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I want to practice my english through movies or dramas. what do you recommend the most to study?


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AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgNovember 2020
I’m guessing you have been learning something ”generic” or American English.

Movies won’t improve your speaking skills significantly. You need to speak to improve speaking! Watching films might allow you to recognise certain expressions and give you some unstructured listening practice which will improve your ability to listen while also speaking. Ultimately, you have to open your mouth to speak

When you mention about ”expressions that are used in real situations”, are you referring to slang or just normal spoken conversation?

You have said that you have been working on ”listening skills” over the last 10 years. What have you been listening to during that time? Has it only been specially prepared texts / dialogues in language courses? Have you listened to natural dialogues between natives speakers that are not part of the course and understood them? Have you been taught listening/speaking accuracy skills such as pronunciation and elocution? Do you understand what is being said when people contract (e.g. I am -> I’m)?

I’m asking these questions to see what real experience and learning you have had with listening. There are many students who have studied English for quite a few years yet have rarely/never heard real English dialogues between native speakers.

Literally, there are 10000s of movies and dramas out there in English. It’s actually very difficult to pick something that is both interesting for you *and* appropriate for your listening skill level.

*Don’t* watch movies with subtitles - even English subtitles.
When someone is speaking with you, they do not have a board below their head showing subtitles of what they are saying

For sure you feel ”comfortable” with subtitles because you can understand everything that is happening in the movie - especially if your reading skills are well-developed. What you want to improve are listening skills when what is being said is not so predictable like you experience during listening exercises in English courses.

The single biggest problem with subtitles is the following: you read the subtitles and you can predict what people are saying from what you have read. What you want to be doing is practising listening without the text hints.

When you are listening to someone speaking in real life, you get hints about what they are saying from body language and what is happening around them - not a subtitle board that they are holding. If you are watching movies, you want to be getting hints just like in real life from non-verbal clues in the film, not written ones.

These are the hints you want to focus on when learning to recognise new expressions / slang to understand *when* you can use them. The only time you might think about looking at any text of what has been said is *after* listening to it, not during the process of listening.

Students can also be easily fooled about their real listening level with subtitles below a movie. If your reading level is, say, C1 (advanced) yet your listening skills are at B1 (intermediate), then all you will be doing is thinking that your listening is as good as your reading.

If you need subtitles to understand what is happening when you are listening, then the listening is too difficult for your real level. Try something a little easier. Also, you don’t have to understand every word! The important thing is understanding enough to keep up with what is being said.

Try to view/listen to about the first 10 minutes or so of the movie/serial you want to watch. Then go back to the start and watch it again. Don’t worry about not understanding everything that is going on - the aim is to get used to how the people in the movie speak. Now, if you watch it again and you still find it difficult to understand what is happening, then the movie is too difficult for your listening level.

This advice comes from having taught students English for many years at all levels along with my own language learning experiences.
nmesomtoChukwu profile picture nmesomtoChukwuJanuary 2021
’Study’, 😂? If you mean recommendations ’to watch’ or ’to see’, I recommend ’Mind your Language’ (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YC9_Aan_S9Q). It’s available on YouTube. It’s about language learners like all of us.

I advise you watch without subtitles. Have a nice dictionary and check as much as you need to (hint: one of my strategies ). It might take you ages at first but subsequently, you’d want to follow the storyline and you’d pick up several words.

Enjoy
  • AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgJanuary 2021
    I had seen this series on TV in Australia when I was growing up. One thing I must confess - the French/Mauritian actress Francoise Pascal who plays Danielle Favre, the flirty French student, was one of a few inspirations to take an elective beginner French course at university, which subsequently turned into a few more French language courses

    The language is often definitely ”within reach” of someone at an A2/B1 level (pre-intermediate / intermediate). However, be careful because the students in MYL make all the usual stereotypical grammatical / word choice errors - don’t repeat exactly what the students are saying

    The focus is on British, rather than American, English. After all, the series is set in Britain! If your focus has been American English then you might have some problems understanding the dialogue.

    Several of my non-native English teaching colleagues were very much into this series. One thing they get very right and which one of my colleagues pointed out - after someone has been teaching language for a long time, particularly if you are a non-native speaker, then you start making some of the same mistakes that your students make, such as what Mr Brown was doing in episodes in the later series. The writers of ”Mind Your Language” really got quite a lot of things correct!

    If you are teaching English professionally, I would not recommend Mr Brown’s language teaching methodologies
exRanger profile picture exRangerNovember 2020
Watching films w/ English subtitles switch ”on” will be helpful.
  • AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgOctober 2022
    ”helpful” when the wrong film has been chosen for the student’s level and ability. That of course includes films that the teacher ”thinks are good” without any reference to the student’s level and ability. There are certain ”expert” language ”teachers” out there who can’t choose materials consummate to a student’s real level...

    Also ”helpful” when students have been taught by ”professional” ”teachers” who speak much more than students and who don’t have the first clue about how to teach basic pronunciation or elocution or, more generally, listening and speaking accuracy....

    Watching films with subtitles on means the student ends up getting good at predicting what is being said with the textual clues of subtitles rather than doing the hard work of deciphering what is being said from just sound and the normal sort of visual clues you get in everyday conversation.





hanna13 profile picture hanna13November 2020

I'v been studying english(not British) about more than 10years. But it was almost about reading and listening  skills. I really want to improve my speaking skills. So I would like to learn many expressions that are used in real situations.  I think I can learn these expressions through dramas and movies. just know some recent great ones. not friends... or modern family.... 

AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgNovember 2020
What level is your English?

What do you like to watch?

Can you listen to normal conversations between native speakers and understand what is happening?

Have you been taught mainly British or American English?