Watching TV series and films in original is a great tool while learning English. It helps you to improve listening comprehension and gives you a bust of vocabulary that is being used in real situations.
First of all, you get to know that people are using real spoken language and in addition it is followed by gestures, mimics and visual context which helps memorise words. I need to admit it is a great fun watching TV but also require hard work, well without hard work the learned language will not work.
I hope this useful tips will help you organize a learning process and achieve real results.
- Don´t try to learn from ground up.
Without a basic knowledge of grammar and some basic vocabulary you won´t be able to separate the desired design and a few words form speech you heard, and organise them without knowing what rules this elements interact with.
My tip is to reach to some textbooks, classes with teacher or courses. They will explain you step by step how the language works from the very beginning.
- Select the video you are interested in and asses the level of language.
Choose the film or TV series. Start with material with simple set of words and gradually increase the complexity of it. You can begin with children film and animations. When there is desire to review your favourite movie then do it in English. If you already know the story, taking the foreign language version will be much easier. Take into account cultural background of the movie, things like accents and the way of pronunciation. If it is US version and you are learning British English would be better for you if you would choose some material filmed in England.
- Use correct subtitles
Start of with double subtitles. You will be able to compare what is being said on the screen with its literary translations and original text. As you progressing with language try to do only English subtitles. More difficult vocabulary you could guess from the context or write the word down and check up with the dictionary. With the time you will see big improvements then you will be able to switch off the subtitles completely.
- Be consistent and fight difficult moments
Rewind and revise the scenes which cause you problems to understand. Do it as many times as you need. If you find it frustrating make a use of a dictionary, but never give up. Your hard work will soon pay off.
- Write down and repeat regularly new words and phrases.
Keep a track of new words and phrases you heard, and write it down. Revise it as many times as possible until you remember it. Do it regularly.
I hope you find this post useful and it will help you somehow with learning English.