Watch the language

Hello to you! Come on, settle down. You, coming in with your cup of tea, you're late. Obviously I can't see you, but if you WERE coming in with a cup of tea then, spooky/exciting moment!

So today’s post is going to be about something I wanted to write a long time ago: Tv shows.

I love watching different tv shows, when I can. Currently, I’m watching Once Upon A Time, TWD, FTWD, Grey’s Anatomy, Riverdale, Zoo, Z nation, I Zombie, GOT, The 100 and American Horror Story. So, I know what I’m talking about. But, If I have to choose a tv show that helped a lot to learn English was Buffy, The Vampire Slayer.  I wanted to read everything related to Buffy. I had the books of the show but they were all in English. So, this encouraged me to learn the language.

Right, onwards with the post, my friends.

If you want to improve your pronunciation, speak fluently and learn new vocabulary, you have to watch tv shows. Journalist Zak Hall gives us some tips for watching tv and learn English.

1.     Use this opportunity to improve your English speaking and pronunciation!

2.     If you are not confident enough in your English language skills, watch with the subtitles in English. Note: If you watch with subtitles in your own language you will not learn as much!

3.     Don’t be scared to rewind and pause the shows. This can be annoying at first, but once you get used to the language you will be able to follow the show much more easily.

4.     Keep a notebook next to you for any new expressions you hear.

So, what Tv shows should we be watching to improve our English?

Once Upon a Time

I love this show because we have all the characters we know in different situations. Snow White and Charming have a daughter that is a hero. Cricket, from Pinocchio, is a psychologist. Little red riding Hood works  in a dinner called “Granny.” 
Rumpelstiltskin is married to Belle. Captain Hook is in love with Snow’s daughter, Emma. Peter Pan is Rumpelstiltskin’s father. They all live together in a village called “Storybrooke.” If you love fairy tales and action, this is the show for you. The language is quite simple. So, you only have to enjoy and feel bewitched by this show.

Grey’s Anatomy

Patients shooting doctors, explosions, a plane crash, doctors getting stabbed by an icicle, people attacked by a lion, everything could happen in this tv show. If you think your favourite character is safe, he will probably die. The language is natural and easy to understand. This show is also good for learning idioms. If you like medicine and health, this show is for you.

Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives is a "You can't judge a book by its cover" kind of show. This show is full of drama, crimes and affairs. The show mixes mystery and comedy at the same time. These housewives go through different situations like a plane crash in a Christma party, tornado, shooting in a supermarket, cancer, and a housewife electrocuting herself. According to FluentU.com, “Desperate Housewives” may be one of the best American sitcoms to learn English because of its natural and unforced use of colloquial (every day) and idiomatic language. The show switches between formal and informal contexts and therefore, you’ll be able to improve your listening skills in a number of different situations. The language used is colorful and it can improve all levels of English and you’ll be able to hear popular sayings such as “it serves him right” and “I want to take a rain check.” (I want to miss this time because I have something to do).

Friends

I know Miss Racker is a huge fan of this show so I must add it to the list. “Friends” is one of the most famous sitcoms of all times. The tv show shows some real situations, so the language in it is simple and rich. Friends has10 seasons, 236 episodes that are around 25 minutes each. If you think about it, that is 86 hours of authentic, real-life learning experience. Watching sitcoms would improve your listening comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar skills. These kinds of shows would help to improve your cultural fluency.

 “Cultural Fluency is the correct use and exchange of the subtle cultural interpersonal currents of native communication, including both spoken and non-verbal forms.”

Bear in mind that passive watching won’t help you improve your English. You have to watch tv in an active way.  You can take notes, try to use the expressions in real life, copy the intonation, and try to analyse the sentences you would like to use. In this way, you can gain useful vocabulary, common expressions, and even grammar structures. 

Of course, you have tons of shows from what you can choose to learn English. The important thing is that you enjoy it. The process of learning a language is long, but if you are motivated, you can do it.

So, what is your favourite tv show to learn English? 

Have a nice week :) 

Links:

 https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/learn-english-american-sitcoms/

 https://reallifeglobal.com/why-you-should-learn-english-with-tv-series/