1. Entertainment
Watching movies is a fun way to learn English. And there are thousands of great English-language films to choose from, including Oscar-winning movies such as Forrest Gump, Argo, The King’s Speech, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love and Braveheart… to name just a few. So, you can enjoy watching a fantastic film and learn lots of English.
2. Culture
Watching films helps you learn about a country’s culture, history and society. Gandhi will tell you something about the history of India; Amadeus will teach you about the composer Mozart; and Michael Collins will help you understand something about the Irish independence movement. And after watching a film, you’ll have lots to talk about with your friends… in English, of course!
3. Input
While you’re watching a film in English, you’re receiving input (language). This will really help you improve your pronunciation, grammar and increase the range of your vocabulary. As you’re watching the film, write down any interesting or useful words, phrases, and grammatical structures. But remember to write these out in sentences or phrases! You could also copy out some of the dialogue and practice it with a friend.
4. Speaking
Watching films helps with your understanding of spoken English. Spoken language is very different from written language, which tends to be more formal.
For example:
Written text: We decided to accept their offer.
Equivalent spoken text: We were, like, yeah, OK, we’ll go for that!
With films, you learn how native speakers use English when they’re talking!
5. Slang
Finally, films can help you learn lots of slang English. In many movies, the actors use colloquial expressions that you’d probably never find in a dictionary. This will really help you understand how native English people speak in casual situations.
For example:
Standard English: Please wait a minute.
Slang version: Hold on a sec!
Problems & Solutions
Problems:
However, there are a few problems. As these films are aimed at native English speakers, the actors often speak fairly fast, which may make it hard for you to understand.
Also, they may have accents that are difficult to follow… even for native English speakers!
Finally, you need to choose your movies carefully as action films tend to have very little dialogue.
Solutions:
So, what can you do? Here are a few ideas to help you watch original-version films. Choose films with lots of dialogue.
- Pause the film when you don’t understand a sentence or phrase. Then, play it again and again until you do!
- Read about the film before watching it so you understand what it’s about and what happens. For example, you could read a synopsis or a review.
- Put on the subtitles either in your language or English the first time you watch it. Then, watch it again without the subtitles.
- Read over the script before watching the film and look up any words you don’t understand.
- Watch the film in your own language first.
- Watching films can be a great way to improve your English. Have fun learning English while watching movies!
composed by Nerses