📙 Part 2: Describe an interesting video

This episode's vocabulary

Grab someone's attention (phrasal verb) – to attract and hold someone's interest. → Example: I seem to spend my life on YouTube watching videos that grab my attention.

Come to mind (idiom) – to enter one's thoughts. → Example: One video that immediately comes to mind is a music video I saw recently.

Get-together (noun) – an informal social gathering. → Example: We were having a bit of a get-together at my friend's house.

Run dry (idiom) – to be completely used up or come to an end. → Example: We put music on as a conversation piece in case the chat ever runs dry.

(The) name escapes me (idiom) – used to say that you cannot remember someone's or something's name. → Example: The video features her and another singer whose name escapes me just now.

Pique someone's interest (verb phrase) – to make someone feel interested in something or someone. → Example: It piqued our interest because it was a very well-done video.

Catchy (adjective) – (of a tune or phrase) instantly appealing and easy to remember. → Example: The song had very catchy lyrics that we all started singing.

Eye-catching (adjective) – immediately appealing or noticeable; striking. → Example: The video was full of equally eye-catching designs and costumes.

Run-of-the-mill (adjective) – lacking unusual or special aspects; ordinary. → Example: We focused on it more than the other more run-of-the-mill videos.

Running commentary (noun) – a continuous description of an event as it happens. → Example: My friends were providing a running commentary on what they were seeing.

Off-the-wall (adjective) – unconventional; eccentric. → Example: The video itself was pretty off-the-wall, so our funny comments made sense.

Miss out on (phrasal verb) – to fail to use an opportunity to enjoy or get an advantage from something. → Example: If we hadn't seen it, I doubt we'd have missed out on much.

Concise (adjective) - giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words. → Example: You should describe the video in a concise way, using only three or four sentences.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe an interesting video. You should say when and where you watched it, what it was about, why you watched it, and explain how you felt about it.

Rory: Well, I seem to spend my life on YouTube watching videos that grab my attention. But one that immediately comes to mind is one I saw recently that was a music video we had on at my friend's place. Speaking about the when and where of it all, as I said, it was at my friend's house just last week on Saturday evening, and we were having a bit of a get-together. When that happens, we almost always have something on in the background just for background noise and as a conversation piece if the chat ever runs dry. If we consider the subject matter, it was a music video, as I said, but more specifically, it was one of the latest ones from Lady Gaga. I think it's called Runway and it features her and another singer, whose name escapes me just now, and they're basically singing about fashion and other parts of popular culture. And there are the usual things such videos have, like lots of interesting costume changes and funny references. So, all in all, it was just really fun to watch. When I think about the why behind it, I suppose it piqued our interest because it was a very well-done video with catchy lyrics and equally eye-catching designs, so it made sense we would focus on it more than the other more run-of-the-mill videos. As far as my feelings at the time are concerned, aside from being interested, I found it quite funny as well as interesting, since my friends were providing a running commentary on what they were seeing at the time and making funny remarks about different aspects of it, which makes sense because the video itself was pretty off-the-wall. You don't usually see things like that now. If we hadn't seen it, I doubt we'd have missed out on much, but it was a fun way to spend part of the evening, and hopefully there'll be more occasions like it.

Discussion

Maria: So, dear listener, a video, a video you enjoyed. It could be a video on YouTube, on TikTok, on Instagram, any video. Even if your friend sent you something, a video, you could talk about that. Rory started off with, I seem to spend my life on YouTube. So, dear listener, yes, we spend our life on Instagram, on Facebook, on YouTube, why not? On TikTok. So you can say, I spend my life on YouTube watching videos that grab my attention. Grab your attention means it attracted my attention. It caught my attention. You can start off with one video that grabbed my attention was a video about blah, blah, blah. You can talk about our videos on YouTube.

Rory: You have many. I like the one on space the best.

Maria: I like the one on snacks. Yes, I enjoy a video about snacks. I'm eating a cucumber there. I'm munching on some crisps as well, so I'm eating different food in that video. Very nice. If you just Google IELTS Speaking for Success, YouTube, snacks, that's the video. Very funny. You can look at me eating different food. Yes, hilarious. Hilarious. And you can say, one video that comes to mind is one about ta-ta-ta. We watched it at my friend's place, at my friend's place, at my friend's house. You can say I watched it at my friend's place, at my parents' place, at work, at home, in a restaurant, in the kitchen, in the bathroom. Maybe you enjoy watching videos in the toilet. Why not? To kill two birds with one stone.

Rory: Oh, Maria, come on.

Maria: Oh, it's very funny. And I used an idiom. In the correct context. Right.

Rory: Yes, you did. Let's move swiftly on from there.

