example of this, you can see how I’m talking about something. Those of, those who

have been to Disney World know that it’s a, a magical place with lots of cute characters

running around.

So, those who have been, know something. So, those who have done something or those who

have been to some place. But you’ll hear this in the conversation. I wanted to just

highlight this whole thing as one phrase, so you can practice using it.

So, when you’re learning things like this from me, try to take a phrase and then replace

even just one or two words and then try to make it about something else. So, if we’re

talking about books, those who have read this book, know that it’s really difficult to

read. Those who have played this game, know that it can be a lot of fun.

So, you see, I’m just taking the same phrase, and this is how you get yourself used to different

grammatical structures when you want to speak, and it doesn’t really matter what you’re

speaking about because you practice using them again and again in different ways. The

grammar doesn’t change. It’s just the different vocabulary that we use with the

grammar. So, remember this as you’re going through these different phrases.

Next, I explain in the Phrase Builder lesson, or I explained in the Phrase Builder lesson

where we have, it’s one of those things where. It’s one of those things where. So,

this is a similar expression. It’s gotten to the point where. Or, it’s gotten to the

point when. So, the point, we’re talking about a specific time when something happens.

Maybe I’m reading a book or I’m watching a movie. I’m watching a TV show, and a friend

of mine says, “Well, what’s happening?” My mom used to do this all the time. My dad

and I would be watching some movie and then my mom would come out in the middle of it

and say, “What’s happening?” It doesn’t make any sense. And we would say, “What

are you, what are you doing here? Why are you asking questions about that?”

But you could just say, “Well, we’re at the point when…” Or, “We’re at the

point where,” something happens. You can say when or where, and the meaning is basically

the same. But the, the slight difference is we’re talking about time with when and we’re

talking about a place with where. But really, they mean exactly the same thing. So, I’m

at the point in the story where, I’m at the point in the story when, uh, the main

hero is fighting the villain. So, it’s near the end of the movie or the book or the TV

show. And it’s at the point where something happens.

So, I’m trying to describe something, but it’s at the point or it’s gotten to the

point where. And again, you can talk about this using this same idea in your everyday

life too. So, if you say, “Well, I’ve been working really hard at home and, uh,

like, the family is really busy. We have too many things to do. It’s gotten to the point

where I’ve had to hire somebody.” So, I have to hire somebody to help, like, take

my kids to school and do other things like shopping because we’re just too busy.

So, it’s gotten to the point where or it’s gotten to the point when. And again, we’re

meaning these in the exact same way. But you’ll often hear both of them. So, it’s gotten

to the point where something happens. It’s gotten to the point when something happens.

Next, in order to. In order to do something. Now, listen to how this blends. I norder to.

Norder. Norder. In order to. In order to. So, I’m doing something for the purpose

of something else. So, I’m reading this book in order to pass my test. So, I’m reading

this book in order to study. In order to study.

Now, you’ll notice again, when I say to, especially if I’m saying it quickly, it

becomes more of a ‘da’ sound. I norder da. I norder da. In order to study. In order

to pass my test. So, listen carefully for little things like that.

If you’re reading the transcript, uh, especially, I recommend if the audios or the videos are

a little bit difficult for you, take your time to read the transcript first. And that

way when you’re preparing for that, uh, you’ll get a lot of good examples of something

where it says T-O for to, but Drew said ‘da.’ In order da. In order da. In order da.

So, in order to finish off the season. Usually, for a TV show, we have, uh, like, the whole,

uh, the length of a TV show for one year. And it could be for a summer or the fall or

whatever, however long it is. Like, the last season of Game of Thrones is only six episodes

long. So, it’s only a very short period of time, like, a month and a half.

Um, and a little bit different in, uh, in British television shows. Usually, they call

a season in the United States, which means, like, the, a television show will have, you

know, first season, second season, third season. But they’ll call this a series in, in the

UK, which is really interesting.

