Real English series: Achievement

Our Real English video series is coming to an end today after twenty-three weeks. We haven't dealt with all the videos on the Real English site by any means, but I feel that most of the remaining clips and lessons are oriented to advanced learners and touch on topics like English learning, poverty, homelessness, music, and so on that we have already posted about on the blog.

The main purpose of the 'Tuesday's posts' is trying to provide English learners at lower levels with some kind of listening input that helps them in their learning process, and I am really grateful to Michael Marzio and all the staff behind Real English for all the work they have put it on the site and for their generosity in sharing their work with all of us.

Today's videos revolve around the topic of achievement, which is just fine for us as language learners as we are trying hard to learn English and improve day by day. That's a really remarkable achievement, and a difficult one to accomplish if you don't live in an English-speaking country.

Passers-by are all asked the same question, with some small variations, and depending on the answer there are some other follow-up questions:

What do you hope to achieve before you die?
What do you expect to accomplish before you die?
What do you hope, or want to achieve before you die?
What do you want to be remembered for when you die?
Is there anything in particular that you hope to achieve before it's all over?


The videos are suitable for strong intermediate 2 and advanced students, although some speakers can be understood by the average intermediate student.

This is the first part of the video.

You can read a transcript for the video on the Real English site here.

This is the second part of the video.

You can read a transcript for the video on the Real English site here.

Real English series: What would you do if...?

In our Real English video series this week passers-by answer the question What would you do if you won 10 millions dollars?

We use the second conditional to express hypothesis about the present and the future. There are two parts in each conditional sentence, the if-clause and the main clause.

The if-clause is usually followed by a verb in the past simple tense and introduces the hypothetical situation.
(1) If I won the lottery...
(2) If I lived in a different country...
(3) If I passed the exam...

The main clause expresses the result of the situation. We use the conditional auxiliary would to do so.
(1) I would buy another car.
(2) I would probably speak another language.
(3) I would be the happiest person in the world.

We use the second conditional to talk about hypothetical, unreal situations about the present and/or the future:
If I knew her name, I would tell you. (I don't know her name.)
She would be happy if she had a car. (But she doesn't have one.)

We often use were instead of was in both formal and informal styles with this structure.
If I were rich, I would spend all my life travelling.
If my nose were a bit shorter, I'd be quite pretty.



You can read the transcript for the video on the Real English site here.

For further listening practice, you can also watch this Real English video, where two girls, Christina and Karen, are interviewed. The two-minute video is good practice to revise some of the tenses we have been studying throughout the Real English series (personal information questions, present perfect, past simple, used to, and so on) but at one stage the interviewer asks Christina and Karen a question in the second conditional: What would you say to people, if you knew somebody from France was coming over, what phrases should they learn?



You can read the transcript for the video on the Real English site here.

For other activities on the second conditional on this blog, just type in 'second conditional' in the search box, but Kindness Boomerang, and Miss Universe to learn English spring to mind.

Real English series: More on the present perfect

In our Real English series we are showing three more videos to exemplify the use of the present perfect.

To be totally honest with you, the main benefit of the videos lies on the general revision of tenses and question forms learners are exposed to together with the listening practice, as very few of the questions in the street interviews or in the answers, for that matter, have to do with the present perfect.

The difficulty of the videos is higher than usual, so this week's videos are more suitable for intermediate students. Strong Básico 2 students will also be able to benefit from them if they read the subtitles.

In the first video, a really nice guy answers questions about his job -he is a messenger. At one stage he answers the question How long have you been a messenger for?, which shows the second use of the present perfect that we studied last week, present perfect to talk about a situation which started in the past and continues up to the present.

You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.
You can watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site here.

In the second video Michael, a policeman in New York, answers some questions about his life. The two questions in blue refer to the use of the present perfect to talk about experiences. The question in red refers to the use of the present perfect to talk about situations which started in the past and continue up to now.
What's your name?
What do you like doing in your free time?
What did you do yesterday?
Apart from New York, what other towns have you lived in?
When did you live in Hamburg?
Where were you born?
Was that a long time ago?
What's been the best year of your life?
What have you been doing in the city today?
Were you good at school?
What's the most beautiful city in the USA?
Which is bigger New York or San Francisco?
Which is the most beautiful language?
What would you do if you won 10 million dollars?
What do you hope to achieve before you die?
What are you going to do tonight?



