Practice English using this dialogue with a famous actor

One of the best ways to practice English is by using dialogues. Conversations give us the opportunity to practice real vocabulary and speech expressions that we will not find in literature or essays written in English. This is because each form of communication has its own particular structure and words.

The dialogue that you will find below occurs between an interviewer and an actor. Because it is an interview, there will be more questions than in other types of conversations. At the end of the interview we have prepared some grammar and vocabulary resources that can help you in this English practice.

Dialogue

• Interviewer: Thank you for taking some time off from your busy schedule to answer a few questions about your life!
• Actor : It’s my pleasure.
• E: Could you tell us about an average day in your life?
• A: Sure. I get up early, at 7 in the morning, then I have breakfast. After breakfast, I go to the gym .
• E : Are you studying anything now?
• A : Yes, I’m learning dialogue for a new film called «The Man About Town».
• E : What do you do in the afternoon?
• A: First I have lunch, then I go to the studio and shoot some scenes .
• E: Which scene are you working on today?
• A: I’m acting out a scene about an angry lover .
• E: That’s very interesting. What do you do in the evening?
• A: In the evening, I go home and have dinner and study my scripts.
• E: Do you go out at night?
• A: Not always, I like going out at weekends.
• E: Let’s talk about your career. How many films have you made?
• A: That’s a hard question. I think I’ve made more than 50 films!
• E: Wow. That’s a lot! How many years have you been an actor?
• A: I’ve been an actor since I was ten years old. In other words, I’ve been an actor for twenty years.
• E: That’s impressive. Do you have any future projects?
• A: Yes, I do. I’m going to focus on making a few documentaries next year.
• E: That sounds great. Do you have any plans beyond that?
• A: Well, I’m not sure. Maybe I will become a film director and maybe I’ll just retire.
• E: Oh, please don’t retire! We love your films!
• A: That’s very kind of you. I’m sure I’ll make a few more films.
• E: That’s good to hear. Thank you for the interview.
• A: Thank you .

Vocabulary

Here are some of the phrases used in the dialogue that may be more difficult to understand:

• Take time off : take time off from some activity.
• Average day : A normal or average day.
• Studio : place where a movie is made.
• Shoot some scenes : record scenes for a movie.
• Script : script of the lines that the actor must repeat.
• Career : career or profession that someone exercises.
• Future projects : future projects or jobs.
• Focus on something : to concentrate on something, usually an activity.
• Documentary : documentary (type of film).
• Remove – Permanently stop working.

Grammar in context

One of the most effective ways to study grammar is to look at it in context and see how it works with the rest of the sentences. In this case we have selected several sentences in present simple and present continuous:

Simple present

This tense is used to talk about those activities that occur recurrently in life. The routines, the description of the personality, what we like or do not like to do are things that we must express with the simple present. In the dialogue we find the following phrases:

• I get up early, at 7 in the morning, then I have breakfast. After breakfast, I go to the gym .
• What do you do in the afternoon?
• First I have lunch, then I go to the studio and shoot some scenes .

Present continuous

The present continuous focuses on expressing an activity that is in the process of being carried out while the person is speaking. It can be used for activities that occur immediately or activities that occur on the same day, month, or year. But always the emphasis is on the progression of the activity. The following examples are taken from the dialogue

• Are you studying anything now?
• Yes, I’m learning dialogue for a new film called «The Man About Town» .

References

MAD-Eduforma (2006) Basic English for Oppositions.e-book. Available at: https://books.google.co.ve/books?id=EctXCV6kvj0C&dq

Petuya, A. (2015). English A1. Available at: https://books.google.co.ve/books?id=Nl_zCAAAQBAJ&dq