Usually, we, we use the term series in the United States as the whole program. So, the

series is called Game of Thrones, and it has different seasons. So, each year, there’s

a new season of something. But the series is the name of the program. So, just a little

bit of something different between the UK and the US.

Next, related to this, shooting the final season. So, we’re talking about Game of

Thrones at this part in the conversation. It’s gotten to the point in the conversation

where we’re talking about shooting the final season of Game of Thrones.

So, to shoot something just like you’re shooting it with a camera. Right now, I am

shooting this video for you. So, you will watch it later when you’re, when I release

this episode or this, uh, set of lessons. Uh, but to shoot something, this is how we

describe making a video or, you know, even taking pictures. You’re shooting some pictures.

So, shooting film, uh, or just taking a video like this can be shooting a movie.

Next, Alex described epic shots. So, we have that shooting idea, again taking pictures

or taking a movie. Shooting pictures. Shooting a movie. I’m shooting a movie at my friend’s

house. And it’s an epic movie. So, epic just means great or grand or vast. And you’ll

hear this actually a lot in conversations.

It’s interesting, actually, I think you can still go to, um, where is that? I think

there’s a way to search, uh, word frequency of use in Google. And it will actually show

you if words are increasing in popularity or decreasing in popularity.

So, a few years ago, people started using the word epic. Man, this is really epic. So,

epic meaning very cool or amazing or grand or something. But now, it just, it’s really

used by a lot of people, and it’s, it’s almost kind of losing its popularity as a,

as a cool word for younger people.

So, you don’t really hear epic so much anymore. Here’s a great conversational phrase for

when this happens. This is called something being played out. So, when something is played

out, it means it was done too much. It was overdone. Like, people saying everything is

epic. Oh, wow, that party was epic. That movie was epic.

Even though we’re not really using the regular meaning of epic anymore, which is just kind

of really great or vast or long or big, something like that. Uh, but listen for these things

in conversations. And if you hear more people, kind of, in younger movies, uh, or movies

for young people and teenagers, that kind of vocabulary, it’s usually popular now.

But in a few years, it will not be popular anymore.

Next, you’ll hear Alex talking about pressure from authors or publishors or producers or

publishers or producers. Now, when we’re talking about pressure from people, there’s

the literal, physical pressure like this where you’re pushing on something. And then we

have the, uh, figurative idea of pressure where you’re trying to get people to do

something. So, you’re trying to motivate them to do something.

I’m putting pressure on people because I want them to behave in a certain way. And

so, the same thing with people who are making a movie. They have different people, uh, that

are, are saying, you know, one person says you should do this in the movie. Another person

says you should do this other thing. So, there’s pressure from different groups.

Next, to be faithful to a book or a movie or a TV show. Usually the first example of

something, it could be a book or a comic book. Then you, if that becomes popular, release

something like a, uh, a movie or a TV show. And this is when you see on, uh, books at

bookstores, like, “Now a Major Motion Picture” or “Now a Major TV Show” or something

like that.

Uh, but when people have, uh, a beginning of a story that’s from a book or a TV show

or something, and then it moves to a different medium, like, a comic book or a TV show or

a movie, people will ask, well, is it, is it similar or different or the, really just

the perfect conversational expression for this is, is it faithful to the book.

So, is the Game of Thrones TV show faithful to the Game of Thrones books? So, in some

ways they are and some ways they are not. I am not an expert, so I can’t really tell

you because I have not read the books. So, it’s only from what I hear from other people.

Some things are similar or the same in the books. So, they are faithful. You can say

it’s a faithful adaptation. To adapt something, like, to adapt a book to a movie or a TV show.

A faithful adaptation.

Next, to ghostwrite something. A ghostwriter. So, a ghostwriter, and again you’ll hear

the British English ghostwriter and the American English, uh, ghostwrider, ghostwrider, der,

der, der, der, der. Ghostwriter.

So, a ghostwriter, this is a really crool, a really cool term for someone who is, uh,

not the actual author on the cover of the book. So, someone else is usually hired to

write one.

