Movies

Movies - Asking Friend

In this section we will work on the planning aspect of watching a movie. In other Movie sections, we will cover discussing a movie, types of movies, etc.

Since this is the first Movie section, let me take a quick minute to explain how to find out movie times and how to pay for tickets in America. It's very similar and simple.

First, you need to find out what time a show is playing. In most cases, this is done by checking the internet. Usually, you type in the zip code and all the theatres in that area will display all the movies and movie times for that week. After you have chosen the movie to see, you need to buy the ticket. There are some places you can buy on-line, but it isn't that popular yet. You can go to the theatre before the movie starts and buy it at the theatre. The only thing you need to know how to say is the movie name and the movie time. Here is a quick example. Let's say you are watching the Titanic at 3:00. You walk up to the counter and say, 'Titanic. Three o'clock.' Wasn't that easy? Finally, big block buster movies usually sell out of tickets very quickly. So if you want to see it on opening day, it is wise to go to the theatre right when it opens and buy the tickets in advance.

Before you watch a movie, you need to plan ahead with friends. Either you are asking a friend to watch a movie, or you are answering. In either case, we will cover it here.

The following questions and statements are used when asking a friend to watch a movie.

"Hey John, do you want to (wanna) go see a movie tonight?"
"I'm going to watch Terminator 2. Do you wanna join?"
"Let's go see The Matrix tomorrow."
"What time should we meet at the theatre?"
"Let's watch a movie after dinner."
"The Titanic is coming out this Friday. Let's go see it."

If there are not enough details, a response can be in a question form. Here are a couple of examples.

"Who is all going?"
"Who are you watching it with?"
"Where are you watching it?"
"What time are you watching the movie?"

Normal answers:

"That sounds great."
"I always wanted to see that. Let's go."
"Let's meet at the theatre at four o'clock."
"Sure. Do you wanna eat lunch together before the movie?"

"I've already seen that movie. What else is playing?"
"I can't. I have to work that night."
"That movie sounds scary. I don't like horror movies."
"I really don't like the actors. I'm going to pass."

Movies - Example Conversation

Let's look at a couple of example conversations before going to the practice section.

Person A: "Hey John, I'm going to see The Matrix with Peter and Brad. Do you wanna come?"
Person B: "When are you guys going?"
Person A: "We're going to see the eight O'clock showing."
Person B: "That would be great. Where are you guys meeting?"
Person A: "We're meeting at the theatre at seven thirty."
Person B: "Great. I'll meet you guys there."

Person A: "Hey Jill."
Person B: "What's up Mike?"
Person A: "I was wondering if you have any plans for tomorrow night."
Person B: "Umm... I don't think I have anything special for tomorrow. Why?"
Person A: "Do you want to see The Titanic with me?"
Person B: "I wanted to see that. Yeah. Let's go."
Person A: "What time is good for you?"
Person B: "How about seven thirty."
Person A: "Sure. I'll meet you at the theatre at seven.

Movies - Interactive Practice Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.  1 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "I hear Batman is supposed to be good. Do you want to go see it tomorrow?" B: "I have to eat dinner with my family tomorrow." A: "We can watch the late show. I think it starts at nine forty five." B: "That would be great." A: "What time can you be at the theatre by?" B: "I can be there by 9:15." A: "Ok. I'll meet you there." 2 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "What are you doing tomorrow?" B: "Nothing really." A: "Let's watch a movie or something." B: "What's on these days?" A: "I think they're playing Lord of the Rings" B: "That sounds pretty good. Let's watch that." A: "Where should we meet?" B: "How about at the subway entrance." A: "Aright. I'll meet you there at one o'clock." 3 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "Hey Steve, what are you doing these days?" B: "Just working. The same as usual." A: "Have you seen Shiri?" B: "No. I haven't seen that yet." A: "Let's go watch it tomorrow. It's a weekend and you should take a break." B: "Well, to think of it, that sounds great." A: "I'll give you a call tomorrow about noon and let you know the time." B: "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow." A: "See you." 4 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "What should we do this Saturday?" B: "Rocky six is suppose to come out this Friday." A: "Yeah, but I don't know if it is going to be any good." B: "The only reason I want to see it is because I have seen the previous five." A: "True. Ok. Let's see it this Saturday." B: "How about we hook up for lunch at 12:00, and then go see the movie afterwards." A: "Sounds like a plan. Let's meet in front of Tower Records at 12:00."

