Who is this for?

This leaflet is for anyone who wants to improve their English through watching movies.

The aim of this leaflet

The aim of this leaflet is to help you develop your listening ability while watching English movies. It introduces you to materials that are available in the SAC and suggests learning tips.

Useful materials/equipment in the SAC

Movies

You will find our collection of movies in the Video & Multimedia Area. The list of movie titles we stock is here: http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/materials/english/video_ent.htm

Textbooks

There are three very useful textbooks to support your movie viewing:

• Five Star Films ('Entertainment A-B' shelf, Video & Multimedia Area) contains language and viewing activities specifically designed for five classic films including Casablanca, Dances with Wolves and When Harry Met Sally. It's useful if you want to understand the films better and learn new words and expressions from them. A filmscript is provided for 6 key scenes in each film.
• 102 Very Teachable Films ('Entertainment A-B' shelf, Video & Multimedia Area) describes the plot of each film, including Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, The Graduate, The Last Emperor, Witness. At the back, films are listed according to type (e.g. Romance, Comedy). This can be useful when choosing a film to watch.
• American Picture Show ('Reading' shelf, Reading & Writing Area) provides a vocabulary focus, cultural background and related readings for several American films, including Children of a Lesser God, Kramer vs Kramer and Witness.

CD-ROM

The CD-ROM Criterion Goes to the Movies ('General Interest' CD-ROM, Lobby Area) contains summaries and other information on almost every movie released before 1993. You can check it out from the SAC Office.

Caption machines

These allow you to read captions (subtitles in English) while you watch. Each VCR in the Video & Multimedia Area has a caption machine. There is also one available in the Seminar Room if you want to watch with a friend or group members.

VCRs

We have 6 VCRs with caption machines in the Video & Multimedia Area. These allow you to watch films with a partner. There are also 18 (single) VCR booths in the AV/Computer Lab. To watch films with a group, book the Seminar Room (which has a caption machine) or use the VCR in the Lobby (ask for headphones from the Office).

Useful resources on the Web

Movie databases

The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com

A huge database, providing information (and pictures) about movies, actors, directors, Oscar awards, top movies, worst movies etc. The 'Plot & Quotes' feature is useful - provides a plot summary, key vocabulary items and memorable pieces of dialogue from each film.

Movie transcripts

Drew's Script-O-Rama at: http://www.script-o-rama.com/snazzy/dircut.html - a fantastic site for TV and film scripts. To enter the site, go through the open door on the first screen.

Colin's Movie Monologue Page at http://www.whysanity.net/monos - a great site for transcripts of famous scenes from your favourite movies.

Learning tips

Here are some tips that you may find useful:

Before Listening ...

• Decide what aspect of your listening you want to improve. If it is Vocabulary, it's useful to decide whether you want to focus on conversational phrases, slang, vocabulary related to a particular topic etc. See Learning Vocabulary by Reading & Listening (V7). If you want to improve your ability to understand quickly spoken English speech then you probably want to focus on features of English Pronunciation. Again, it's useful to find out if your main difficulty is hearing contractions, linking, weak forms etc. See the Pronunciation Advice Sheets, in particular Deciding what Areas of Pronunciation to Work on (P2), Selecting Materials to Work on (P3) and Glossary (P6).



• Set yourself a goal. Unless you have the next 6 months free, it's best not to aim too high (e.g. "I want to understand English movies perfectly")! Think of one or two aspects of your listening you want to improve on and set a goal related to that (e.g. "I want to be able to hear contractions like I'll and She's.") That way, you are more likely to be successful!



• Choose a film that you will enjoy! To find out about the actors in the film, what the film's about, what awards it's won etc., look at the cover of the film or find the film on the Internet Movie Database (see under 'Movie databases' above) or the CD-ROM Criterion Goes to the Movies (check it out from the SAC Office).



• Try to find films which match your goals and level. Is the film likely to contain the Vocabulary or Pronunciation features you want to practise? (You can check by looking at the transcript if there is one.) What type of English does it contain: American/British/Australian etc? (See Listening to British and American English (L5).) Does the film contain a lot of talking (e.g. Romantic Comedy vs. Action Adventure)? Is the language in the film reasonably easy to understand (e.g. Forrest Gump) or do the actors use slang or speak with a strong accent? (Listen to the first few minutes of the film to check.)


• Look for films which carry the logo , which means that English captions (subtitles) are available. Captions are very useful if you find it difficult to listen to fast informal conversation. They enable you to jot down words you don't know and identify stretches of speech that you can't hear. See which of our films have captions here: http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/materials/english/video_ent.htm.



• Look for films which have a transcript (script of the dialogue) available. See which of our films have transcripts here: http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/materials/english/video_ent.htm. You can also find movie scripts for some of our films online: http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/materials/english/video_ent.htm. Or see under 'Movie transcripts' above for transcripts of other movies available on the Web.



• If you find out about the historical or cultural background of a film before you watch, this will help you understand the film much better. You will find useful information in Encarta at http://encarta.msn.com/reference/ and in the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture and the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture (Reading & Writing Area). You can also find background information and questions for many of our movies at: http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/materials/english/video_ent.htm



• Read a novel or filmscript of the film if there is one available. This will prepare you for the theme, plot and key vocabulary of the film. Novels and filmscripts of films such as Forrest Gump are on the 'Readers' shelf in the Reading & Writing Area. You can check these out at the SAC Office and borrow them for two weeks.

While listening ...