In the third video, once again we can see the difference of usage of the present perfect to talk about activities or situations that started in the past and continue up to now (first interviewee, the juggler, who answers the question How long have you been juggling today?) and to talk about experiences (second interviewee, who answers the questions Have you travelled abroad?, Where have you been?).

However, you shouldn't miss the third interview, where Minda shows her bubbly personality and extroverted manner. In addition, she answers a battery of questions we have been studying in our Real English series and that you can also use to revise all the grammar we have been studying throughout the series.

What is your name?

Would you spell that for me?
What are you doing right now?
Where do you live?
Where do you work?
How long does it take you to get to work?
How do you get to work?
When were you born?
What have you been doing in the city today?
Have you been to Europe?
What are you going to do tonight?
What are you going to do on your next holiday?
What do you like to do for fun?
Can you play any musical instruments?
What time is it?
What’s the weather like today?

Real English series: Past simple and 'used to'

Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 students are going to find this week's Real English videos more than interesting.

In the first video, passers-by answer the question What did you do yesterday? As you can imagine, the answers are varied and will help us develop our listening skills and vocabulary alike.

Remember that we use the auxiliary verb did with all the persons to make questions and negative in the past simple.

Did you enjoy the film?
Did she enjoy the film?

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.
And you can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.

In the second video, passers-by answer a number of questions, which are all in the present:

What does your dad do?
What’s your best dish?
Do you often eat out?
Do you think you’re a quiet or talkative person?
Can you play any musical instruments?

The interviewees use the verb used to in their anwsers, which is used in English to talk about habits in the past.

Be careful, used to is only used in the past. To talk about habits in the present we simply use the present simple or we use the present simple with a frequency adverb like 'always', 'usually'.

As a child I used to go to my school cinema on Sundays.

For negatives and questions, used to functions as any other verb:
I didn't use to go to the cinema as a child.
Did you use to go to the cinema as a child?

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.

Real English series: Past tense- 'was/were' and 'did'

In our Real English video series we start dealing with the past simple.

In the first video a group of passers-by answer the question Were you good at school?

Remember the status of special verb of 'to be' in English. It doesn't need an auxiliry verb for questions or negatives. To make questions, we simple put 'was/were' before the subject.

Were you good at school?
Yes, I was [good at school].
No, I wasn't [good at school].

Was your sister good at school?
Yes, she was.
No, she wasn't.

Some of the speakers use the expressions 'so-so', which means 'not particularly good or bad'.
The adjective 'good' is always followed by the preposition 'at'.

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



In the second video, the interviewer draws our attention to the contrast between present and past, and between the auxiliary verbs for the present and the past. He only asks two questions:

What do you usually do on Saturday night?
Auxiliary 'do' ('does' for the 3rd person singular -he, she, it) to refer to activities we do regularly. In the question, the use of the frequency adverb 'usually' emphasizes the idea that we are talking about a routine.

The second question refers to the past simple:
What did you do last Saturday night?
We use the auxiliary 'did' with all the persons, without exception, to talk about past situations and activities.

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

Real English series: Comparatives and superlatives

In our Real English series this week we feature two videos where some passers-by answer questions to illustrate the use of comparatives and superlatives in English.

The first video is intended for Básico students. Passers-by answer these questions:

Who's older?
Which is bigger?
Who can cook better?

What's the most beautiful city in the USA?
What's the coldest country in the world?
Which is the biggest town in Ireland?
Which is the longest river in Ireland?
Which is the most beautiful language?



You can read the transcript of the video here.

To revise the grammar behind comparatives and superlatives you can drop by our post Comparatives and school subjects, where we show an interactive book by Collège Marc Chagall with all the rules and lots of exercises.