Maria: It was at my friend's house last week, on Saturday or on Sunday. We were having a bit of a get-together. When you meet your friends, you have a get-together. You can say, we had a bit of a get-together. We were watching videos, we were talking, chatting, gossiping. And it was a music video. It was the latest video from Lady Gaga.

Rory: But you could also say it was an old video. There are many kinds of music video. So it was about four minutes long or something like that.

Maria: And then you describe the video, right? She was singing. There were lots of interesting costume changes. It was fun to watch. If you don't remember the name, if you don't remember something, you can say, the name escapes me now. Or the title of the video escapes me now. Or it's a video about this person, I don't remember their name. The name escapes me now. Escapes, it runs away from me now. I don't remember.

Rory: I don't know who they are. It's escaped my head.

Maria: And it's okay, dear listener, if you want to talk about a film, but you don't remember the name of the film. That's fine. You can say, the name of the video escapes me now. The name of the artist escapes me now. The person in the video, I don't remember their name. It escapes me now. I just don't remember the video. It escapes me now.

Rory: But if you don't remember the name either, you could say, I think it's called and then guess at the name. The examiner is not going to know.

Maria: Yes, but now, dear listener, you should prepare your video. What you're going to be talking about, choose something easy or steal Rory's story, talk about Lady Gaga. Watch this music video, which is called Runway. Actually, I'm going to check it just to make sure that you told the truth, Rory. Maybe you made it all up.

Rory: Maybe I did. Ooh, spooky.

Maria: Music video, Runway. Okay, yes, it does exist. It's about three minutes. Yes, crazy costumes. Whoa, lots of crazy costumes. Ooh la la. Lots of people, lots of women and men, they're running around, and Lady Gaga is just nuts. Wow.

Rory: That doesn't differentiate it from any other video, to be honest.

Maria: Yes, the costumes are just insane. They're black and white and they're red and they're strange. Yes. So spectacular, dear listener. It is a very well-done video with catchy lyrics. Lady Gaga is singing, obviously, in the video. So it's a well-done video with catchy lyrics. Catchy means you start singing the words. And eye-catching designs. The designs of the costumes catch your eyes. Eye-catching designs, eye-catching dresses, eye-catching costumes. They are so bright, so unusual, they catch your eye. And also Rory used a very nice verb. Pique.

Rory: Piqued our interest.

Maria: Piqued my interest. Piqued. Not peek, P E A K, but piqued, P I Q U E. It's crazy. Piqued. It means excite or cause interest. This piqued my interest because it's a strange video. It's not one of those run-of-the-mill videos. Run-of-the-mill means ordinary, something usual, run-of-the-mill, not special. It's just a run-of-the-mill film. It's a run-of-the-mill video, but Lady Gaga's video is really special. It's really bright with different colors and costumes and Lady Gaga is just there. Wow.

Rory: By contrast. Whereas other normal videos are just run-of-the-mill things.

Maria: I was really interested, interested in the video. It was quite funny. My friends were commenting on the video. They were providing a running commentary on what they were seeing at the time. Very nice. They were watching the video and past continuous, right? They were watching the video, they were providing a running commentary, they were commenting on what they were watching. They were making funny remarks. They were making funny comments. Make comments about different aspects of the video. I laughed a lot. It was very funny. I felt happy, rolling on the floor, laughing. Can you imagine Rory on the floor?

Rory: We could just say it was hilarious.

Maria: It was hilarious, yes, it was hilarious. And then Rory finishes off with the third conditional again. Oh, Rory.

Rory: Come on. Is it that bad?

Maria: You explained the conditional. I'm...

Rory: Yes, it is that bad. It's the third conditional.

Maria: So what?

Rory: I said if we hadn't seen it, I doubt we'd have missed out on much, meaning if we hadn't seen it, so in a different time when we didn't see it, then it wouldn't be a problem. But we did see it, so it doesn't matter.

Maria: Or you can use the second conditional. If I had more time, I'd watch it again, some other time.

Rory: Maybe I'll watch it again in the future.

Maria: Yes. Sometime in the future. What adjectives can we use to describe a video?

Rory: Eye-catching, interesting, attention-grabbing.

Maria: It grabs your attention. It takes your attention. It catches your attention. So it's attention-grabbing.

Rory: Grabbing.

Maria: If it's not a music video, it could be any video, like an ad, something on TikTok, but your explanation of the video, what's happening, it should be about three or four sentences. That's all, dear listener. You don't have time for detail. You have two minutes. So Rory described the video in a very concise way, shortly. One, two, actually three, four sentences, about what was going on in the video. So be brief. You might want to write it down, because if the task says describe a film, you start, this film is about doo doo doo doo doo, and then, bam, thank you very much. You should finish. So you only have about 30 seconds to actually describe what's in that video. You can watch our video on snacks on YouTube, and then describe it, if you wish. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode about videos in general.

Rory: Ooh.

Maria: Bye.

Rory: Bye.