One easy way to practice your English is by watching videos, movies, or TV shows on streaming sites like Netflix, HBO Go or others like them. If you don’t have a subscription to a streaming site, you can always try subscribing to YouTubers or Youtube channels that fit your interests.
There are lots of different ways you can approach learning/practising by watching videos- here are some options:
Watching with English audio and your language’s subtitles.
Not a bad start, this can be good practice for matching words you know in English with your own language. You can take notes while listening to see if you can hear new or unknown words while watching. This is a great way to practice your spelling because you’ll be hearing the word but not reading it. The downside to this technique is it’s really, REALLY, to tune out the audio and focus only on the subtitles and unless you rewatch the same episode/video over and over and over again, you probably won’t learn much.
Watching with English audio and English subtitles.
Ooo now this is taking it up a notch! This is a great way to pick up new words and write them correctly. The biggest problem with this is, depending on your language level, it’s absolutely exhausting! I would recommend doing this with movies/videos/TV shows you know well, or have seen before many times (think children’s movies, classic TV shows, or your favourite comfort film) OR watching in small amounts- 30 minutes maximum.
Using awesome tools to help.
A student told me about Language Learning With Netflix and it’s a game changer. This chrome extension allows you to look up new words as you watch them, check them in context of both whatever you’re watching and in other situations, and allows you to save the word for revision later. It’s super helpful and it can be used for more than studying English, as it offers other languages too!
Translating parts of your favourite video.
This can be a little old-fashioned, but I believe different learning tools work for different people, so if this is something you think would be useful or challenging for you, why not try it? I would recommend starting with something short- maximum 5 minutes. Listen to the dialogue, and try to translate it into your own language. See if you can really capture the mood and the feeling of what you’re listening to- it’s not as easy as it might seem! Once you’ve finished translating, see if you notice anything unique about it- is it longer? Shorter? Have you made it more polite? How about swearing?
All of these are helpful ways of practising English by using a resource you have already, though some might be better suited to you than others. What would you watch on Netflix to study English? Tell me in the comments!
English Class with Heather 