• Jot down words that you want to learn. See the Advice Sheet Learning Vocabulary by Reading or Listening (V7). If you hear words that are not listed in your dictionary, try NTC's Dictionary of American Slang & Colloquial Expressions (Reading & Writing Area) - very useful for listening to American films. Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms (Reading & Writing Area) indicates how frequent idioms are, which can help you decide whether they are worth learning or not. See Deciding Which Words are Worth Learning (V2).



• Focus on a part of the movie only - this is especially useful if you are trying to hear Pronunciation features, or want to replay the movie many times in order to remember the vocabulary that you've identified. In these cases, you probably won't have time to watch the whole film several times, so it makes sense to focus on a small part and watch it repeatedly. You can choose a part that's very interesting, or that contains many Pronunciation features or new words/phrases. Or you could choose one of the brief dialogues in Colin's Movie Monologue Page (see under 'Movie Transcripts' above) or the transcripts of key scenes in Five Star Films ('Entertainment A-B' shelf, Video & Multimedia Area).



• Stop the film and rewind if there are bits you can't hear or understand. This is useful if you want to focus on how words are pronounced in connected speech.



• Try to transcribe (write down) a short section of a movie (e.g. 1 minute long or less) word for word. You can then compare your version with the real script. This is a useful technique for testing your listening ability or finding out what pronunciation features you have difficulty with.



• Watch the film with a friend, so that you can talk about themes that have come up in the film or help each other as soon as any one has difficulty in understanding what the actors are saying or loses track of the plot. For advice on learning activities you can do together, see: http://ec.hku.hk/vec/film/filmwint.htm

After Listening ...

• Watch another film on the same theme or of the same type. This will give you more chance to: focus on the language (because you understand the background); meet the same words/phrases again (which will help you remember them); and hear different ways of expressing the same meaning and of communicating in similar situations.



• Watch a part of the movie many times. Can you understand it better now?



• Write about any aspect of the film - plot, characters, ending, themes - that interests you.



• Try to learn and remember the vocabulary that you have noted down. See the Advice Sheet Remembering Vocabulary (V4).



• Talk about the film with a partner or a group of friends.



• Do some follow-up reading. For example, you can read the novel on which the film is based, or read about the period of history in which the film is set. Novels or filmscripts of the following films can be found in the SAC Reading & Writing Area ('Readers' shelf): Bridges of Madison County, Dr. Zhivago, Empire of the Sun, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Forrest Gump, Rain Man, Schindler's List



• Get extra practice in listening to conversational English. See the Advice Sheet Listening to Social Conversations: Authentic Recordings (L6) for information and suggestions. You will also find cartoons useful: try the Learn English with Asterix CD-ROM or the Adventures of Tintin books ('Readers' Shelf, Reading & Writing Area). Useful websites where you can listen to conversational English and read the transcripts at the same time are:

The SAC Listening Page (http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/materials/english/lisacpage.htm)
A growing collection of conversations, discussions, jokes and stories in English. Speakers of many different accents are represented, and the dialogues are unscripted - this is the real thing! Each dialogue is accompanied by a transcript and many of the recordings are in video as well as audio.

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab (http://www.esl-lab.com/index.htm)
A large collection of conversations from different situations and at different levels. All have tapescripts, audio and 'before', 'during' and 'after' listening questions. The conversations are read from a script (i.e. not totally genuine) but are designed for Japanese learners of English and suitable for learners of different levels.

The Listening Lounge (http://www.EnglishListening.com)
Collection of conversations on various topics and at different levels. All have transcripts, audio and questions. The conversations are 'real', not read from a script. You'll have to pay to access most of the site, but there is still a free 'Guest' area.

eViews (http://www.eviews.net/trial/allusers/audio.ram)
Provides interviews with people from a wide range of backgrounds, plus vocabulary glossaries, comprehension questions + answers, and transcripts. Almost entirely a 'Pay' site, but there's a 'Free trial' section.

Radio Diaries (http://www.radiodiaries.org)

Excellent site for the advanced listener. The 'Radio diaries' are thoughts and interviews collected by ordinary people and edited into 30 minutes of amazing insights into their lives. If you want to see what life is like for people living in difficult circumstances in the USA, especially for teenagers (e.g. 'teenage mother' / 'living with an incurable disease'), then this is the site for you! Audio and transcripts.


• Evaluate your progress (see below)

Evaluating your progress

Most people find it very useful to evaluate their learning progress. Assessing your progress can not only give you a feeling of success, but also identify areas that you need to work on in the future. Here are some ways of evaluating the progress you have made in your listening to movies:

• Think about your progress - how do you feel about your performance?



Compare your listening comprehension / vocabulary knowledge / knowledge of Pronunciation features at the beginning of a period of learning and at the end, e.g. several months later - have you improved? (You could watch the same movie or scene in order to compare your listening.)


• Summarise a movie or part of a movie and compare it with a published summary - did you get the key points?



• Transcribe part of a movie and compare it with the movie transcript or captions. How accurate is your transcript? What do your mistakes tell you about the aspects you need to work on most?

And Now...

If you would like any help or advice, or just a chat about your progress, please get in touch - we are here to support your independent learning! To contact us:

• see an Adviser, on duty at the SAC Advice Desk (for details of advisers and their availability, please go to http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/sacadviser.html)
• e-mail lcsac (lcsac@ust.hk) with your query;
• ask at the reception counter of the SAC — if the receptionist cannot help you directly, s/he will pass your query on to one of the SAC advisers.

Note
The introductory leaflet in this series is the Advice Sheet Improving Your Listening (L1).

This advice sheet is part of the Listening series of leaflets supporting independent learning, produced by the HKUST Language Centre SAC team. This leaflet first written by Joyce Lee, 1997. This version written by Richard Pemberton, October 2000. Version 3. If you copy from this leaflet, please acknowledge the source. Thanks.