Movie Types - Comedy and Horror

Comedy: Funny movies with many jokes or actors acting in a funny way.

"I love all types of comedy because I love to laugh."
"Comedy is my favorite because it is very entertaining to me."
"I like comedy that makes fun of political things."
"Comedy is so hilarious that I always enjoy watching them."

Romantic Comedy: Funny movies with a strong romantic theme. Opposite to action because usually guys like action and the ladies like Romantic comedies.

"Many people view romantic comedy movies as chick-flicks."

Chick = girl
Flick = movie

Chick-Flick = a girly type of movie; a movie a girl will like; 'take your girlfriend to' type of movie... or something like that.

"Romantic comedy is funny movies that involve a lot of romance."
"I love all the story lines of romantic comedy movies."

Horror: Scary movies that will give you nightmares for 3 months.

"When I was a little kid, I couldn't sleep because of horror movies."
"Horror movies are not scary anymore."
"I have yet to see a movie that really scares me."
"I hate horror movies because I cannot sleep."
"I always have nightmares after watching horror movies so I try to avoid them."

Movie Types - Other Types

Science Fiction: Futuristic movies like star wars, star trek, theme of time travel, superhuman powers, etc.

"Many science fiction movies are about the future."
"The success of a science fiction movie is usually dependent on how much they spend on special effects."
"After watching a science fiction movie such as star wars, I always wish I lived in the future."
"Gene Rodenberry and George Lucas are two great people in the Science Fiction world."

Suspense (Thriller): A movie that intentionally keeps you in a heightened state.

"I am always on the edge of my seat when I watch suspenseful movies."
"I can't stand to watch suspenseful movies because my stomach always gets upset."
"The suspense just kills me."
"It's so exciting to watch a suspense movie."

Western: Old time cowboy movies

"Western movies are not so popular anymore."
"Client Eastwood was a popular western actor."
"Western movies show a little bit about the United States during the early years."
"After watching The Last Samurai, I always hoped an Asian country will make a movie called The Last Cowboy."

Commentary / Non-Fiction: Educational and true.

"Commentaries and non-fiction films are usually educational."
"Non-profit organizations usually create commentaries supported by the government."
"Popular non-fiction films are about chimpanzees and gorillas"
"Sometimes non-fiction films are sad because of the hidden truth that is revealed."

Movie Types - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 

1

Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B

A: "What type of movies do you like?" B: "I like comedies. How about you?" A: "I like action." B: "Action is fun too."

2

Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B

A: "What type of movies do you like?" B: "I like all sorts of movies, primarily drama and science fiction." A: "That's an interesting combination. How about western movies?" B: "Western and horror are the two types of movies I don't care for." A: "Why don't you like horror? They're entertaining." B: "Some are entertaining, but I find most of them stupid and childish. For example, I don't understand why a person always goes into the house alone when something is suspicious." A: "Ha ha. I know what you mean. But it's just a movie. They need for the characters to do that."

3

Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B

A: "Hey, you wanna see a movie tomorrow?" B: "Sounds like a good plan. What do you want to see?" A: "How about Legally Blonde." B: "Ah, my girlfriend wanted to see that movie. I have to take her later so I don't want to watch it ahead of time. How about The Cube?" A: "Isn't that a scary movie?" B: "How scary can it be? Come on, it'll be fun." A: "Ok. I'll give it a try." B: "That's the spirit. I'll see you tomorrow after class." A: "Ok. See you tomorrow."

Movie Discussion - General Statements

In this movie section, we are going to have discussions about movies that we already saw. This is useful because whenever we come out of a movie theatre, we always ask our friends what we thought about the movie. Sometimes, it's a simple answer such as, 'It was alright.' But sometimes, a good discussion can arise from a great movie. Let's get started...

