A comedy makes you laugh, a drama tells a serious story, and a documentary shows real facts about the world.
Types of shows
comedy /ˈkɑː.mə.di/ — a funny comedy
drama /ˈdrɑː.mə/ — a TV drama
documentary /ˌdɑː.kjəˈmɛn.tɚ.i/ — a nature documentary
Try it: Choose the word: (comedy / drama / documentary) Answer: comedy — This is a comedy.
Listening and live events
A podcast is a talk show you listen to online. A concert is live music, and a festival is a big event with music over several days.
podcast /ˈpɑːd.kæst/ — a popular podcast
concert /ˈkɑːn.sɚt/ — a rock concert
festival /ˈfɛs.tɪ.vəl/ — a music festival
Try it: Choose the word: (concert / podcast / channel) Answer: concert — This is a concert.
Finding programs and news
A TV channel is one station you can watch, and an article is a piece of writing in a newspaper or online.
channel /ˈtʃæn.əl/ — a TV channel
article /ˈɑːr.tɪ.kəl/ — a news article
Try it: Choose the word: (article / channel / festival) Answer: article — This is an article.
Watching series and films
A series is a show with many parts, and each part is an episode. A trailer is a short video that shows you what a new film is about. Subtitles are the words at the bottom of the screen.
series — a new TV series
episodes — I watched three episodes.
trailer — I saw the trailer online.
subtitles — I watch with subtitles.
Try it: Diego does not understand every word, so he turns on the ___ and reads them. (subtitles / trailer / episodes) Answer: subtitles — The words at the bottom of the screen are subtitles. A trailer is a short advert for a film and episodes are the parts of a series, so neither one is text you read while watching.
Reading news and blogs
The headline is the big title at the top of a news story. A blog is a personal website where someone writes regularly. Newspapers you hold in your hand are in print; lyrics are the words of a song.
headline — the front-page headline
blog — She writes a travel blog.
print — I read the news in print.
lyrics — I know all the lyrics.
Try it: Amina has only one minute before work, so she reads just the ___ of each news story. (headline / article / review) Answer: headline — You can read a headline in a second, because it is only the title. The article is the whole story and would take much longer, and a review gives an opinion about a film or a book, not the news.
Reacting and sharing
A review says whether something is good or bad. If you like a channel, you subscribe so you get every new video. When you send something to friends, you share it.
review — a good film review
subscribe — subscribe to the channel
share — share the video with friends
Try it: Mei wants every new video from her favorite channel, so she clicks ___. (subscribe / review / share) Answer: subscribe — To get every new video from a channel you subscribe. A review says if something is good and to share is to send it to other people, so neither one signs you up.