International Oscar Winners 'O8

Intro

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

• top notch
• literally
• over seas
• synonymous

• the Academy
• iconic
• red carpet
• supporting role

• left off

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

Even if you’ve never seen the Oscars, you’ve probably seen, either on television or in real life, someone accepting an award or pretending to and saying, “I’d like to thank the Academy...”

The Oscars, or the Academy Awards, is the most popular and iconic award show there is. It honors the best films and film industry personnel and is watched by millions of people on TV. It popularized the idea of stars walking down a red carpet in fancy clothes and thanking a long list of people.

Usually most of the Oscars go to Hollywood film stars. But this year something a little bit different happened. Listen to Beren and Marni talk about it.

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.

Marni

Beren

Marni:  So, did you watch the Oscars?

Beren:  I did, I watched up to Best Actress which was won by Marion Cotillard from France.

Marni:  Yes, she was amazing in her role as Edith Piaf. So did you see all the acting prizes then?

Beren:  No…Best Supporting Actor...Best Actress is the one where I left off.

Marni:  So the interesting thing is, I realized that all the actors and actresses who won this year are all from foreign countries.

Beren:  That’s pretty cool. Do you have any theories as to why that is?

Marni:  Well, you know, top notch performances. But it is interesting to think that every single, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, they all are literally taking their Oscars over seas.

Beren:  Yeah, it’s pretty cool. And people don’t think about it, but even somebody like Cate Blanchett, she’s not American.

Marni:  But what’s interesting is the Oscars are so Hollywood, it’s just sort of synonymous with Hollywood, your gold statues…And it’s like, it shows how international the film community is and how…

Beren:  Maybe where the best talent has been coming from.

Marni:  Exactly. From France, from Spain, you’ve got Ireland…

Beren:  ...Australia, England.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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