You can also read Joanne's Rudling's entry about the 1:1:1 spelling rule on her Spelling Blog, where she gives us clear rules on when to double the final consonant in adjectives when forming the comparative and superlative.

The second video is a bit harder and it is intended for intermediate students. A passer-by answers the questions What's the best/worst decision you have ever made?

The same interview with subtitles can be watched in the second half of the video clip.



You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.

Self-study activity:
Record yourself answering the question What's the best/worst decision you have ever made?

Real English series: Present continuous

The videos in the Real English series this week all have to do with the present continuous. There are four videos in total and they are all intended for Básico 1 and Básico 2 students.

The grammar behind the present continuous is quite simple We use the present continuous to describe activities we are doing at the moment of speaking. The four videos today deal with this meaning of the present continuous.

This is the structure: Subject + am/are/is + V-ing.

The main difficulty of the videos lies in the vocabulary the speakers sometimes use and their accents, but remember that you can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site.

The first video is an introduction to the present continuous with the question What are you doing?



You can do an interactive exercise here and watch the same clip with subtitles here.

In the second video Laurie tells us what she is doing now, what she is carrying in her briefcase, and the clothes she is wearing.



You can read the transcript of what she says here.

In the third video a number of people tell us what they are doing. It is good practice, as we see a number of people describing what they are doing while they are doing it. There is more variety of activities, too.



You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here and watch the same video with subtitles here.

It is also important that you drop by this lesson on the Real English site because you will find a very good explanation of the different meaning of the present continuous. On this post we are just dealing with the most basic meaning -activities we are doing at the moment of speaking-, but there is more to it than that.

There is one more video on the present continuous. This time all the speakers answer the question What are you wearing? The present continuous is the tense we use to describe the clothes we are wearing at the moment of speaking.



You can watch the same video with subtitles here and do an interactive exercise here.

Real English series: How long does it take? and Where do you live?

Two new video lessons in our Real English series this week.

In the first video, passers-by answer a difficult question for students in lower levels: How long does it take you to get to work?

It is an impersonal question with the subject "it", so we'll be using auxiliary "does" for the 3rd person singular in the question.

The answers is also a bit funny: TAKE + PERSONAL OBJECT + TIME + TO-Infinitive.
It takes me 20 minutes to get to work.



You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here, where you can also do an interactive exercise here.

You can also practise this complicated structure with the following questions, most of which are related to household chores:
How long does it take you/your wife to make your bed?
How long does it take you to have breakfast?
How long does it take you to have a shower?
How long does it take you to read the newspaper?
How long does it take you to do the washing-up?
How long does it take you to cook dinner?
How long does it take you to get ready for work/school?
How long does it take you to do your English homework?

The second video is far less complicated, as passers-by answer the question Where do you live?, which also came up indirectly in the previous video. The difficulty here lies in identifying the place names speakers give, which might make it advisable to watch the video with subtitles on the Real English site here.



You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.

Intermediate students have at their disposal a longer more challenging version of the video on the Real English site.

Real English series: How often do you...

Lesson 26 in the Real English site is a wonderful opportunity for students in the Basic level to recycle a number of structures that have come up during the course.

The title of the lesson is a bit misleading, How often do you,,,, which makes us think about a lesson on adverbs of frequency. However, before we get to the How often...? questions there's a number of questions that passers-by both in Britain and US are asked about their daily routines concerning their jobs.

Here are most of the questions asked in the clip ordered in a logical way, which lend themselves to a nice oral activity to do after we have watched the video. Most of the wh- question words are used in the video clip, and so is auxiliary does for the third person singular.

Street directions are also revised. Also pay attention to the accent, which is British or American, and to the use of auxiliaries in some of the answers.

What do you do?
Where do you work?
What time do you start/finish work?
How many hours a day/week do you work?
From what to what?
How many hours a week does he work?
How much annual leave/holiday do you get/take?

Where are we now?
Which way are you going to take (to get to your workplace)?

Do Irish people like wine?
How often do you drink wine?
Do you ever drink champagne?