Every time I finish watching a movie, I either ask someone, or someone asks me, "What did you think about the movie?" For the most part, the answer is a simple one line sentence:

"It was alright."
"It could have been better."
"It was pretty good."
"I liked it."
"It was entertaining."
"It was so stupid I almost fell asleep."
"Lame"
"Boring"
"Too unrealistic"

I can go on for a long time describing movies. I have listed a few so you get an idea how to answer simple movie questions.

Besides simple one line answers, there are a few reasons we need to say other things. It is because either we didn't understand something, want to describe a scene we liked, want to describe a scene that was stupid, or simply go on and on about how great the movie was.

Movie Discussion - General Statements In this movie section, we are going to have discussions about movies that we already saw. This is useful because whenever we come out of a movie theatre, we always ask our friends what we thought about the movie. Sometimes, it's a simple answer such as, 'It was alright.' But sometimes, a good discussion can arise from a great movie. Let's get started... Every time I finish watching a movie, I either ask someone, or someone asks me, "What did you think about the movie?" For the most part, the answer is a simple one line sentence: "It was alright." "It could have been better." "It was pretty good." "I liked it." "It was entertaining." "It was so stupid I almost fell asleep." "Lame" "Boring" "Too unrealistic" I can go on for a long time describing movies. I have listed a few so you get an idea how to answer simple movie questions.

Movie Discussion - Describing a Movie

Didn't understand:

"Do you remember the scene when Mary walked into the dining room? Why was she carrying a knife? She didn't use it and the cameras focused on it."
"I can't understand why she betrayed him. The whole movie concentrated on her trust and loyalty. It just doesn't make sense."

Good Scene:

"I love the scene when Russell Crowe showed his face to the emperor after the first gladiator fight."
"What did you think about the last fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith in the rain?"
"The courtroom scene between Jodie Foster and Richard Gere was absolutely amazing."

Great Movie:

"That was such a cool movie. It was the best movie I've seen in a long time."
"Anytime I see a great movie I tend to look at my watch often. That's because I don't want the movie to end."
"The movie was great. I liked everything about it. I'm definitely going to buy the dvd."

Situational questions:

"What would you have done? Would you have taken the million dollars and give up your wife for a night?"
"Would you choose money and fame, or family and stability?"

Some movies are known to be 'based on a true story.' These types of movies are very interesting because they actually happened. The only reason they are not considered to be a non-fiction movie is because the director or writer will add some scenes that didn't happen, or change some facts around so the movie is more appealing to the masses.

A conversation can start from movies such as Schindler's List. When coming out of a theatre, I heard a couple talk briefly about this.

"What did you think about the movie?"
"I thought it was great. It was very powerful."
"How much of it do you think was true?"
"I learned about Germany and World War II in one of my classes, and this movie showed everything I learned from class."
"Wow. It's amazing that these things have happened in our history."

Movie Discussion - Example Dialog

As of this writing, the latest movie I saw was The Last Samurai. After the movie, I had a meal with a couple of people. We had a good discussion due to this movie. It is difficult to specifically teach what you will need to know about movie conversations because every movie will require different words and sentences. The only thing I can do here is to give ideas and couple of examples about movie conversations. So this is not really going to be a practice section, but a chance to hear a real conversation from a movie. You can click on each individual sentence, or you can click on the link provided below to hear a real life conversation.