Usually, famous people who don’t have a lot of time to write a book, but they want

to have a book. They will get someone else to write that book for them, and then they

will put their name on it.

So, uh, Donald Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, that was written by somebody else.

And lots of famous people have books that are written by other people as well. They

are written by ghostwriters. Ghostwriters.

Next, the finale. Finale. Finale. Now, you’ll hear finale or finale, finale as well. But

finale is just the regular conversational way in American English of saying this. And

it’s the final episode of something, usually a TV series.

So, all the many years of something, you will have the season finale, that’s the last

episode of that year. Or, you will have the series finale, which is the last episode of

the entire TV show. So, listen for this in the conversation as well.

Next, to take a page from something. To take a page from. Now, if I take a page from something,

it’s like I take a page out of a book and put it into my book. So, if I’m writing

something, I like the way this story sounds here. I’m going to write it in my book as

well. So, this is the more literal idea of copying something like that or doing something

that’s similar to what other people have done. And you can use this for anything.

So, not just writing things or even books. But when you’re talking about, uh, like,

one company started doing something and other companies took a page from that company and

started doing that same thing.

So, if I start, maybe I’m a regular restaurant and coffee is not popular yet. I decide I’m

going to start selling coffee. Uh, and then people say, “Wow! Coffee is really starting

to be popular.” And it’s selling well at my restaurant, so other people copy what

I do. They’re taking a page from my restaurant.

Next, to be keen for. To be keen for. Now, this is a slightly different thing, you’ll

hear the Australian English. Uh, Americans don’t really say we’re keen for something.

We understand what it means, uh, but usually you hear excited about or looking forward

to something. And these are expressions that Australians and Brits understand as well.

But to be keen about, usually, this is more of a British or Australian way of saying that

you’re excited about something. But listen for these differences in the way we speak.

Next, to crank something out. Now, we have a physical idea of a crank. This is where

you’re turning something. Usually, there’s some kind of click sound, click, click, click,

click, click, click, click, click, click. I’m cranking something. Uh, and when I crank,

crank, crank, usually I’m trying to move something or create something or push something

out of something when I’m making a product with a machine.

But I can take this literal idea and use it for making movies or TV shows or other things

like that. And I’m really cranking something out. So, I’m cranking things out. I’m

sending a lot of these things, producing a lot of TV shows, just like Marvel is making

a lot of movies and TV shows as well. Maybe they think they won’t be so popular in the

future, so they want to get them all out now while they’re all still popular. So, Marvel

is really cranking out these movies and TV shows. To crank something out.

Now again, you can use this for really anything. Uh, if I had to work really hard on a paper,

I was cranking it out last night. So, I was working on lots of pages, typing up lots of

information. I had to crank out a lot of work.

Next, here’s a great question you can use just in the beginning of a conversation or

in the middle. Maybe if the conversation is getting a little bit slow and you want to

change the topic, you can just say, “What are you watching right now?” What are you

watching right now? Now, right now doesn’t mean at this moment. It just means in general

around this time. So, if I’m talking with a friend, he and I are sitting there and we’re

not watching anything at that moment. But I can say, what are you watching right now?

So, if I’m talking about, uh, like, a movie or maybe a TV show or something like that.

Usually, we’re talking about a, a movie, uh, or talking about a TV show because it’s

something that comes on again and again for a particular season. So, I can say, “What

are you watching right now?” Or, another question could be, uh, have you seen anything

good lately?

So, if you’re looking for, number one, a way to get other people speaking in the conversation.

And number two, a way to get other people to give you recommendations for shows, you

can say, “Oh, do you know of anything good?” Or, uh, “Have you seen anything good lately?”

So, have you seen anything good on lately? You can also ask, uh, what’s good on right

now? So, what’s good that’s on right now? So, what’s a good TV show on right now.

So, on right now, again, it doesn’t mean right now, uh, maybe it means, like, if you’re

actually looking at the television and wanting to find something. Uh, but you can just ask

people in general, like, what’s a good TV show to watch?

