#Ep. 8 🎃 Spooky Edition - Halloween Movie Magic

Unlock the secrets of combining English learning with the thrill of Halloween cinema! This podcast episode promises to transform your language skills using the magic of film. Discover how to make your movie nights double as English lessons with tips like pausing to practice dialogue, turning on subtitles to enhance comprehension, and using scene translations to boost understanding. Whether it's the terrifying world of "It," the enchanting sisters in "Practical Magic," or the ghostly antics of "Beetlejuice," each movie is a treasure trove of vocabulary and expressions waiting to be explored.

Join me, Natalie, as I reveal my top five Halloween movies that not only entertain but also serve as fantastic tools for language practice. You'll dive into chilling plots and bewitching stories while picking up everyday expressions, phrasal verbs, and more. This episode is your guide to enjoying the spooky season while sharpening your English skills in a fun, interactive way. So, grab your pumpkin spice latte and get ready to experience Halloween like never before, with a twist of English learning!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello and welcome to Learn English with Natalie, the Halloween movie edition. I am here to give you tips on how to learn English in a fun and interactive way. Today, we are going to focus on learning English through movies, specifically Halloween movies. And if you're anything like me and you enjoy this spooky season a little bit too much, grab a pumpkin spice latte and settle in, because I am going to give you today my top five Halloween movies that will help you to improve your English. Now, before we get into the top five list, I am going to give you some top tips for how to learn English through movies in a fun yet effective way.

Speaker 1: 0:54

Tip number one pause to practice. Now, if you are watching a movie, you might want to pause after you have heard an expression that you enjoy or that you are not familiar with. Take a pause after you have heard it, rewind, listen to it again, pause again and then say the sentence to yourself or the friend that you are watching the movie with. If you listened to my episode a couple of weeks ago about phrasal verbs, remember those phrasal verbs are everyday expressions that you can use in your English conversations. You will hear those phrasal verbs used throughout movies frequently. So take a pause and practice. Pause for practice. Tip number two use the subtitles so you might be watching a movie. And keep in mind, streaming services, just like Netflix, are your best friend. They all come with English subtitles, so put those subtitles on and read and listen while you're watching the movie, and read and listen while you're watching the movie. Tip number three translate, translate, translate. I want you to watch your favorite Halloween movies in a dubbed version, that is, in your own language. While you are doing this, I want you to watch a scene in your own language so you gain an understanding of what is happening, and then you can rewind that scene and replay it in English. This is a great way to test your understanding. Okay, let's get into the list.

Speaker 1: 2:34

Coming in at number five, one of my personal favourites Stephen King's it. The film is called it Two letters, i-t it. This film is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name and it's about a very scary clown that runs around the town of Derry, maine, and feeds on the children that live there. It resurfaces every 30 years. This is not a film for children. It's very scary, but it centres around a group of children who try to defeat the monster. If your English is up to it, you might want to practice reading the novel after you've watched the movie, because you will already have an understanding of the plot. However, I don't recommend this because it is a very, very long novel. So only do this if you have the patience, if you absolutely love reading and if you are feeling confident to do so.

Speaker 1: 3:31

Number four Now. I actually forgot about this film, and it's a film that I watched quite recently. It's a classic 90s, maybe early 2000s, I haven't checked the year. It's a movie about two sisters and it's called Practical Magic. This film stars Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock and it is an amazing Halloween film. Now it has a big cult following. That means that people who have watched this film absolutely adore this film and watch it time and time again. It's about two sisters who are witches but have very different views about how they should use their powers and how they should live their lives. Again, definitely not a film for kids but for adults to enjoy.

Speaker 1: 4:16

Number three Now you can see by my t-shirt here that I am a big fan of this movie. This movie is called Beetlejuice Again a classic, so this was released in the 80s. It stars Michael Keaton and it also stars Winona Ryder. It's about a family that moved to a new house and upstairs, in the attic, there are lots of creepy things going on, such as a. I want to say he's a demon or a creature called Beetlejuice, who inhabits a tiny model of the town that they live in. They recently made a sequel to this movie and I went to watch this at the cinema recently. As far as new sequels go, I really enjoyed it. Check it out, beetlejuice, but don't say his name three times.

Speaker 1: 5:04

Number two it's a teen slasher and it's a classic called Scream. You've definitely heard of this movie before. There are so many versions of this movie now. Scream started out as one film, then they made a sequel, then they made a trilogy and it's been going on and on for years. A typical teen slasher movie about a group of teenagers and a serial killer on the loose. Don't miss out. And finally, let's get a drum roll.

Speaker 1: 5:34

My number one favorite Halloween movie of all time. It's a Disney movie. It's called Hocus Pocus. It is a Disney movie. However, you might want to watch it first before you recommend it to your kids, because there are some questionable references. However, it is a really fun, really enjoyable film. It is all about three witches from hundreds of years ago who are brought back to life and wreak havoc on the modern day. I say modern day, it was made in the 90s, but it's fun, it's musical, you will laugh. And also watch out for Winifred Sanderson, who's the main witch, played by Bette Midler, and she uses lots of old English expressions like dost thou comprehend Things like that, so you will enjoy this Again.

Speaker 1: 6:25

Use my top tips from the start of the video so that you can enjoy this and learn from it in the most effective way. Now that's it. That is my top five recommendations for Halloween movies to learn English through. I hope you enjoy them. Please let me know what are your favourite Halloween movies. I'm dying to get some new ones. I absolutely love this season and I want to watch as many scary movies as possible. I'm getting a little bit creeped out while I'm sat in my apartment by myself, okay, so don't make me feel alone here. Drop some comments below, let me know which movies you'll be watching this season, and if you found this video useful, please don't forget to like and subscribe so that you don't miss out on any further top tips or english lessons from me. Thank you very much and I'll see you next week.