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

Real English series: What's your job?

The two videos we are posting today in the Real English series have to do with the topic of work.

In the first video, the people interviewed answer the question What's your job?
Remember that we use the indefinite article in the answer: I'm a teacher; I'm a nurse.

The main difficulty of the video has to do with some of the jobs the passers-by mention, but at the end of the clip there is a quick revision of all the jobs that have come up during the interviews.

You can do an interactive activity on the Real English site here.

Intermediate students also have the option to watch a more complicated version of the video clip on the Real English site here.



In the second video passers-by answer a more elaborate version of the question 'What's your job?' What do you do for a living?

They also answer two follow-up questions:

Is that your dream job?
What would your dream job be if you had one?

Again the main difficulty has to do with the jobs some of the interviewees mention, but you can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here together with some interactive exercises here.

Real English series: have got and have for possession

In this week's instalment of our Real English series we have a very interesting clip to illustrate the idea of possession in the present tense.

A number of people are asked about the items they have just bought at a supermarket.

There are two possible questions:
1) have: What do you have in your bag?
2) have got: What have you got in your bag?

In the first question, have functions as any other ordinary verb. It takes auxiliaries do/does to make the questions in the present simple. We studied this structure in the introduction to the present simple last week.

What do you have in your bag? I have tomatoes.
What does she have in her bag?
She has tomatoes. (we use has with the third person singular, he/she/it only in the present).

The second question has the same meaning as the first, but the structure is special. There is no other verb like this in English. Have got doesn't need an auxiliary verb. For the questions and negatives have functions as an auxiliary.

What have you got in your bag?
I have got tomatoes or I've got tomatoes.

What has she got in her bag?
She has got tomatoes or She's got tomatoes.



You can watch the same clip with subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can watch an interactive activity on the Real English site here.
You can watch a longer version of the same clip, with more demanding vocabulary, on the Real English site here.

Real English series: Present continuous and present simple

Two new videos today in the Real English series. The first one is an introduction to the present continuous tense through the structure going to.

The interviewers asks all passers-by the same question:

Excuse, where are you going?

Watch the video and note down the answer each person gives.



You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.
And  you can do an interactive activity on the Real English site here.

The second video is an introduction to the present simple tense through the question

What does he do?
What does she do?

Remember we use the auxiliary do/does to make questions about the present simple with most verbs (the lexical verbs, that is, the normal verbs, those which have a meaning). Do is used with all the persons except with  he / she / it (third person singular), with which we use does  instead.

As usual, the interviewer revises some other questions that have come up in previous video clips:

Can you introduce me to your friend?
Can you spell your name, please?
Can you tell me something about your friend?
Can you give me two adjectives to describe your friend?
How old is he?



You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.
And  you can do an interactive activity on the Real English site here.

Real English series: Giving directions

In our Real English video series we deal with the topic of giving street directions, a practical grammar and vocabulary point which is difficult to grasp, both from the perspective of the person giving directions and from that of the listener, both in our own mother tongue and, let alone, in English.

It is a fairly short video where the person asking for street directions keeps repeating the same question:

Excuse me, can/could you tell me the way to XXXXX, please?

The answers are fairly straightforward and to the point, and the people giving street directions use the imperative most of the times:

Just go up there and turn left.
Straight up to the traffic lights and then turn left at the traffic lights.
Go down to XXXX and turn left, that’s XXXXX.
It’s just along here and your first on the left.
Up to the lights, and it’s the road on the left.
The cathedral is straight down here.
Straight up the road.
That way!

The video gives us the opportunity to revise how to thank someone:

Lovely. 
Thanks / Thanks a lot / Thank you / Thank you very much.

And how to apoligise if we don't know something:

Sorry? Where?
Sorry, I can’t speak English.
I’m sorry, I don’t know, sorry.
I’m afraid I don’t know the way, I’m a stranger here myself.



Drop by the Real English site to watch the same video with subtitles and to do some interactive activities based on the video above.

