The Short Transcript Challenge II: Doomsday Pompeii

This is the other video you already know, and which originated work with short transcriptions. Prepare for the exhibition and hone your listening skills with this tiny video:

Doomsday Pompeii

Enjoy!

The Short Transcript Challenge I: The Heart of the Empire

Since some of you were keen enough to send me your versions of some transcripts, I propose comparing them here.

So, for the next entries, and probably from time to time when I find suitable videos, we'll carry out The Short Transcript Challenge (fanfare!)

The procedure is very simple. Just write down your version in the comments and compare with others. I'll include mine, probably on a separate window. I suggest that you check with other people's versions before correction, but to do that, we need some active participation!

We start with your already known The heart of the Empire. If you didn't participate during last week, now's the moment! Very interesting new vocabulary for the people that did it then, don't miss the chance of learning it too.

Enjoy!

Conditional hunt: the size of the universe

Back from a long break...

What's a conditional hunt? Well, in this blog, it is an activity that consists in finding as many conditional clauses as possible in one single video. The function of conditional clauses and hypothesis here, particularly at the end of the video, is to try to explain a concept in terms that we can understand. Given that the size of the universe is impossible for us to picture, Pete Edwards of the University of Durham resorts to an imaginary situation:

Supposing our galaxy were the size of a grain of sand, how big would the universe be?


So, let's open our ears! Go to the link above and try to find as many conditionals as possible! The solution, coming up in the comments. But don't forget to contribute with your own comments, telling us how many you found!

A nice idiomatic expression to start the video : "you'll never get your head around how big the universe is"

to get your head (a)round something: to be able to understand or accept something (OALD)

Occupy London protesters evicted

Hello there!

This is the video on Occupy London protesters being evicted from St Paul's on Tuesday. Some of you did this comprehension in class; in that case this will give you the chance to watch it again or check your answers with the key in a couple of days.

There's some vocabulary on law and order here, as well as some interesting expressions like "it's a shadow of its former self". Can you spot it? What do you think it means?

These are the comprehension questions:

1. Why is it certain that they are going to be evicted?
2. When are they going to leave?
3. How do they interpret the eviction?
4. How has the movement expanded?
5. What's the purpose of taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights?

Please give your answers in the comments! Thank you!

The Northern Lights

Hello for our videos of the month of February!

As some of you probably know, the 24th of January brought us a wonderful present in the form of a coronal mass ejection, which makes northern lights more common. A good moment to take all your savings and head to the Arctic Circle to enjoy one of the wonders of nature!

This video is a preview of the BBC series Wonders of the Solar System, with Professor Brian Cox (of whom I am an alleged fan). So here you have Brian Cox looking up into the skies again...

Questions (answers in the comments, transcription coming in a few days):

1. Why did they go to the Arctic Circle on snowmobiles?

2. How likely is it for them to watch an aurora that night?

3. Where are the film images taken from?

4. What does the energy from the solar wind do?

5. How does Prof. Brian Cox describe the aurora?

Enjoy it! The beauty of the night sky again... Magical.

Update: the full transcript of this video.

Lunar New Year traditions

China celebrates the end of the lunar New Year celebrations with the Lantern Festival, on the 15th day of the first moon. That day is... tomorrow, February the 6th, the first full moon of their calendar.

This tradition is also held in other countries, but we're going to concentrate on China to watch again the video on New Year celebrations you received last month. By the way, in some regions this particular festival is also a lovers' day, a sort of St Valentine's Day!

Here are the comprehension questions:

1. Make a list of adverb + adjective collocations in the video.

2. How long have they been celebrating the lunar New Year?

3. What did they use the colour red, bright light and loud noise for?

4. Why did they fear the New Year?

5. What was the family reunion for?

6. When did the Chinese adopt the Gregorian calendar?

7. What's the traditional Chinese calendar?

8. What do they hang from windows? What for?

9. What do the fish and chicken stand for (represent)?

10. What's the origin of the Lantern Festival?

Enjoy the video and, if you get the chance, the lunar New Year too!

The Artist

Hi again!

I promised a little activity with this short video on the film The Artist. The interviewees are French speakers so it helps to get a grasp of different non-native accents in English.

As an initial activity I asked you to pay attention to the actress' intonation patterns (she has a very native-like musicality to her speech); in this case I'm providing you with some gapped sentences for comprehension practice. Please note that there may be more than one word in each gap, and that the wording of the sentences will usually vary from that of the video. Please make your answers fit the gapped sentence regarding grammar, negative/positive statements, tenses, etc.

Enjoy the video, and the film if you're planning to watch it! I did, and I had a great time. If you want to forget about everything for some hour and a half, this is the film to watch, if you ask me!

Please comment to share your answers with the rest of us!

The male protagonist is described as a joker, a seducer and a man who is (1)___________________ .

The female protagonist falls in love with him and remains (2)_____________________ even when he’s no longer a movie star.

The director had wanted to film a silent movie for (3)_____________________ .

To him, the most amazing thing about the format is (4)_____________________ the audience. It allows them to (5)_____________________ so many things, from the (6)_____________________ of the voices to the sounds of the (7)_____________________ and (8)_____________________ .

Participating in the film OSS (where these actors had previously worked with the director Michel Hazanavicius) was helpful to Bérénice because she had (9)_____________________ before. Jean, however, did not prepare (10)_____________________ differently.