How can you learn English from popular culture?
What if I told you that every episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S is a mini-lesson in English speaking? That Chandler Bing would have been an excellent English teacher in another life? Shocked? Well, don't be. Since most of the movies and TV shows are written by brilliant wordsmiths, is it any surprise that they turn out to be one of the most engaging mediums of language learning. So, the big question is how do we use them to further our goals of English proficiency?
Here are a few steps that might help-
Pay close attention to each scene plot and try to notice the conversational phrases or words being used by the characters. What this will do is build up your inventory of words and sentences you can use in your real-life scenarios. Very soon you will realise that you have greatly expanded your situational vocabulary and improved pronunciation.
Captions is a very polarising subject in the motion pictures industry. That being said, it is a wonderful tool if used wisely. I have personally found captions very useful to note down words and phrases during the initial stages for improving my command over writing. Although, you should try going at it caption free once you get comfortable with accents of the characters. Doing this will improve your listening skills a lot.
A few recommendations, listed in order of complexity:
TV SHOWS
Movies
Books are the most effective source of learning anything under the sun. They are information-dense tools. So, it's only natural that books would feature in an article on resources. I am not talking about those dry and dreary grammar books, we will take a look at some of the most popular and engaging works of fiction here. Reading books will open up a whole new world for you. Reading books will greatly improve your reading and writing skills. Fiction will fire up your imagination and non-fiction will improve your analytical skills.
Skimming through quality works of literature is an insult to the craft. Reading is a labour of love and should be savoured. Doing this will not help you appreciate the book but also improve your reading and writing skills. So, our only tip is to take your time with reading, don't rush it.
We, at PARI EduFuture, are bookworms to the core. Here's our list of staff picks:
Fiction
Non-Fiction
The whole point of learning a new language is to overcome the barriers humans have created for themselves. Learning by exploring a new cultural realm will be the most rewarding gifts you can ever give yourself.