Skip to main content

Insightful Conversation in Art Gallery to Improve Your English

This 6 minutes lesson offers a good mix of art-related vocabulary and descriptive language, which can be helpful for English learners to understand every nuance in the spoken English. A conversation scene from 'The Idea of You' is used.

In today's lesson:

  • "art is subjective". - What does it mean?
  • "untouchable genius in a rarefied space". - What do you think this phrase means?
  • "its honesty incredibly moving". - Why does she say that?
Today, we learn English with Solène, an art gallery owner, and Hayes, a 20-year-old pop star. Solène shows Hayes some artwork, which he can buy for his new apartment. Let's watch and learn!

"subjective" means based on personal opinions and feelings, rather than facts. 

"art is subjective" means everyone's got their own opinion about it. What one person loves, another might hate. Solène says that it's all about you – your personal feelings, experiences, and what you think it means. So, there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to art.

Let's focus on the grammar of the sentence: 'Do you really want the lecture about how art is subjective?' -  "how art is subjective" is a noun clause acting as the object of the preposition "about". "noun phrase" means a group of words in a sentence that together behave as a noun.

"self-portrait" means is a picture or drawing that an artist creates of themselves. It's like a visual representation of how they see themselves.

"untouchable" means not able to be punished, criticized, or changed in any way.

"genius" here means a person who has very great and rare natural ability or skill, especially in a particular area such as science or art.

So, "untouchable genius" means someone who is incredibly smart and talented, so much so that they seem perfect and impossible to reach or equal.

"rarefied" means without any of the problems of ordinary life, especially because of being related to wealth, high social position, art.

Putting it together: An "untouchable genius in a rarefied space" is someone who is extremely intelligent and skilled, and who seems to live in a world that is far removed from ordinary people.

"incredibly" means extremely, it's also used to say that something is very difficult to believe.

"incredibly moving" means something made you feel very strong emotions, like sadness, happiness, or inspiration. Solène says that the picture touches her heart deeply and has a big impact on her feelings.

"piece" here means a "piece of art", one single artwork, like a painting or a sculpture.

Popular posts from this blog

I want you to come! | Practice Advanced English Conversation with Movies

This English conversation lesson combines a mixture of informal, everyday language with some advanced and idiomatic expressions. The mix of dialogue style and humor in this scene from 'Nobody Wants This' is a great material for learning real-life English. In today's lesson: 'gaslighting' — what does it mean? 'made eye contact' — what do you think this phrase means? 'desperately' — why does he say that? Today we learn English with a bunch of characters from Nobody Wants This. First, there's Noah. He was delayed at work and is hurrying to see Joanne. She is waiting for Noah at the street because she wants to see him. Then we have Morgan, her sister, trying to give Joanne a ride home. Lastly, there's Sasha, Noah's older brother, who seems quite eccentric. Let's watch and learn. Learn vocabulary ' get in ' is a phrasal verb that means to enter a space, here, into a car. ' pretend ' means to behave as if something is true w...

Playful Conversation to Improve Your English: Bea and Ben at Coffee Shop

This 7 minutes English lesson offers a good mix of everyday vocabulary and legal language, which can be helpful for English learners to understand every nuance in the real English language. A conversation scene from 'Anyone But You' is used. In today's lesson: "I will see you on the other side". - Why does she say that? "for customers only". - What does it mean? "grilled cheese night". - What is it? Today we learn English with a young woman, Bea, who enters a coffee shop and asks the barista if she can use the bathroom. Let's watch and learn! The phrase " for customers only " means that something is just for people who buy something at the store or shop. In this scene, the barista does not use the phrasal verb " pay up " how it's usually used. Typically, "pay up" means to give money that you owe. But here, the barista is using a shorter way of saying, "you need to pay before you can get something"...

Learn Advanced English Vocabulary with REACHER: 18 useful words and phrases

Elevate your English skills with an in-depth analysis of a scene from 'Reacher.'  In this lesson, we'll explore advanced words and expressions used by Karla Dixon and Reacher until they share their stories. We'll discover the context and nuances of expressions like "our little filly" and "a stick and a bindle". This lesson is designed to boost your comprehension of complex language used in real-life scenarios, offering valuable insights for English learners. Move on! New words and phrases " Our little filly " is a phrase that is often used metaphorically to describe a young girl or daughter. The term "filly" is traditionally used to describe a young female horse, and it is sometimes playfully extended to girls. It's a term that shows liking and may be used in a familial or informal context. " Unsave the date " is a play on the common phrase "save the date", which is typically used to inform people about a f...