Listen to the conversation

A: "Did you like the movie?"
B: "It was better than I thought."
C: "I liked it."
A: "The movie didn't have many cheesy or stupid scenes."
B: "Yeah. I'm glad that they didn't have any love scenes. Sometimes a love scene destroys a good movie."
C: "I thought the scene where the girl was washing her hair and Tom Cruise came to say good bye was stupid. Why did they have that there? It didn't make sense."
B: "I agree. They didn't need that scene."
A: "I don't see the harm in that scene. They didn't do anything or show anything. What's the big deal?"
C: "When you are talking about good movies versus great movies, each and every scene counts."
A: "That's true."
B: "But besides those one or two scenes, the movie was great."
A: "I liked everything about it. I really liked the samurai that was beating up Cruise in the beginning of the movie. The guy second in command. He was cool too."
B: "Every movie has a guy like him. They try to make him awesome even though they don't say much."
C: "I don't understand why Tom Cruise went back to that village. If he was the only survivor, wouldn't that make everyone suspicious about where his loyalty lies?"
A: "It was clear in the movie that he loved the place and the samurais. Clearly everyone knows that he isn't a traitor. I would have done the same thing in his position."
B: "I think so too."
C: "But isn't it suspicious that he is the only survivor."
A: "Well, all the samurais were looking for a death in battle. Cruise wasn't."
C: "But only the boss received the satisfaction of being killed with the sword. Nobody else did."
A: "True."
B: "What are we going to order?"
C: "I am going to have a chicken burger because of the Mad Cow disease."
A: "Me too."
B: "I'm just having a soup and salad."

Favorite - What's your Favorite

The word favorite is used a lot in spoken English. It is very common to talk about your favorite things with your friends or acquaintances. Topics can range from favorite movies, favorite TV shows, favorite food, favorite cars, etc. Since there are so many favorite things in the world, you should pay close attention to this lesson.

Asking questions is the most common way to use the word favorite:

"Who is your favorite singer?"
"Who is your favorite person?"
"Who is your favorite athlete?"
"Who was your favorite ex-girlfriend?"
"Who was your favorite elementary teacher?"

Are you following me? It's very easy. Just change the word at the end and you can make dozens of sentences.

"What is your favorite show?"
"What is your favorite movie?"
"What is your favorite dessert?"
"What is your favorite program?"
"What is your favorite class?"
"What is your favorite game?"
"What was the title of your favorite song?"
"What was the name of your favorite sit-com?"

We used 'who' and 'what' in our sentences. It's possible to use 'where', 'how', and 'when', but the most common is 'what' and 'who'.

I'll provide a couple of sentences for the other words.

"Where is your favorite vacation spot?"
"When is your favorite time of day?"
"How is your favorite noodles cooked?"

It's not common, because even though it is grammatically incorrect, you can ask the same question with 'what'

"What is your favorite vacation spot?"
"What is your favorite time of day?"

Nobody is really going to notice and it's not a big deal. After this lesson is over, I suggest practicing with 'what' and 'who', but don't bother with the others. It's not as important.

Favorite - Answering Questions

To answer these types of questions, it is very easy. All you have to do is change 'your' to 'my', repeat the last portion of the question and add your answer. We'll practice a couple of times.

"What is your favorite show?"
"My favorite show is Smurfs."

"What is your favorite movie?"
"My favorite movie is Matrix."

"What is your favorite dessert?"
"My favorite dessert is cheesecake."

"Who is your favorite singer?"
"My favorite singer is Josh Groban."

"Who is your favorite athlete?"
"My favorite athlete is Tiger Woods."

"Who was your favorite elementary teacher?"
"My favorite elementary teacher was Mrs. Smouse."

Different ways to ask about favorite things

You don't necessarily have to use the word favorite. Favorite basically means what you like the most. So, you can ask favorite questions without the word favorite.

"What do you like to eat the most?"
"My favorite food is ice cream."

"What is a childhood memory that stands out?"
"My favorite childhood memory is a time I went fishing with my dad."

"Which professor do you like the most?"
"My favorite professor is Professor Kim."

Likewise, you can answer questions without using the word favorite.

"What is your favorite baseball team?"
"I like Seattle Mariners the most."

"What is your favorite type of food?"
"I love Italian food... especially pasta. They are so good."

"Who is your favorite music group?"
"I really enjoy listening to Depeche Mode."

