You are required to learn English from kindergarten, together with your classmates, but years pass and you start to notice that your friends’ English is much better than yours. Why? What are they doing that is different to you?! Watching English TV series might be the answer.
Here are some reasons why English TV series can help you to improve your English tremendously.
You can pick your genres of interest
You can think of any genres you are interested in and there will always be a TV series about them, be it romance or crime and investigation! The good thing about this is a series can involve normal people lives and you can learn everyday English from it, or it can be about a specific industry, and you can gain loads of vocabulary and insight from that field.
Your sentences become natural
Scripts are written as if they were spoken by real people in real situations. That means you know new words, expressions, and how to get your message across just like native speakers. Learning English a conservative way can be useful when you learn sentence structures and grammar, but it prevents you from being creative and speaking like native speakers. What you have to do is pay attention!
Curiosity is the motivation
There are times you develop an addiction and you get hooked to the series. What do you do when the Thai subtitle is not available yet? You skip it. You go straight to listening to the raw version and try so hard to understand what the characters are talking about. You understand some parts, while some others leave you confused. That’s fine because once you watch the subtitled one again, you automatically remember which parts need more explanation and your brain instantly connects both languages together without you noticing.
You gain both listening and speaking skills
You might know a lot of English vocabulary but you have trouble understanding and articulating it. Why? Because you’ve been pronouncing it the wrong way so listening and speaking becomes difficult. Watching TV series helps you hear how many words are actually pronounced, without any effort. Once you are familiar with these new words, listening becomes easier and your speaking is more confident.
You become more familiar with different accents
Characters usually speak English in different ways. Some characters come from different countries and have accents you might find hard to understand. Though you might prefer listening to standard English since it’s easier, you can’t deny that English is spoken as an international language by many people around the globe. This means there are more chances you speak it with non-native speakers. That’s why understanding accents are extremely beneficial.
Now you can see how learning English from TV series can help! It makes the process of learning fun and interesting.
If you need some help, here is a list of the most watched TV series and some tips to use, while you’re at it 😉
Tips for using TV series and Netflix to learn English
1. Choose shows with shorter episodes so that you don’t get too overwhelmed with all the new vocabulary.
2. Watch the TV shows with English subtitles NOT subtitles in your own language. Reading and listening to English at the same time is the best way to get your brain to absorb new vocabulary.
3. Try not to pause and look up words you don’t understand, as this will stop you from enjoying the plot. Instead, try and work out the word’s meaning from the show’s context.
American English TV Series
1. Friends
2. Grace and Frankie
3. Brooklyn 99
4. Stranger Things
5. Modern Family
British English TV Series
1. Misfits 2. The Crown
3. Downton Abbey
4. Call the Midwife
5. Sherlock
So, what are you waiting for? Browse for one and start watching and learning now!
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