【英语趣味课堂】看电影的习惯-Viewing Habits

Todd: So, how do people see these movies? I mean are there movie theaters or is it mainly straight to video or what’s the main way?

 

Abidemi: Most of it is actually straight to video like you said because now internet and computers are everywhere. So a lot of these movies are produced by companies around in big cities and then they’re sold to local sellers. And because buying DVDs is so cheap, anybody can get them. And through ... they put a lot of posters out when a movie comes out, the producers or the movie company, they put a lot of posters out so everyone knows it’s out. And if it’s something that’s really good, through word of mouth very quickly, everyone knows that, “Oh my gosh, have you seen this movie, have you seen so and so movie?” One movie that came out maybe six ... this is a little old but this was Jennifer, it’s what the movie was called, and it hadn’t been out say a month or two, the whole country knew about this movie and if you were anybody you had seen it, so things like that. So usually through DVDs you buy one, you like it, you recommend it to your friend. If you don’t have it anymore, if it’s scratched they go buy one and everyone, quickly everyone sees it.

 

Todd: Wow! So word of mouth?

 

Abidemi: Word of mouth, I would say.

 

Todd: Awesome¹.

 

Abidemi: Yes.

 

Todd: So is this movie industry really big for the whole continent or is it just pretty much just, you know, a Nigerian following?

 

Abidemi: I would actually say, it’s big for not just Nigerians. There are lots of Nigerians in the [0:01:35.3], in England, in America, in other countries so those people they hear about the movies from reading the internet and they watch on the internet or they buy it when they go home to Nigeria. Other countries, I mentioned earlier that a lot of Nigerian artists are collaborating² with artists from Ghana and other neighboring countries. So through that too, a lot of Ghanaians watch Nigerian movies and vice³ versa. There are Jamaicans who watch Nigerian movies because there’s an element to it, it just ... at the beginning, you may not like it but the more you watch of them, they becomes ... they grow on you, so to speak, that you just get sucked in, so I’ve heard of people they watch and there are so many of them, you could watch one a day for a whole year and not be done because they just keep producing them, producing them, producing them, so they have a huge following all over, mainly West Africa and for Nigerians in other parts of the world they watch them. And I’ve heard of some South Africans watching them as well, so probably over the continent. But Nollywood specifically is known all over the world.

 

Todd: Oh, that’s so cool. So can you recommend some movies? I totally want to see them, I’m going to be like searching YouTube. I really want to see one.

 

Abidemi: So first time, when you want to get started, I would say Google or check YouTube for Jennifer. It’s an interesting movie about a girl that goes from the village, so I think it shows Nigerian history, human relationships and also our values. It’s about a girl that goes from the village by chance, she’s able to go to a top university and she completely changes. Instead of keeping her family value of humility⁴, she starts chasing rich men and like her friends that she meets in the big city, just to get more money, so she focuses less on her studies and more on getting money. But unfortunately she chases the wrong people, she gets AIDS and that leads to her downfall. So these movies, although they’re very high in entertainment value they also have very good educational lessons or messages behind them too. So I would definitely recommend, Jennifer to start off with.

 

Todd: Oh, I’d definitely check it out. Thanks.

 

重点词汇：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

word of mouth

 

It spreads through word of mouth very quickly.

 

When something spreads word-of-mouth, people learn about it by talking to people. Notice the following:

 

Most successful businesses grow by word-of-mouth.

In the modern era, social media is similar to word-of-mouth.

so and so

 

Have you seen so and so movie?

 

The term 'so and so' refers to the name of a thing or person the speaker cannot remember. Notice the following:

 

I was talking to so-andso yesterday and ...

People love to tweet about every so-and-so rumor⁵ they hear on the internet.

collaborate⁶

 

 

A lot of Nigerian artists are collaborating with artists from Ghana.

 

When you collaborate, you work together with people to accomplish something. Notice the following:

 

The two authors collaborated⁷ on a book.

George Lucas and Steven Speilberg have collaborated on three films.

grow on you

 

It the beginning you may not like it, but it grows on you.

 

When something grows on you, you do not like it at first, but it becomes more likeable overtime⁸. Notice the following:

 

I did not like manga at first, but it has grown on me.

Overtime, Lady Gaga's music has grown on me.

sucked in

 

You just get sucked in.

 

When you get sucked in to something, you become highly interested in something, even though it was not your intention. Notice the following:

 

All of his books suck you in. Once you start reading you cannot put them down.

I did not like classical music at first, but I was sucked into it it once I heard my first symphony⁹ live.

lead to her down fall

 

That leads to her downfall.

 

Something that leads to your downfall is something that starts a series of bad outcomes¹⁰. Notice the following:

 

Drugs lead to her downfall and cost her her job.

Alcohol leads to many people's downfall.

 

1 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

2 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

5 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

6 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

7 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

8 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

9 symphony   

n.交响乐（曲），（色彩等的）和谐

参考例句：

• The Ninth Symphony of Beethoven is a famous one.贝多芬的第九交响乐非常有名。
• They play over the whole symphony.他们把整个交响乐重新演奏了一遍。

10 outcomes   

结果( outcome的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The two scenarios provide illustrations of consistent set of outcomes for range of possible policies. 这两个方案说明某一套可能采取的政策将会产生的一系列后果。
• We analyzed all the possible outcomes of your mission, Commander. 我们分析过所有可能的结果，指挥官。