This blog features a fairly similar video, Around the town, in the Vodcast Series, although this one is a bit more complicated for learners in the Basic level.

Real English series: A tourist in London and what are the Italians/Germans like?

Today we are posting two new episodes in the Real English series of videos for Básico 1 and Básico 2 (elementary) students.

In the first one Lisa, an American tourist in London, answers some questions about herself and about her impressions of London.

Some parts of the video may be difficult for Básico 1 students, but not definitely for Básico 2 ones. Anyway, the clip is a good opportunity to revise the structure of basic questions in English at this level.

It is advisable to watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site here.
Students can also do an interactive excercise on the Real English site here.

Below you can find the questions that Lisa is asked in the interview, which may help you for revision purposes.

What’s your name?
Are you from New York?
When did you get to London?
How do you like it so far?
Why did you come to London?
How long are you going to stay?
How long all together?
Do you like it so far?
Could you introduce this person here?
Are you friends?
Do the French like us much?
Where do you live?
Do you like Americans?
Where are you staying?
Is it expensive?
What do you do in New York?
Where is your shop?
Do you live in Staten Island?

The second video follows up on the study of the question pattern What ... like? to describe people, and that we have studied in the last four weeks. This time it is the Italians that people in the street are asked to describe when answering the question, What are the Italians like?

The main difficulty of the video lies on the vocabulary  as some of the speakers use a few adjectives which students  at elementary and even intermediate level may find difficult to understand.

It is more than advisible to download the transcript from the Real English site here, so that you can look up the words that you don't understand and practise the pronunciation of the vocabulary.
You can also do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.

The last video on today's post follows up on the practice of the question What are ... like?, this time the question is about the Germans, What are the Germans like?

You can watch a subtitled version of the same video on the Real English site here.

Real English series: Can for ability and what are the French like?

Two new videos in our Real English series. In the first one, a group of people in the street answer questions with the verb can so that we can find out their ability to do something.

Can you play any musical instruments? I can play the piano
Can you cook?
Can he cook?
What else can you do?
Can you speak any foreign languages?

You can watch the same video clip with subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can do an excercise on the video above on the Real English site here.

Pay attention to the differences in pronunciation between affirmative can and negative can't. This is a subtle difference that causes English learners of all levels great difficulties as many times listeners fail to understand whether the speaker is using can in the affirmative or in the negative.

For a detailed explanation of how to pronounce can, check this blog entry.

The second video, What are the French like?, is a repeat of the entry What are the English like? and What are the Americans like?, which we studied last week. So revise the explanation we gave to this tricky question before you watch the video.

The main difficulty of the video lies on the vocabulary, mainly adjectives, the speakers use to describe the French. Most of the adjectives will definitely be understood by elementary learners (Básico 1 and Básico 2), but a few of them are a bit tricky. It is advisable to watch the video clip below with subtitles on the Real English site here.

You can also do an excercise on this video here.

Real English also provides a longer version of the same video for intermediate students here.

What are the Americans and the British like?

Today we are posting two new videos in the Real English video series. We continue describing people by answering the question What are the Americans like? and What are the British like?, which has already come up several times in our Real English video series.

Remember that we use the structure What is XXX like? to ask someone to describe people, places and objects, but when used for people we just refer to their personality.

In the answer, we generally use adjectives, and we never include the word like in our answer (which is used as a preposition in this question).

Another interesting point to bear in mind is the use of the article the + nationality adjective (the British) to refer to British people in general (always followed by plural verb). To talk about the nationals of a country we can say
The + nationality adjective (The British are...) or
Adjective + noun with no article (British people are...)

Spanish people or The Spanish
French people or The French

We can also use the structure the + adjective (with no noun) to refer to a group of people in general: the poor, the rich. The verb is always plural after the adjective.
The rich are always a minority
The poor are always the first to suffer in crisis times.

Watch the videos and find our what the British and Americans are like. You may need to watch the clips with subtitles on the Real English website (links are provided below) as the main difficulty of the videos is not the accent or how fast the people interviewed talk, but the meaning of some of the adjectives used to describe people.