Favorite - Interactive Practice Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.  1 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "What are you doing tomorrow?" B: "I'm going to stay home and watch the video." A: "What are you going to watch?" B: "I rented Last of the Mohican. Have you seen it?" A: "That was one of my favorite movies. You will not be disappointed." 2 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "What's your favorite food?" B: "I like Chinese food the most." A: "Have you been to the Chinese restaurant on 44th street." B: "No I haven't. Is it any good?" A: "It's my favorite Chinese restaurant. I believe you will like it." B: "That sounds great. Let's go." 3 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "Hey Jack. How were your classes this semester?" B: "They were not too bad. I really dig/liked my poli-science class." A: "Would you consider it your favorite class?" B: "I don't know if I would call it my favorite, but it ranks up there." A: "What class was your favorite then?" B: "I took a business communication class last year and it was terrific." A: "I never took that yet. If that was your favorite, I think I will check it out."

Hobby - Questions and Answers

Hobbies are a hot topic anytime. Similar to favorite things, hobbies are favorite things that you do. This is a small section so let's get started.

Questions you can ask:

"What are your hobbies?"
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"What do you like to do?"
"What do you like to do for fun?"
"If you had extra time, what would you do with it?"

There is not much else you can say. Remember that we can create many different sentences, but we want to use what is most common in spoken English. So we need to stay with the most common words.

Answering questions:

"My hobbies consist of golfing, reading novels, and watching movies."
"I like to play computer games in my free time."
"If I'm not working, then I'm busy chatting with people on the Internet."
"During my spare time, I like to cook."
"I like to read magazines."
"In the summer I play golf, and in the winter, I go skiing."
"I love every type of sports."

Making statements:

"I need to find a hobby. I have nothing to do all day."
"Maybe you wouldn't be so lonely if you had a hobby."
"Hobbies are great because it allows you to do what you enjoy."
"Although I have many hobbies, I wish I had more time to do more."
"I love to go snowboarding. It's exhilarating."
"I would go skiing more often, but it takes such a long time to go up to the mountains."
"I wish golfing wasn't so expensive. I would golf almost everyday if I could afford it."

Hobby - Various Q&A

"If you had all the money in the world, what would you do?"
"I would probably find some hobbies and join an organization that works for a good cause."

"You just stay home most of the week. Don't you ever get bored?"
"A lot of my hobbies are things I do by myself such as oil painting, sculpting, and drawing. So actually, I have a lot to do with not enough time."

"I'm so bored. I have nothing to do."
"Maybe you should start thinking about some hobbies."

"Is studying considered a hobby?"
"Studying is usually associated with school and work, so it's not usually considered a hobby. But if it's not for these purposes, then I guess it can be a hobby. That's just my opinion though."

"What do you do in your spare time?"
"I do a lot of writing, so I write every chance I get."

Like many topics in English, a conversation will go towards the content of the conversation. So let's review with longer dialogs in practice.

Hobby - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 

1

Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B

A: "Hey Bob. Whatcha you doing?" B: "I'm at home painting." A: "I didn't know you paint. What type of painting is it?" B: "I enjoy oil painting. I learned it in one of my extra classes in college." A: "That sounds so interesting. I wish I learned a hobby." B: "Hobbies are never too late to learn. They offer a variety of classes at the local community college. You should look into it." A: "I think I will. Thanks for the info."

2

Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B

A: "Hey Joanne. What are you up to?" B: "I'm just watching some television." A: "I'm so bored. I don't know what I'm going to do today and it is only ten in the morning." B: "Me too. Do you think we are boring people?" A: "I don't think we are boring. It's just that we don't have any hobbies." B: "That's right. What do you think we should do as a hobby?" A: "That all depends on what you like to do. For example, I like to doodle on the notepad, so I'm thinking about doing some real drawings." B: "I like to play the piano for fun." A: "Yeah. That can be a good hobby." B: "Hobbies are great. I'm going to make a list of all the things I like to do." A: "That's a great idea. I'm going to do the same."

Exercise - Questions

There are various types of exercise. Some people might think walking is exercise, and some other people will think weight lifting is exercise. In the next couple of lessons, we will take a closer look at various types of exercise.

Exercising can be done in many different ways. Here is a small list to get us started:

Walking
Jogging
Running
Sports
Aerobics
Rowing (boat)
Commuting to work
Etc.

Here are some questions.

