Did you know that Shakespeare coined* over 1000 words, many of which we still use today and some of them we use everyday!
But WHY did he invent so many words ? This is a good question. He didn’t it simply to fit in with the rhythm of his text, he needed words with the right number of syllables to fit in with the meter rhythm of the line.
Indeed many of the words that Shakespeare coined came from adding suffixes and prefixes such as -ful, -able – fied. For example, laugh and able, un and dress, care and less. So if you find English adjectives confusing you know who to blame !
Sometimes he put 2 words together, for example bed and room. Thank you Shakespeare for that one! Plus, birth and place, farm and house.
In this podcast, Sue asks Chris to explain 10 Shakespearian inventions and then he “turns the tables” on her… you can thank Shakespeare for that one too !!!
Are you able to recognize a film or TV series just by looking at one of its filming locations ? Which images from TV and film stick in your mind ?
How observant are you ? Do you notice everything in films or do you just take going to the cinema as an opportunity to have a nice, cosy sleep ?
Try this quiz to find out.
Interestingly movie and TV tourism really exists because fans love to visit the iconic sites of their favorite series and films. Indeed it has been estimated that visits to a site can increase by over 30% if a popular TV series or movie is shot there. In 2012, Tourism Competitive Intelligence found that 40 million international tourists chose their destination because they’d seen a film in that particular location. Wow, that’s a lot of tourism. Take a look at these figues from the Champion Traveller website to see the effect of shooting a film or TV series on a city or country:
Harry Potter – 50% increase in tourism to all filming locations (in some cities/towns as much as 200%)
Frozen – 37% increase in tourism to Norway
The Beach – 22% increase to Thailand
Braveheart – 300% increase in tourism to Wallace Monument, Scotland
Mission Impossible 2 – 200% increase to Sydney National Park
Troy – 73% increase to Canakkale, Turkey
So which countries and sites would you like to visit to soak up the atmosphere of your favorite movie and TV series scenes ?
Outlander
1 Vote
Game of Thrones
0 Vote
House of cards
0 Vote
Eastenders
0 Vote
Sense 8
0 Vote
Friends
1 Vote
The crown
1 Vote
Peaky blinders
0 Vote
Lord of The rings
0 Vote
Stranger Things
0 Vote
Very bad trip
0 Vote
Breaking bad
0 Vote
Slumdog millionaire
0 Vote
Pirates of The Carribean
0 Vote
Harry Potter
0 Vote
TV and movie junkie quiz
Can you name these famous film and TV series just from their location
? Don't worry we will give you some clues and hints to help you.
If you are a language learner take the time to read the
information in the answer and you will learn new vocabulary too !
If you are a language teacher before starting the quiz
you could use just the clues/hints in a game to get your students guessing,
thinking and brain storming new vocabulary.
In this podcast, Chris who has never (ever) seen a Star Wars film, interviews movie goers as they leave the cinema after watching Star Wars – The Force Awakens, just to see what all the fuss is about.
It seems like he isn’t the only one, there is even a BBC Radio 4 program called “I’ve never seen Star Wars.”
Star Wars – The Force Awakens – Thirty years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the galaxy faces a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order. When a defector named Finn crash-lands on a desert planet, he meets Rey (Daisy Ridley), a tough scavenger whose droid contains a top-secret map.
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”.
The first film in the series, Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope), was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon.
It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy.
A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans, compared to the original trilogy.
All six films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $4.38 billion, making Star Wars the fifth-highest-grossing film series.
The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series’s fictional universe. Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the “Most successful film merchandising franchise.”
In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.
In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced three new Star Wars films; the first film of that trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was released on December 18, 2015.
20th Century Fox retains the physical distribution rights to the first two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original 1977 film and holding the rights to Episodes I–III, V and VI until May 2020.
The Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, excluding A New Hope.
Talking about films requires specific vocabulary so check out this quiz which will show you how to use new words in the right context.
The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry.
The big blockbusters are usually great films with very strong acting, special effects or a very engaging story line.
The origin of the Oscar statuette dates all the way back to 1927. That’s when members of the newly formed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held a dinner in the Crystal Ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to devise a way to honor outstanding achievements in cinema. MGM art director sketched the figure of a knight gripping a sword, standing in front of a reel of film. The five spokes of the reel stood for the original five branches of the Academy—actors, directors, producers, technicians, and writers—while the sword symbolized protection for the welfare of the industry.
It is said that the Academy librarian and future executive director Margaret Herrick noted that the bald figure resembled her Uncle Oscar, hence the nickname stuck…. and the rest is history as they say.
In this quiz we ask 10 questions to help you choose which Oscar winning film you should go and see. The questions cover the type of plot, the emotions you seek at the cinema and actors you enjoy watching.
The vocabulary focuses on all the words you need to talk about movies.
A one-hit wonder is any group or solo singer that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success.
The term is most commonly used in regard to music performerswith only one hit single that overshadows their other work.
Sometimes, artists dubbed “one-hit wonders” in a particular country have had great success in other countries.
Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are typically not considered a one-hit wonder.
One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing and most often don’t return to hit listings with other songs or albums.
In this podcast, Chris turns the tables on Sue and asks her a question – listen out for it.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
