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Video Arcade

Video Arcade English, baby! Video Lesson

Date: May 02 2008

Themes: Hobbies

Intro

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

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

Video games can be a fun way to escape reality for a moment or challenge your mind by solving a puzzle. You can always play video games at home with a little controller and your TV, but part of the fun for a lot of people is playing on a big machine with big buttons to press.

A place with a bunch of video game machines is called an arcade. Arcades often also have games with real moving parts like pinball, where you push buttons to shoot a metal ball at targets. Watch Jason talk to Amanda who works at an arcade.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Watch and Read - Watch the video and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Jason

Jason:  Hey, I’m Jason with English, baby! and I’m here at the Ground Kontrol video arcade with…

Amanda.

And so Amanda’s going to tell us a little bit about video games. What’s your favorite kind of video game?
Well, here at Ground Kontrol we have pinball and video games. And my favorite video game is Bust-a-Move, and it’s like a puzzle game. And my favorite pinball game is Lord of the Rings and it is definitely a popular game.

So when you play the puzzle game, are you using a joystick or is it buttons? How does it work?
You use a joystick and buttons. You use a joystick to aim and you use a button to fire.

And then what is pinball exactly? Can you tell us a little bit about that? It’s been a round a while, right?
It has been around a while. Personally, I like the newer pinball games because they’re more detailed and they have multiple levels. But some people like the nostalgia of the old ones. This is a classic arcade, so we have a lot of old games.

Do you play any of this stuff, the home entertainment games?
I have a PlayStation2 and I have a Super Nintendo. My favorite video game for home is for the PlayStation2 and it is Dance Dance Revolution. We also have that here in the arcade, but I have a dance pad at home and it’s pretty fun.

Right on. And so, when you work here, you’re actually a bartender, right?
Yes, I’m a bartender.

That’s pretty rare though, an arcade where you can buy beer, right?
I think there’s one in New York and it’s called Barcade, but I think that this is one of the only other ones. Maybe one in LA that I’ve heard of…

 

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Most arcades don’t serve drinks. But Amanda is a bartender at Ground Kontrol in Portland, Oregon. Going to the arcade is already a social thing to do, and even more so when it’s also a bar, but there are only a few places like that.

Amanda’s favorite video game is a Bust-a-Move, which, like many older games, is a puzzle game. Amanda’s arcade specializes in older games.

Amanda’s favorite pinball game is Lord of the Rings. A lot of pinball games are based on movies. You can shoot the metal ball at the Terminator’s eye, or Homer Simpson’s bald head.

Another video game that involves more than moving a character on a screen with a joystick is Dance Dance Revolution. The game leads you in a dance, telling you where to put your feet. Amanda practices this game at home!

What are your favorite games to play at an arcade? Can you think of anything else that would be fun to combine with an arcade? Maybe a laundromat or an airplane…

 

Comments

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haitham49

Egypt

eygpt 

it's fine

12:27 AM Aug 17 2009 |

ninoroque

ninoroque

Philippines

Pretty good lesson. Ü

12:24 PM Aug 16 2009 |

ninoroque

ninoroque

Philippines

Actually, I'm not a kind of person who easily gets addicted for a certain games to play at an arcade. Yet I do still enjoy playing games but after a week, I get tired of it in the sense of having had of it pretty often.

Well, I have never get sick of studying English even though I've been studying it just all by myself. Ü

 

Questions, comments, suggestions will be highly appreciated.

Thanks

 

-Niño from Philippines

12:23 PM Aug 16 2009 |

penny810428

Taiwan

hahah .. i seldom play game , but really cool video ;)

03:19 AM Aug 14 2009 |

seaside07tr

Turkey

video is too fast, should be a little slow.

10:01 PM Aug 07 2009 |

李小行

China

why i can't understands

07:20 AM Aug 07 2009 |

Dia ^-^ !

Dia ^-^ !

China

good,I like.

04:03 AM Aug 05 2009 |

Dia ^-^ !

Dia ^-^ !

China

good,I like.

04:03 AM Aug 05 2009 |

tornadeiro

Brazil

I prefer Xbox, but I like playstation too.

01:06 PM Aug 01 2009 |

foeverfly

foeverfly

China

I like this playstation~

01:46 AM Jul 23 2009 |

adnan_jutt

Pakistan

ya its great site to learn English well?

08:11 PM Jul 21 2009 |

nkkapoor852@gmail.com

India

 I do not like play games, though I have a playstation but I would like to spend my spare time to reading books and playing outddor games.  

07:13 AM Jul 11 2009 |

Eribon

Japan

Thank you for this English video.

I have Playstation 2 but, now my family wants to have Playstation 3 and Wii.

Recently I don't play games….

03:25 PM Jun 27 2008 |

kensu

China

to me where there are friends sharing joys, i have the fun…..............

02:26 PM Jun 10 2008 |

Mariangela Giuliane

Brazil

i like this lesson! i love video games!
:D

02:53 PM May 29 2008 |

wuchuanyi

wuchuanyi

China

I am very good at games, and I like playstation.

02:11 AM May 08 2008 |

john andrew

Pakistan

i play lot of PC games but the BEACH FIGHTING is myy     best game

02:52 PM May 06 2008 |

john andrew

Pakistan

i love fighttting lot of games of fighting i play, buut the BEACH Fighting i like moore,

02:51 PM May 06 2008 |

Joge

Brazil

Foot in mouth Well, I don't like video games. I think that I don't know play. When I had time I liked pinball, but now I like surf on the net or read some interesting book.

01:42 PM May 06 2008 |

SÉRGIO

SÉRGIO

Brazil

good for killing the time!

05:08 PM May 05 2008 |

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