Can you learn English by watching films?
The pros and cons
Hello everyone!
Do you think it’s possible to learn English by watching films or TV shows? That’s what we’re going to think about today. (By the way, when I talk about TV, I’m including Netflix and all the other streaming services.)
First, I personally don’t think watching TV and films is a good way to learn English, but it is a good way to practise listening to English. It might help with pronunciation too because you have to know what English sounds like before you can speak correctly. (Remember that you’ll hear lots of different possible English accents on TV though.)
What about vocabulary? TV and films can remind you of words that you’ve learnt before and you may learn a couple of new words as well, but I think reading is a better way to build your vocabulary. This is because there’s a lot of information coming at you really fast when you watch TV and you don’t have time to take it all in. However, when you read, you can go as slowly as you like and you can pause to use a dictionary and write things down.
Having said that, it depends a bit on the person. Different people learn in different ways. Also, if you hate reading and love movies and you find this the most motivating way to learn, then maybe you can make it work for you!
The value of watching TV and films also depends on your level. I don’t think it’s a good way for beginners and low-level students to learn. If you watch a film and you don’t understand anything, then you won’t learn anything either. If you put the subtitles on in your language, then you end up just reading your language and not learning any English. Also, it’s depressing when you don’t understand much and I don’t want you to lose your confidence or motivation.
For lower-level students, I recommend watching YouTube videos for learners instead. Find videos that are specifically for your level. Another advantage of videos is that they are short so it’s easy to watch them two or three times. You’ll understand a bit more each time. You probably don’t want to a whole film more than once, although you could just rewatch your favourite part.
There are a few possible problems with using TV and films as a way to learn English. One problem is that it’s too easy to get lazy! You can just relax and let the language wash over you. Or you just end up reading the subtitles and not actually listening at all. If you really want to learn something, you have to be more active than that. For example, listen out for new words and write them down. Or try to tell somebody about what you have watched as a way to check how much you have understood.
Another thing to be aware of is that the English you hear in a film or TV drama isn’t always 100% authentic or natural. The language used is definitely more authentic than you find in a course book but perhaps it’s not as real as on radio, podcasts, or in a conversation. This is because it’s carefully scripted and not spontaneous. Some screenwriters are better at writing a natural dialogue than others.
The final problem I want to mention is that actors don’t always speak as clearly as they might on TV, believe it or not! Also, there’s sometimes a lot of background noise or music. Recently, even native speakers have been complaining they can’t understand the dialogue in some new TV programmes. On top of that, some modern TVs don’t have good speakers. I actually have subtitles turned on all the time, even though I’m English!
My final point is that you can’t learn to speak English by just watching films. If you want to learn to speak, you have to speak! It’s as simple as that! This is perhaps the most important point of all!
I’d be very interested to know if you agree or disagree with what I’ve said! What’s your experience of watching English-language films and TV shows? Please leave a comment!
You might like this post on my blog about television vocabulary.
Until next week!
Katie
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