Benefits of Watching TV and Movies in English

Do you typically watch movies in your native language? Or do you watch English-language movies with subtitles in your language? If you do, you’re missing some great opportunities for English practice! I recommend to all my students to try watching movies in English (with English subtitles if necessary) for a number of reasons:

1.       The most obvious reason: it’s great listening practice! And unlike in the real world, you can rewind if you didn’t hear something.

2.       You’ll catch on to English colloquialisms in context. This is something that can be overlooked when you’re in a classroom, but casual speak and slang is very important when you’re living in a new country!

3.       There are many different accents in the English language. Sometimes they’re so different that two people from two different English-speaking countries may not even be able to understand each other! There’s a New York accent, Scottish accent, Boston accent, American Southern, Irish, Canadian, a “posh” London accent, a Cockney London accent, Australian… the list goes on! Every one of them sounds different. On sites like Netflix and Hulu, you can hear all of them. Exposing yourself to different English accents will come in handy!

4.       If you don’t quite catch everything you hear, more than likely you’ll still understand what is happening based on the context, the actors’ expressions, the setting, etc.

5.       If you’re watching the movie or show with English subtitles, you’ll likely see some unfamiliar words that you can add to your vocabulary.

6.       Much like how there are different accents depending on the country you’re in, cultures are different, too! Personally, I love watching British TV shows because their sense of humor is very different than America’s. You can learn a lot about a culture by watching a TV show from another country, such as what they find funny, what they think is “cool” or “attractive” in people, how they dress, and so much more!

If I’ve convinced you to start watching some English-language movies and TV, here are some recommendations to get started!

-How I Met Your Mother (American series, comedy, on Hulu)

-Dear White People (American series, drama, on Netflix)

-Derry Girls (Irish series, comedy/history, on Netflix)

-Misfits (English series, comedy/sci-fi, on Netflix)

-Skins (English series, drama, on Netflix)

-The Office (There’s a U.K. version and an American version! Both are comedies, both on Netflix)

-Good Will Hunting (American movie *with heavy Boston accents,* drama, on Netflix)

-Trainspotting (Scottish movie, drama/gangster/drug use, available to rent on YouTube)

-The Babadook (Australian movie, horror, on Netflix)

Happy movie-watching!