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Original Psycho

Original Psycho English, baby! Video Lesson

Date: Jun 20 2007

Themes: Pop Culture

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Chances are, even if you haven’t seen the original Psycho, you’re familiar with its most famous scene. There’s a woman in the shower and a man enters the bathroom with a knife. The shadow of the knife is projected on the shower curtain. The music is a throbbing screech. Suddenly the man opens the curtain and the camera cuts to blood going down the shower drain.

Does this violent scene sound familiar? It’s often recreated in other movies and on TV shows. Until recently, Kevin hadn’t seen the original 1960 version of the film (there have been several versions made since). Listen to him talk to Amanda about it.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Kevin

Kevin

Amanda

Amanda

Kevin:  I’m really excited because…So I’m in this film class, Latin American film class, and all…many, many readings I do in the literature reference the original Psycho and I’ve never actually seen the whole thing…

Amanda:  Are you kidding?

Kevin:  So I got it from Netflix the other day. I’m not kidding. It is amazing. It’s so good. And creepy.

Amanda:  I don’t do well with horror flicks because they will go directly into my dreams that night immediately…

Kevin:  Um-hm. This one did.

Amanda:  And completely ruin my night of sleep so I sometimes wonder why you want to spend two hours watching something like that that’s going to transcend into your dreams when you’re trying to relax.

Kevin:  I hear you on that point, but this one is a classic. I mean it is…You know, the shower scene is arguably the most famous scene of any movie. Like, you could argue that. I mean it is…it’s a must see. I was embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t seen it, you know, it’s so well done. And Anthony Perkins is a good-looking gentleman.

Amanda:  Absolutely. So what do you think about the remakes. Or the attempted remakes. Vince Vaughn in full color.

Kevin:  I’m just not into it. You know, Vince Vaughn shouldn’t be in that kind of movie.

Amanda:  Because he’s no Anthony Perkins, correct?

Kevin:  That’s right.

Amanda:  One day you should come over and we can reenact that shower scene.

 

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Kevin is taking a film course in which Psycho seems to come up a lot. It’s a movie most people have seen, so it’s a little strange that Kevin hadn’t watched the whole thing yet. He decided to order it from Netflix, an online movie rental service. It was really creepy, but he really liked it.

Amanda says that she doesn’t really care for horror movies because whenever she watches one, she dreams about it that night. Kevin says that that happens to him too but that Psycho is so good it doesn’t matter. The scene of the murder in the shower might be the most famous scene of any movie ever made. He also says that the movie’s star, Anthony Perkins, is a good looking actor.

Amanda asks if Kevin likes the newer remakes of Psycho, like the one made in 1999. Kevin says he doesn’t like the new version because Vaughn isn’t as good in the movie as Perkins is.

Then Amanda says something very strange. She asks Kevin to come over and reenact the shower scene with her. Your guess is as good as ours.

When you watch scary movies do you dream about them? If so, is it worth it sometimes?

 

Comments

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carlosbertholdi

Brazil

I agree with Chikako Honda in this point.

08:18 PM Jun 20 2007 |

seleh

seleh

Iraq

a suggestion: please sometimes post longer audios. It  is short. A 4 or 5 minutes audio will be good for me.

Thanks, great work.. 

04:03 PM Jun 20 2007 |

khanarsh2001

Pakistan

HORROR MOVIES ARE NOT BAD FOR LIFEWE SHOULD SEE THESE, THESE PICTURES CREATES NIGHTMARE BUT IN RESULT WE GET BRAVE.

01:31 PM Jun 20 2007 |

Everwelwisher

Pakistan

i too don't like horror movies.. baseless

 

 

11:10 AM Jun 20 2007 |

Everwelwisher

Pakistan

so.. on weekend i will try to find some time to see this movie.
Everwelwisher@Gmail.com

11:09 AM Jun 20 2007 |

jijikewei

jijikewei

China

i dare not to watch the film of scary.

08:44 AM Jun 20 2007 |

bradbu

bradbu

China

horror movies gave me no nightmares but i dislike it, either.

07:54 AM Jun 20 2007 |

Nida786

Nida786

Pakistan

specially video click on this lesson is nice addition to listen the correct accent
Nida

07:18 AM Jun 20 2007 |

Chikako Honda

Japan

I hate horror movies because just simply I can't see the horror scene.

05:03 AM Jun 20 2007 |

Orlando45

Colombia

It’s really amazing! I didn’t believe it was so good to practice my English. Thank you.

12:52 AM Jun 20 2007 |

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