"Do you exercise at all?"
"Do you work out?"
"What type of exercising do you do?"
"Where is a good place to exercise?"
"Why don't you exercise?"
"Where do you usually jog?"
"How long do you take a walk for?"
"How often do you jog?"
"Where do you do aerobics?"
"How long do you usually run for everyday?"

Exercise - Walking Jogging and More

Walking:
"Every morning right when I get up, I like to take a thirty minute walk."
"I like to take walks with my dog."
"Golf is a healthy sport because of all the walking it requires."
"I heard from some doctors that walking is the healthiest form of exercise."
"There's a trail by my house that is a perfect 20 minute walk."
"We usually go to a nearby lake and walk around it."

Jogging:
"Every night, I go to an elementary school across from my house and jog a few laps around the playground."
"I go jogging in the morning when the air is still fresh."
"Some people find jogging stressful, but I find it as a way to relieve some of my stress."
"It feels so good after jogging for half an hour."
"I usually jog on a treadmill because it's convenient."

Sports: We will have another more comprehensive lesson on sports in a different lesson.
"I usually play a lot of basketball"
"I get enough exercise from soccer."
"I like to play sports because it is a good form of exercise and allows me to have fun all at the same time."
"Although bowling is a sport, I don't consider it a form of exercise."
"I play volleyball a couple hours a day."
"I practice baseball with my school team everyday."
"I'm in my high school's track and field team. I'm a long distance runner."
"I don't play soccer because it requires too much running."
"Running constantly is a hard thing to do."

Others:
"Aerobics is an excellent form of exercise."
"I use a video at home to do my aerobic sessions."
"I like to do aerobics because it targets specific areas."
"I get my exercise from rowing. I'm on the junior varsity crew team."
"I ride my bicycle to work every day."
"I take the stairs because it gives me a little bit of a work out."
"I go to the local park and ride my rollerblades."

Exercise - US Culture

Having lived in the United States and Korea, I realized one big thing immediately.

In Korea, I have to do a lot of walking. When I went to school or to work, I had to leave my house, walk to the bus stop or the subway which takes about 10-15 minutes, get off at my destination, and walk the rest of the way, which is another 15 minutes. Total time walking is about 25 minutes. This translates to 50 minutes a day round trip, and about 3-4 kilometers everyday. I didn't even know it, but I was exercising.

In America, everyone has a car. While going to work here, I literally walk about 7 minutes a day. That's a total distance of 300 meters. The reason is because I only have to walk to my car. I drive to work, and then I walk from the parking lot to my office. So, I realized I was gaining weight without having changed anything except the walking I wasn't doing.

I suppose that is why in America there is a big hype about exercising and losing weight. If you don't want to, you don't have to walk anywhere or exercise at all. In Korea, walking is part of the daily routine. So although you don't need to know this lesson as much as other lessons, it will still help when talking to foreigners about this subject. Let's continue with the lesson by doing the practice.

In the next exercise lesson, we will learn about speaking English in relation to working out in the gym

Exercise - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 

1

Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B

A: "Hey Michael. Where are you going?" B: "No where special. I was just taking a walk." A: "What for?" B: "To get a little exercise. I'm so out of shape." A: "Hey, I play basketball with a bunch of friends twice a week. It's great exercise and it's fun too. Why don't you come out and play with us?" B: "That sounds great. Give me a call next time you guys play."

2

Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B

A: "All I do all day is work and watch TV. I really should start thinking about my health." B: "I never thought about that, but you're right. What do you think we should do?" A: "For starters, we should start doing more outdoor activities. That way we'll get some exercise." B: "I was thinking about taking tennis lessons. I always have an hour to spare in the afternoon. What do you think about that?" A: "That's not a bad idea. How much is it?" B: "I heard it is only about one hundred twenty dollars a month for 8 lessons." A: "Playing tennis twice a week will be a good start. Count me in."

Exercise Gym - Lifting Weights

Popular types of exercising are conducted in the gym or health club. When I refer to a gym, I am implying a health club. Two common types of exercising in the gym are working out / lifting weights, or using machines such as treadmills, bicycle machines, step machines, etc. It's common for guys to get together and talk about lifting weights. Likewise, girls get together and discuss the best methods to lose weight. In this lesson, we are going to lay the ground work on talking about exercising in the gym.

