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רמה: מתקדמים

Talkies

מאמר באנגלית לתרגול קריאה. כולל 5 מילים חדשות עם תרגום לעברית, 3 שאלות הבנת הנקרא, 5 שאלות לשיחה. מתאים למתקדמים.

Read the article below. 

Movies have been around since the mid-1890s, but at the start, they were “silent” — actors moved their lips but you couldn’t hear their words. Audiences read the dialogue on cards that interrupted the action. In cinemas, a pianist or orchestra played the soundtrack.

This simple formula made Hollywood a cultural force. Silent film actors became stars.

Then came Vitaphone. This new technology lets audiences hear films with synchronized sound. The sound was played separately from the moving pictures, on phonograph records. Vitaphone could synchronize words with the actors’ lips as they spoke.

The film that brought Vitaphone to everyone’s attention was The Jazz Singer in 1927. It starred Al Jolson as a young Jewish man who left his family to chase his dream of becoming a musical star. He performed many of the movie’s songs in blackface — something you could never get away with these days.

“Talkies” became wildly popular and spelled doom for the silent era — they were just more rewarding to watch. Silent film stars adapted to the new world of talkies or were left behind.

Talkies also helped spread English to all corners of the world. In the silent era, dialogue cards were written in the local language, but there were no on-screen cards in talkies. The films were either dubbed or subtitled. You can see how that helped people learn English in countries like Sweden, which embraced subtitles, compared to countries like Spain and France, which prefer dubbing.

מילים חדשות מהטקסט

  • Synchronize /ˈsɪŋ krəˌnaɪz/ verb לְסַנכְרֵן

    to move or happen at the same time or speed

    The sound and picture have to synchronize perfectly.

  • Interrupt /ˌɪn təˈrʌpt/ verb פסיקת

    to cause an event or an activity to not be continuous

    We interrupt this program to bring you a special announcement.

  • Dub /dʌb/ verb לִטפּוֹחַ

    to replace the original speech in a film or TV show with speech recorded in another language

    He was hired to dub the dialogue for a foreign film.

  • Get away with /gɛt əˈweɪ wɪθ/ phrase תסתלק

    to avoid criticism or punishment for something bad that one has done

    He was able to get away with the bad things he’s done.

  • Spell doom for /spɛl dum fɔr/ idiom לאיית אבדון עבור

    to cause the end, death, or destruction of someone or something

    The recent tragedy spelled doom for many businesses.

שאלות לשיחה

אין כאן תשובה נכונה — אלה שאלות לתרגול דיבור, לבד או מול מורה.

  1. Do you think watching movies is a good way to learn a foreign language? Why or why not?
  2. Which do you prefer when watching a foreign movie, with subtitles or dubbed? Why?
  3. What’s a recent technological innovation that has amazed you so much? Why?
  4. Do you think silent films will still be popular these days?
  5. What do you think are the good qualities of silent films?

בדקו את עצמכם

3 שאלות. בחרו תשובה וקבלו בדיקה מיד.

  1. What new technology lets audiences hear films with synchronized sound?

  2. What did talkies help spread all over the world?

  3. Which countries prefer dubbing?

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