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Mixtapes

Mixtapes

Date: Nov 03 2008

Themes: Romance, Tech

Grammar: Modal Verbs

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

“Making a mixtape is like writing a letter.” Or so says the main character in the movie High Fidelity, a guy who’s better at expressing his feelings through other people’s songs than by using his own words.

Making mixtapes, or recording a mix of songs by various artists onto a single cassette tape, became popular during the 1980s. Some people like mixtapes because they can put a bunch of their favorite tracks together in one place. Other people give mixtapes as gifts. Giving your crush a mixtape filled with love songs is one way to tell them how you feel.

Fans of the mixtape, like the guy from High Fidelity, think making an awesome mixtape is a lost art. Listen to Devan try to convince Amanda that making a mixtape is better than burning a CD.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amanda

Amanda

Devan

Devan

Amanda:  So, I have this crush. I may have crossed the line, but I made him this, um…Well, I burned him this mixed CD last night.

Devan:  Oh, CD, you should’ve made him a tape.

Amanda:  A what?

Devan:  A mixtape.

Amanda:  I don’t know what that is.

Devan:  You know, like a cassette tape. You never used to make people mixtapes?

Amanda:  Um, how is he supposed to play that?

Devan:  On a tape player.

Amanda:  A tape player?

Devan:  He could play it in his car. See, this is why…

Amanda:  In his car?

Devan:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Not unless it was made in like 1970.

Devan:  See, though, let me explain to you why a mixtape is far superior to a mixed CD.

Amanda:  OK.

Devan:  If you would give him a mixed CD, what’s the first thing you do when you get a mixed CD? You skip through the tracks to find the ones you know and that you like.

Amanda:  Yeah, and?

Devan:  And, did you not put thought into the order that you put those songs on that CD?

Amanda:  No, I didn’t.

Devan:  You didn’t put any thought into transitions?

Amanda:  No, I didn’t.

Devan:  See, a mixtape is a lost art. It’s a lost art. Because with a mixtape, they can’t skip through the tracks so they have to listen to it from beginning to end. And you can put all this like art and technique into the transition from one song to the next, to the meanings…

Amanda:  Like a story? Like one chapter to the next?

Devan:  Exactly. Like, did you see High Fidelity when he’s explaining how to make a mixtape?

Amanda:  Yes.

Devan:  You gotta kick it off with a killer. And then you take it down a notch. You know? It’s like that. There’s an art to making a mixtape. Making a mixed CD is just too easy, it’s just click, click, click, burn, send. There’s no art in that.

Amanda:  So, um, hold on. I didn’t realize there’d be that much backlash about me just burning this CD. It’s no big deal. I mean, I didn’t really think that I sold out with that.

Devan:  Maybe next time you should put a little more thought into your presents. People will appreciate them more.

Amanda:  Well, maybe you could supply the equipment and the material so I could actually do something that antiquated. Deal?

Devan:  Deal.

Amanda:  Awesome.

 

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Discussion

Amanda is nervous because she burned a mixed CD for a guy she likes and she’s afraid it was too bold a move. Devan thinks Amanda should have made her crush a mixtape instead of a CD.

Amanda is skeptical about mixtapes and doesn’t agree with Devan that making them is a lost art. Devan explains that when you give someone a mixtape, they have to listen to it all the way through because they can’t skip tracks, so a mixtape is more like a book that tells a story.
You have to be creative and put a lot of thought into making a good mixtape.

Have you ever made anyone a mixtape or a mixed CD? Do you think it’s a good way to tell someone how you feel about them? Has anyone given you a mixtape or burned you a CD?

 

Comments

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balamuruganbala

India

hai

08:44 AM Feb 09 2011 |

karl824

China

I had never heard of mixtape before. It's really a good thing to express  your feelings and share  your favorite with your crush. Maybe I will try it someday. 

04:41 AM Dec 30 2008 |

m2wa

Saudi Arabia

I never had got a maxtape before but I think it's kind of sweet 2 take it frome the sameone who u love 2 hear all the romantek songs & 2 remember what u were 2 doing and lughe about it            

10:12 AM Dec 23 2008 |

Tom Burus

Tom Burus

Hungary

I like it:D

03:57 PM Nov 09 2008 |

935181982

China

nice voice

03:07 PM Nov 08 2008 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Recording Mixtapes is cool,but I prefer to burn CDs it’s more practical ;)

12:25 PM Nov 06 2008 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Mixtapes great! I remind it hehe

I have some at home :)

It was very cool at the time,but today it's not more usual,even cause nobody has tape player to hear it hehe…

12:18 PM Nov 06 2008 |

Mathilda hu

China

Mixtapes ,oh i have ,but i did not use it  for years ,haha…since it sound very interesting ,and i never found it ,i will try to listen to it again …..

02:13 AM Nov 06 2008 |

nad1a

nad1a

Greece

cute

01:50 PM Nov 05 2008 |

xinsihai

xinsihai

China

i have many Mixtapes at my middle school

but now ,i only listen music by computer

01:21 AM Nov 04 2008 |

susan1964

China

I like mixtapes.

12:39 AM Nov 04 2008 |

mionfabian

mionfabian

Brazil

whoa… I ever hear about this kind of gifts,... but when I was a teenager I did a mixtape… but just to tell to a girl how much I loved her… I remember I put there one part of one movie very funny between two romantic songs…
was great… but I lost that girl hahaha

07:17 PM Nov 03 2008 |

Totto

Totto

Sudan

I have never heard of that, lost art, in my life.  But I

 guess it is cool to make a mixtape for your cruch.  Not

 everyone is better at expressing his or her feelings in a

 mixtape.  Some people may be better at expressing it

 in words and other may not.

Daven said someone cant skip through the tracks of a mixtape. she was wrong, someone can fastforward, ha ha.

04:45 PM Nov 03 2008 |

prajeeshnarayanan

India

But I converted all my such cassets into cd using pc…hehehe

11:36 AM Nov 03 2008 |

guobingyou

guobingyou

China

I haven't listened to a mixtape for years,maybe since I had my own computer and was used to listening to music on MP3 players.It's very romantic & sweet to receive a mixtape as a gift,but i don't think i like the stuff which is out of date.Plus,there's many a way to write down what we wanna say to our crush on mixed CDs.

11:18 AM Nov 03 2008 |

osama81

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

I hope find some friends

08:26 AM Nov 03 2008 |

kaira_harry

Yemen

hahahahhah

very old

but it's ok for listeing

07:19 AM Nov 03 2008 |

kaira_harry

Yemen

07:18 AM Nov 03 2008 |

abolfath

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

it is good for listening and not bad for reading

06:56 AM Nov 03 2008 |

elliott2918

China

so this is called the morden romance, right? ha

 love letters are turned into mixtapes and CD

03:03 AM Nov 03 2008 |

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