Lifting weights

Professional weight lifters are called body builders. But since the number of body builders are not significant, we are going to concentrate more on regular weight lifting.

I don't lift weights, but when I see a friend who is noticeably bigger due to lifting weights, these are the types of things I say.

"Have you been lifting?"

You do not need to say lifting weights. When you say lifting, it's understood that you are talking about weights.

"You got big man."
"How long have you been lifting?"

Other terminologies for lifting weights are:

Pumping Iron
Pressing Iron
Pressing Weights
Working Out
Weight Training
Hitting the Gym

Exercise Gym - Questions and Answers

Here are some questions you can ask.

"Where do you work out?"
"What club do you work out at?"
"When do you usually work out?"
"How often do you work out?"
"How many hours do you work out in a day?"

To ask how they work out or what their routine is, you can ask:

"When you bench, how many reps and sets do you do?"

Reps are repetition. In weight lifting terminology, this means how many times they lift in one set.

"Do you do low reps with heavy weights, or many reps with light weight."
"How many sets do you do when you work out your arms?"

If you are the person being asked these questions, here are ways you can answer:

"I work out at 24 Hour Fitness"
"I work out at Bally's"
"I work out at Samsung Health Club"

"I started lifting weights about 2 years ago."
"I have been lifting weights for about 2 years now."
"I just started 9 months ago."

"I usually work out 2 hours a day 4 times a week."
"I work out everyday for an hour."
"I go to the gym 3 times a week."
"I go in every other day."

"I can bench press 220 pounds."
"I squat 400 pounds."
"I curl 90 pounds."

"I'm trying to gain bulk so I'm doing low reps with heavy weights."
"I'm trying to get ripped, so I'm doing a lot of repetitions."

Ripped means to get lines to show up in the muscles. It's called ripped because when you rip a piece of paper, you see a line in the paper where the tear is. So a person is ripped when you can see lines on his body due to muscles.

Exercise Gym - Other Methods

Other ways to work out in a health club

Many people lift weights in the health club, but many people also go to lose weight using machines such as the treadmill and bicycle machines.

Here are some things you can say in a conversation if you fall into this category.

"When I go to the health club, I usually spend 30 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the bicycle, and finally 10 minutes on the step master."

"There is no place to run in the city, so I have to do my running on the treadmill."
"It always rains around here so I like to exercise in the gym."
"I usually use the treadmill, but I try to work on the nautilus machines at least twice a week."

"My wife exercises four times a week."
"My husband can't last 10 minutes on the step machine."

Exercise Gym - Interactive Practice Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.  1 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "What do you do besides work and watching TV?" B: "When I have some time, I like to exercise." A: "Do you go jogging or do you go to a health club?" B: "I joined Samsung Health Club a couple of months ago." A: "How do you exercise?" B: "I usually spend 30 minutes on the bicycle for the cardio, and then I lift weight for about 45 minutes." A: "How often do you go?" B: "I want to go four times a week, but I'm too lazy. Last week, I only went to workout once." 2 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "Hey Jimmy. Let's go workout later today." B: "Sure. What time do you want to go?" A: "How about at 3:30." B: "That sounds good. Today we work on Legs and forearm." A: "Hey. I just played basketball earlier, so my legs are a little sore. Let's work out on arms and stomach today." B: "I'm on a weekly schedule. You're messing everything up." A: "C'mon. We're only switching two days. You can do legs on Friday." B: "Aright. I'll meet you at the gym at 3:30 then." 3 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "Damn Scott. You got big." B: "Yeah, I've been working out a lot." A: "How long have you been lifting weights?" B: "For a year and a half." A: "Yeah. Last time I saw you, it was like 2 years ago." B: "Has it been that long?" A: "How often do you go to the gym?" B: "I usually go every other day for about 3 hours." A: "That's a lot." B: "Yeah, I used to work out for an hour a day 4 times a week, and I saw no results. This is what you have to do to get noticeable results." A: "I don't think I have the discipline for that." B: "Just think of it as a hobby. Then it's actually fun."