You can do an exercise on this video on the Real English website.
You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English website.

Students at an intermediate level can watch a longer version of this video on the Real English website.

You can do an exercise on this video on the Real English website.
You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English website.

Students at an intermediate level can watch a longer version of this video on the Real English website.

Real English series: Marital status and describing the weather

We are posting two new videos in the Real English video series. In the first one, people in the street answer the question Are you married? to talk about their marital status.

As usual, the two-minute video is used to revise some other basic information questions that have come up  in the Real English video series so far:

Are you engaged?
How old are you?
What’s your name?
Where do you come from?
What’s your favourite colour?
Would you introduce me your friend?
Where’s your ex-husband?

You can do an online activity about the video on the Real English site here.
You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.

In the second video some people in the street answer the question What's the weather like? 

We have already come across the question What's XXXX like? in the Real English series a couple of times before, but to describe someone's personality:

What's John like? = Describe John's personality = What kind of person is John?

The same structure is used when we want someone to describe something for us, be it the weather, a city, an object, a building.

What's London like? (¿Cómo es Londres?)
What's your flat like? (¿Cómo es tu piso?)
What's an Apple PC like? (Cómo son los ordenadores Apple?)

Remember that most of the times we just use adjectives in our answer, and that the preposition "like" is never used in the answer.

What's London like? It's a huge, exciting city.
What's your flat like? It's a bit small, very light and with great views.
What's an Apple PC like? It's faster and much more intuitive.

You can do an online activity about the video on the Real English site here.
You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.

Real English series: Telling the time and describing people

In our Real English series we touch on two different points today: how to tell the time in English and how to describe people's personality.

In the first video, several people answer the question What's the time?

Remember we can tell the time analogically or digitally. That way in British English:
8.05 five past eight [analogical] or eight (oh) five [digital]
8.10 ten past eight [analogical] or eight ten [digital]
8.15 (a) quarter past eight [analogical] or eight fifteen [digital]
8.30 half past eight [analogical] or eight thirty [digital]
8.35 twenty-five to nine [analogical] or eight thirty-five [digital]
8.45 (a) quarter to nine [analogical] or eight forty-five [digital]
8.50 ten to nine [analogical] or eight fifty [digital]
9.00 nine o'clock [analogical] or nine [digital]

In American English, after is often used instead of past:
6.10 ten past six (British English) / ten after six (American English)
Exception:
6.30 half past six (British English=American English)

And of or before or till instead of to.
2.35 twenty-five to three (British English / twenty-five of (or before or till) three (American English)

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here and do an activity to practise the time on the Real English site here.

You can find several entries on this blog to practise how to tell the time by clicking on the tag Telling the time on the right.

The second video helps us to revise some basic questions to find out personal information like What's your name?; Where are you from?; Can you introduce your friends? Yes, this is my daughter.

The video, however, focuses on describing people's personality by answering the question Can you give me two or three adjectives that describe your mother?

Funnily enough, two weeks ago we dealt with descriptions in our Real English series when talking about astrological signs. That day we learnt a number of questions we can use to ask about someone's personality:
What are you like?
What kind of person are you?
Tell me about your personality.
Today we have learnt another question to find out the same information: Can you give me two or three adjectives that describe your mother?

You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here and do an activity to describe people on the Real English site here.

Real English series: Numbers, age, days and dates

This week's the Real English video series focuses on the topic of numbers from very different perspectives.

First of all, we revise cardinal numbers. You can find some exercises on the Real English site here.

Then we move on to ordinal numbers. You can find some exercises on ordinal numbers on the Real English site here.

Next, it is the age. People on the street answer the question How old are you? You can find some exercises on the age on the Real English site here.

The fourth video to do with numbers is about dates and days. People on the street answer questions like When's your birthday? What day is Christmas? How old are you? How do you spell your name? You can find some exercises on dates and days on the Real English site here.

Finally, it is turn of telephone numbers and the question What's your telephone humber? You can find some exercises on telephone numbers on the Real English site here.

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 /