Next, you’ll hear both, it’s based on something and based off something. Now, to

be based on something, again, this is that idea of having a, um, like, an original story

in a comic book or book. And then you have that adapted into a TV show. So, it becomes

that. And we can say, “Oh, is this movie or TV show based on something else?” So,

you’ll hear people using both. Is it based on or based off something? It doesn’t really

matter. Usually, you’ll hear based on a little bit more than based off. But it doesn’t

matter, people understand what you’re talking about either way.

Next, cinematography. Cinematography. Now, if you want to learn more about specific terms

from movies, you can certainly watch videos on YouTube about the art of cinema. So, you’re

talking about physically, how do we make a movie? Uh, what are we talking about for producing

the film, uh, or actually shooting the particular movie?

So, you can get to, uh, very specific things, even like types of camera lenses or ways that

you’re shooting, or certain movie cuts. Like a jump cut is when you quickly jump to

something else. Cinematography is just where we’re taking the photography or the way

that certain scenes should look for movies.

So, usually, someone will go out and try to figure out what’s a good way to, uh, like,

this is a really good scene for producing this movie. I think we might have some good,

uh, movie shots taken here. And so that’s good cinematography.

If you watch the Academy Awards TV show, so this is the, uh, yearly awards show for people

in movies. They will have, uh, awards for people like sound design or cinematography

or costume design, other things like that. And you can learn more about that because

they usually show some kind of movie or explain about these things. So, if you really like

watching, especially movies, I recommend you watch the Academy Awards.

Next, you’ll also hear us talking about a TV universe or a cinematic universe. And

this idea was created by Marvel where they are having not just one movie, but they’re

going to have a whole series of movies, which create a universe together.

So, just like we live in the universe. There’s the Earth and the planets and, you know, the

whole space all around us. Uh, so this is the universe that we live in. Uh, but it’s

the same thing with an idea like, uh, movies or TV shows.

And sow, so now, after Marvel has done this, other companies like DC, which is another

comic book company. Uh, they’re trying to do the same thing. So, they have a Superman

movie and a Batman movie and then try to put Batman and Superman in the movie together.

Uh, and it hasn’t seemed to be as successful as Marvel’s cinematic universe.

Next, to bring someone back. To bring someone back. Now, I mentioned this again earlier.

When you’re bringing something back from a different location or bringing something

back, you can also call this a callback to something where you’re referencing a particular

idea where maybe you have a character from an older TV show and now you make that TV

show again.

You bring that character back or the, uh, the actual actor who played that character.

You bring him back as a different character. You’ll hear, like, the, uh, original, uh,

the actor who, who played The Flash in, uh, the ‘90s TV show The Flash. Now, he is the

father of the current Flash character. So, they brought him back.

Now, you’ll also hear people, when we’re describing this in the conversation, talking

about a nod to something else. So, like, to nod your head. It means you’re acknowledging.

You’re noticing something. I’m going to nod my head about something.

So, when something gives a nod to something else, it’s a callback to a particular thing.

Where, uh, like, you’ll see this, uh, in movies or even video games as well. These

are called Easter eggs, where it’s hiding something in the movie or the TV show or the

video game that maybe some people who knew about the previous version or they know a

bit more about the comic book version or something, they know about that.

So, this character, maybe he wears a special green belt, or he drinks a certain kind of

juice or something like that in the comic book. So, they will have the character doing

that same thing that’s not really important to the story, but it’s just a little thing,

an Easter egg, a nod to the comic book.

So, as an example, there was, um, like, The Planet of the Apes movie that came out, I

think, in the early 2000s. The one with Mark Wahlberg. So, it was just called The Planet

of the Apes, but they had Charlton Heston, who was also in the original Planet of the

Apes movies, uh, back, wow, that was a long time ago. Like the ‘70s, I think those came

out. Uh, but so, they had the Charlton Heston came back as one of the apes in the new movie.

So, that’s kind of an Easter egg or a nod to the previous movies.