Intro and General Things Review

This review section is going to incorporate every lesson we had so far.

We are not learning anything new here, but the sentences and topics will be selected randomly from previous lessons. If you feel you have done poorly after the first grouping of questions, please stop and go through the lessons you failed to answer. The only way you will completely master English is through persistence, hard work, and repetition. You are judging yourself, so be honest. The rule of thumb is that if you cannot answer a question relatively quickly, you need more practice.

General Things Review - Interactive Practice Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.  1 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "How are you doing?" B: "I'm doing great." A: "What movies have you seen lately?" B: "I saw Forrest Gump the other day." A: "What type of movie is that?" B: "The movie type is drama." A: "I can't believe you are watching movies. The weather is great. You should be outside." B: "I hate the hot weather. I'd rather stay indoors with the air conditioner." A: "What else do you like to do besides watching movies?" B: "I like to play computer games, read books, go shopping, and play pool." A: "Out of those what is your favorite?" B: "My favorite is to play computer games." A: "What is your favorite computer game?" B: "My favorite is Diablo. It used to be Star Craft, but it is getting a little old." A: "If you like to play so much, when do you ever exercise?" B: "Although I hate to exercise, I go jogging at least twice a week." A: "That's pretty good. By the way, what are you doing next Saturday?" B: "I am going to go to the bookstore." A: "I am having a party Saturday night at my house. If you have time, you should come." B: "That sounds like fun." A: "Great. I'll see you on Saturday." B: "Ok. See you later." 2 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "Hello?" B: "Hi Steve. This is Mike. What are you doing?" A: "Oh, hi. I was just watching TV." B: "There's nothing to watch right now." A: "I know. I was watching a re-run. I have nothing to do and I was bored." B: "Me too. Let's get together and do something." A: "I'd like to, but I have to meet my parents in an hour for dinner. How about tomorrow?" B: "Yeah. Let's plan something tomorrow." A: "Did you hear the weather forecast for tomorrow?" B: "I think it is going to be the same as today. Clear and sunny." A: "That's great. We can do something outdoors then." B: "Are there any special events going on tomorrow?" A: "Yeah. I think there's a live outdoor concert by the river tomorrow." B: "Oh yeah. I heard about that too. Let's go check it out." A: "Do you know what time it starts?" B: "It starts at one PM." A: "Let's meet for lunch at eleven thirty and afterwards, we can head over there." B: "Perfect. I'll see you in front of the apartment at eleven thirty." 3 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "Steve. Is that you?" B: "Yeah. What's going on?" A: "Not much. What a surprise to see you here." B: "Yeah. It's been a couple of months since I saw you." A: "What have you been up to?" B: "I just started working out." A: "Really? Where do you work out at?" B: "I joined the Samsung Health Club last month." A: "What do you mostly do during your workout?" B: "I concentrate mostly on my legs, chest, arms and stomach." A: "I should start exercising more." B: "It's hard work while exercising, but it is a great feeling when I get done." A: "I have a running machine at home. I used to use it, but I already got sick of it." B: "Exercising at home is hard. The environment is not suited for exercising." A: "If I want to exercise, I will need to join a gym." B: "I have a couple of guest passes. You want to check out my health club." A: "That's a good idea. Let's go over the weekend." B: "Great. I'll call you Saturday morning." A: "Aright. I'll talk to you later." B: "Ok. Bye." 4 Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B A: "The weather is terrible." B: "Yeah. It's been raining a lot these days." A: "I have been watching a lot of videos at home because of the constant rain." B: "Have you heard when it's supposed to get better?" A: "I saw the weather report, and it's going to rain for the next eight days." B: "That sucks so much. What are we going to do?" A: "I'm getting pretty bored. We should do something despite the rain." B: "I'm with you. What do you have in mind?" A: "I haven't been to the Mall in a long time. Let's go there." B: "That sounds good. They have a movie theatre there, so if we get bored, we can watch a movie." A: "Great. I'll stop by your place now." B: "Ok. Don't forget to bring your umbrella. The rain can start up again anytime."

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