Using online videos is one of the easiest ways to study English, especially if you want to improve your listening skill. The New York Times has a growing collection of videos called "Vows," featuring stories of how couples met and eventually wed. They're especially suited for students of English because they deals with storytelling, describing people, and expressing emotions - things people do all the time. And the people in the videos speak with natural intonation and use real-life expressions, unlike those fashionable slang often used in sit-coms like Friends that now seem contrived and dated.

Just in terms of entertainment value, these videos are interesting. They are real people talking about real relationships: how they met, what their first impressions were, how they fell in love and ended up getting married. It's a video archive of love, sort of reminiscent of the snippets at the beginning of the movie, When Harry Met Sally. Also, you get to see all sorts of couples: young and old couples, inter-racial couples, even gay and lesbian couples. And the circumstances in which they met are just as varied.

Click here to see the video of one such couple, Elina and Jay: Elina Furman attempted to ignore Jay Landauer, but his persistence eventually won her over.

I transcribed about a third of the audio below.

Elina: My name is Elina and this is the story of how I met Jay.

Jay: Elina and I met at a book party. I think it's about 4 years ago.

Elina: He wasn't my type. He was wearing a suit, he was kind of serious and very forthright about everything he said.

Jay: And she accused me of being, what do you call it, one of those MBA's, which I was at the time.

Elina: And he kept talking to me and talking to me, and trying to, you know, charm me, I guess. And I was just not having any of it.

Jay: Eventually, I convinced her to give me her telephone number.

Elina: So I said, fine. You know, he's trying hard. I'm gonna throw him a bone. Of course, I wasn't planning to necessarily answer the phone when he called.

Jay: I was quite happy with myself, having been the one who got her telephone number that evening.

[...]

According to sources, The New York Times will soon allow their videos to be embedded. Too bad they don't provide a transcript.