Now, usually, in most movies or stories, TV shows, books, comic books, you have the hero

who is the protagonist. And then you have the villain, who is the antagonist. And it

can be people. So, usually, the hero is some kind of person that we can identify with.

And then we will have the, uh, like, the protagonist’s enemy, so it can be a person, like, in the

Marvel, Marvel movies.

So, you’ve got, like, Captain America and then you’ve got the Red Skeleton or Red

Skull or whatever his name is. So, you have a good guy and a bad guy, in a very simple

way. But you can have the, the villain or the bad guy as, like, maybe aliens or something

else like that. Just some kind of threat to the character that’s going to make the show

or the story more interesting.

Next, if you just want to talk about saying, uh, that you like a particular show, you can

say you’re a fan of it. Or, you can say that you’re into that show. So, I’m not

really into Game of Thrones. Uh, I’m not really a fan of something. And again, you

can express these things in these more casual and conversational ways without saying, “I

like this,” or “I don’t like this.” You can just say, “I don’t really like

it. I’m not really a fan.” Or, “I’m really a fan of…” “I really like this

particular show.”

Next, spoilers or to spoil something. Now, the physical idea of spoiling means something

to go bad. So, you can have some food. If I leave some meat out on the table, outside

in the summertime for a long time, the meat will spoil, actually pretty quickly. So, it

will get old and bad and it’s, it just means it’s not usable anymore. I wouldn’t want

to eat that.

So, you can have the same idea, to spoil something for a movie. And you’ve probably heard this

if you’ve ever watched a movie trailer and looked down in the comments. Uh, people will

have something, usually, where they say, like, spoiler warning if they are going to give

a review of the movie because they don’t want to ruin the movie or to spoil the movie

for people who have not watched it yet.

So, if I’m watching a review of a movie, I just want to know, “OK, what happens?

But don’t spoil it for me.” Don’t tell me what happens in the movie. And you can

use this with your friends and other people you talk with about TV shows or movies.

So, if you’re with a group of friends and they have seen some show before you have,

you will often hear, you know, you will see people kind of covering their ears. They will

put their fingers in their ears and say, “No, no, no, no, no. Don’t spoil it. Don’t

spoil it for me.” Don’t spoil it for me.

Now, back in the Phrase Builder lesson, I talked about being out of date. Now, here

is the Fluency Corner lesson, we’re talking about staying up to date, staying current

with a TV show.

So, if you’re watching a show and you watch it every week. You can often describe this

as you watch a show religiously. It means every week, right at that time, you have to

watch it. You stop doing everything else, and you really love watching that show. So,

you watch a show religiously. Like, it’s, you know, your church or something like that.

So, if you’re saying, “I’m watching a show, and I’m up to date.” It means

I’ve watched all the shows up to the previous one. So, I’ve seen the TV show episode that

comes out today, and I am waiting for next week.

Now, if someone is behind, so you could say I’m behind on this month’s, uh, episodes

because I haven’t had time to watch them. So, I watched last month’s episodes, but

I have not seen this one. So, this one, this month I am behind.

And if you’re moving from maybe being behind to being up to date, we call this getting

caught up. So, when you’re caught up with a TV show, it means maybe you watched three

or four episodes at one time so you could get caught up with the story, so you know

what’s happening again. So, you’re behind. You’re getting caught up. Or, you’re up

to date with something.

Now, this is the same thing, not just useful for TV shows, but anything where you’re

behind, like, I’m behind on my work or I’m behind on some project I’m doing or I’m

behind on, uh, you know, reading some kind of book some kind of homework that I have

to do. So, usually some kind of assignment or something that you have to do. I’m behind

on my taxes. I’m behind on my payment, so I didn’t actually pay for something when

I should have, uh, and now I’m behind. So, now I’m getting caught up, so I’m trying

to get back to where I should be to, uh, to get up to date about a particular thing.

