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Soap Operas
Soap Operas

Learn English with this soap operas English lesson

Date: Nov 01 2013

Themes: Pop Culture, Soap Opera

Grammar: Phrasal Verbs

Intro

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

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

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Soap operas are notorious for being melodramatic and over the top. A lot of people like to live vicariously through soap stars which makes the shows popular and addictive. And if an episode ends with a cliffhanger, people want to see the next episode even more.

The fun of watching a soap opera is knowing everything that’s going on. It’s not unusual for one character to be masquerading as two different people in a soap opera. Do the other characters know? No, but you do. If someone bad is lurking in the trees outside a character’s home, the person in the show doesn’t know to be afraid. But you do! It’s fun to wait and see what happens, but also to already know some of the story’s secrets.

Find out if Amanda and Mason enjoy watching soap operas. You may be surprised at what you learn in this English lesson.

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.

Amanda

Amanda

Mason

Mason

Amanda:  What do you want to do tonight?

Mason:  I’m kind of busy. I mean, I need to catch up on my soap opera stories.

Amanda:  You’re kidding, right? More of the same?

Mason:  Listen, I know they’re kind of melodramatic, but it’s so fun to just get into these ridiculous characters, and you kind of live vicariously through the ridiculous stuff they get into that will never actually happen to me. But, you know… it’s fun to imagine.

Amanda:  It’s trash television. They’re kind of addictive, too.

Mason:  Absolutely.

Amanda:  Well, I’m getting concerned.

Mason:  I know, I know. But they left me on such a cliffhanger last time. Betty is in the hospital, and she just found out that her sister has been masquerading as her husband. And the evil twin has been lurking in the wings. So much stuff is about to happen. How could I possibly stop?

Amanda:  None of these are realistic. Completely over the top.

Mason:  I know, but because they’re never going to happen to me, I get to live vicariously through them. What would I do if I had an evil twin, or if my sister was masquerading as my husband?

Amanda:  I’m going to call my friend and go out with her tonight.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Mason is trying to convince Amanda that soap operas are great. He thinks the melodramatic stories are fun, especially because they will never happen to him. The last episode he watched made him super excited to watch again to find out what happens. Even if they’re ridiculous, Mason definitely loves his soaps.

In the meantime, Amanda just wants someone to go out with her. She finds it strange that Mason is so into his soaps. Amanda thinks that soap operas are terrible and she’s worried that Mason is spending too much time on them. Amanda decides to go out with a friend instead.

Do you watch soap operas? What are the famous soaps in your country? Why do you like to watch them?

 

Comments

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Nadya_Hope

Nadya_Hope

Russian Federation

I don’t watch TV and especially soap operas. It’s so silly movie, in my opinion. Guys, please, open your mind: learn English through English baby, mix with each other and of course read much. Don’t waste time on soap operas. our life is very short!

06:49 AM Nov 01 2013 |

Odyssee

Odyssee

China

i like soap operas very much . expecially american drama .


actually it’s a good way to learn language by watching native drama .


like Shakespeare said “All the world ’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players ” . u can learn this country’s culture , lifestyle , habits and so on from some soap operas .


on the other hand , something cant happen in our real lives , we can live vicariously through them. it’s very interesting .

06:31 AM Nov 01 2013 |

MasamiN

MasamiNSuper Member!

Japan

I had enjoyed to watch TV dramas.


Ugly Betty
Desperate Housewives
Gossip Girl
Grey’s Anatomy
The Big Bang Theory
Friends


I may be wrong but
Are these Soap Operas? or?

05:34 AM Nov 01 2013 |

DanielBorges

Portugal

I don’t see soap operas in the present! Because I tend to make other things in the prime time, such us doing lessons in English baby for example! However, I found the point of view of Mason very interesting. The most famous soaps in Portugal are the Brazilian from Globo TV. My favorite soap opera ever called: Pecado Capital (Capital Sin in English). It tells a story of a taxi driver who had the luck/bad luck to found dirty money in it’s vehicle. He uses the money in a right way and he became a business man with it’s own fleet of taxis and he has the ability to recover all the money that he have found some years latter. He begins to be pressed then by outlaws that want the their money back, and he ends up dead in a metro station in a melodramatic scene! Outstanding novel with an unpredictable end.

10:49 PM Oct 31 2013 |

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