Real English series: Introducing yourself and astrological signs

We are posting two new Real English videos this week in this series specially intended for lower level students.

In the first video people in the street are asked about their name, how they spell it, and sometimes they are asked to introduce other people to the interviewer.

Excuse me, what’s your name? Hi, I’m XXX.
Can you spell your name? or
How do you spell your name?
Can you introduce your friends to us? This is XXX.

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.

You can do some excercises on this video on the Real English site here.

The second video will be a lot more complicated for Básico 1 students. People in the street are asked about their astrological sign and their personality, together with some other questions revising names and spelling.

However, they are asked the question What are Geminis like?, ie, What kind of person are Geminis?, Tell me about their personality, which is really confusing for language learners at (almost) all levels.

Most of the times we answer this question by using adjectives that describe personality, although some other answers are also possible.
What are Geminis like? They are clever, kind and understanding.
What are Geminis like? They enjoy being with one or two people and dislike big groups.

Never include the preposition like in the answer, as the meaning would change completely.
What's she like? She's like her sister. (=She and her sister have a similar personality.)

The answers to this question in the video are suitable for intermediate or strong Básico 2 students, as the meaning of some of the adjectives used by the people interviewed demand a good grasp of English.

What’s your astrological sign?
What’s your name?
Can you spell it?
What’s your astrological sign?
What are Aquariuses like? They are honest and hard-working.

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.

You can do some excercises on this video on the Real English site here.

If you wish to learn the astrological signs in English, here is the list in the same order as it appears on the video together with the phonetic transcription for pronunciation purposes.

Capricorn / ˈkæprɪˌkɔː / --- Aquarius / əˈkweəriəs / --- Pisces / ˈpaɪsiːz /
Aries / ˈeəriːz / --- Taurus / ˈtɔːrəs / --- Gemini / ˈdʒemɪnaɪ /
Cancer / ˈkænsə(r) / --- Leo / ˈliːəʊ / --- Virgo / ˈvɜː(r)ɡəʊ /
Libra / ˈliːbrə / --- Scorpio / ˈskɔː(r)piəʊ / --- Sagittarius / ˌsædʒɪˈteəriəs /

Real English video series

We have been devoting Tuesday's posts on this blog to educational videos with a view to catering for lower-level students -Básico 1, Básico 2, Intermedio 1- in a more structured and pedagogical way, so to speak, while keeping to authentic materials.

You can check the following tags to gain an overall view of all the stuff we have built up throughout time:

Hong Kong series (The British Council in Hong Kong)
Oxford videos (Oxford University Press)
Vodcast series (Richmond publishers)
Speakout (Longman publishers)

Funnily enough, English learners at elementary (Básico 1 and Básico 2) and intermediate levels have always had at their disposal an invaluable collection of authentic videos created by Real English.

I won't go as far as saying that this latest trend in the EFL publishing world stems from Real English, as I don't really know the ins and outs of the EFL publishing world, but by watching the Real English videos one gets the impression that  Real English seems to have pioneered this trend of interviewing people on the street in unscripted dialogues (vox pops) and use this material in the English class.

This is the way the people behind Real English defines their site:

"It all started over a decade ago when a group of American and British ESL teachers at the Marzio School in the south of France noticed that the traditional materials they were using from The Big Publishers to teach their students simply weren't doing the job they were supposedly designed for.  (...) Michael Marzio and his friends & teachers started interviewing people on the streets of the USA and other countries during his vacations, came back to his school in France, and edited the video according to classic grammar structures and functions, in order to make the spontaneous, authentic, seemingly "fast" speech usable by different levels of students, including beginners."

In the following weeks, we'll be embedding the Real English videos on this blog, We'll be starting out with the first two videos in their collection. But make a point of dropping by Real English and read all the information, instructions, tips, ways of subscribing to  Real English on social media they offer on their webpage which is way bigger than what you can see here.

Lesson 1 deals with names and greetings, and it's suitable for Básico 1 and Básico 2 students.



You can watch the same video clip with subtitles on the Real English webpage here together with some exercises on what you have just watched on the video here.

Lesson 2 deals with introductions and answering the question "where are you from?", and it's suitable for Básico 1 and Básico 2 students.



You can watch the same video clip with subtitles on the Real English webpage here together with some exercises on what you have just watched on the video here.