Now, you’ll also hear us talk about originals and exclusives. So, original programming means

a company that’s producing their own shows like Amazon. Instead of buying shows from

other companies, they would produce their own. So, the same thing with Netflix. Instead

of having their own programming, they would produce originals. And when they have things

like this, often they make these things exclusive. So, this is exclusive content, meaning you

can only watch it on their network. Exclusive.

Next, you can talk about a show airing or a show coming on. So, the phrasal verb is

to come on. You can ask your friends, “Oh, when does that show come on?” Or, “When

is it on?” So, when is it on TV or on whatever? Uh, but you can talk about the, the show is

airing on a particular time. Usually, the more professional industry term for that is

to air a TV show, but casually and conversational, we talk about a show being on or coming on

at a certain time.

And related to this, you can talk about when did it come out. So, coming out means the

start of a TV show. So, I could say, well, the show comes on. So, I’m talking about

when the episodes come on. Maybe the episodes come on every week at 7:30 on Wednesday. Uh,

but the show came out four years ago. So, the show has been running for four years.

Now, for watching, as I mentioned before about being behind or getting caught up. You can

also watch a whole bunch of episodes or a bunch of movies at the same time. We call

this binge-watching or a marathon session. So, to have a movie marathon or a TV show

marathon. Just like you’re running in a marathon, running for a long time. This is

the relaxing, lazy version of the marathon where you’re watching something, just for

a long period of time. Many things, all together. A movie marathon or a movie-binge session.

Also, very quickly, we talked about the different mediums, the different, uh, or different media,

the way these are distributed. So, Netflix and things like Hulu or HBO Go, other, or

if it is called HBO Go, uh, different streaming services, these are things that are online.

Uh, kind of the, the, like, the evolution of these things, we used to have network television.

So, we still do, but network, usually, these are just the main, kind of, TV networks in

an area. Uh, and then we had cable, which is a specific, uh, kind of extra channels

that you can buy if you have a hookup. So, that, we call this cable because it’s physically

connected by a cable. And then you have satellite, which is people using particular satellite

dishes to have even more channels of things like that. Uh, but these are basically what

we have now. So, we have network, cable, uh, satellite and streaming.

Now, we also talked about distribution rights. Distribution rights. To distribute something

is where can you play that particular show. So, what network or what streaming service,

uh, and one company might have the right to, uh, play a movie or show a TV show, uh, on

its network. But not have that for a different movie or TV show. The distribution rights.

Finally, we have on the edge of my seat. On the edge of my seat. When you’re on the

edge of your seat, if you’re watching a movie and you’re kind of bored or maybe

it’s not very interesting for you, you’re kind of sitting back and enjoying it. But

if something is really holding your interest, it’s getting you very excited. You lean

forward. You’re on the edge of your seat, really excited about something. So, this is

the physical idea of that.

And you can be, any time you’re really excited to see what happens or you’re interested

in something, you’re on the edge of your seat. So, even some friends of mine, uh, will

they get married? Will they not get married? They have, just, like, an interesting relationship

and all of our friends are talking about that. What will happen? We’re on the edge of our

seat about that. The edge of our seat.

Well, that’s it for this lesson. I hope you have enjoyed it. The last thing I will

leave you with is just really understanding about practicing with movies and TV shows.

Learning with movies and TV shows is a great thing to do. Uh, the same way learning with

books or even comic books as well. Uh, it’s teaching you the vocabulary, but also teaching

you a lot of the culture. So, when you can spend time learning with movies and TV shows,

that’s great. Obviously, the best thing you can do with your time is learning with

actual conversations because when you learn with real conversations the way you do in

a program like ours, you’re actually getting to see real people talking.

So, in movies and TV shows, people have practiced things, they’re scripted conversations,

and you don’t see lots of mistakes or people talking over each other, as well or as, kind

of not well, as we do naturally. So, remember to mix all these different things the same

way natives are learning. The more you can do things the way natives do, the more you

will sound like a native.

I'm Drew Badger, the founder of EnglishAnyone.com, and thanks so much for learning with me today.

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