Netflix and chill, and Also Learn Some English While You’re At It.

Like millions around the world, Americans love watching TV. Aside from providing endless hourslasts for a very long time, seeming like it will never stop of entertainment, movies and TV shows reflect our culture and the world we live in.

That’s exactly why watching Netflix, or any other favorite streaming service, is an excellent way to learn the English language!

Listening to actors speaking English provides ESL students with a chance to turn on the TV and instantly transport to another part of the world to hear authentic accents and dialects.

As an example, let’s start by talking about one of the biggest hit sitcomssituation comedy of all time, Friends.

Taking place in Manhattan, NYC, the Friends’ characters talk in a style that is typical of how many people speak in the USA. Short of talking to a native personally, you can pick up lots of great phrases and vocabulary just by watching the show.

Additionally, loads of classic lines from Friends and other shows eventually enter the mainstream English lexicon and become commonly repeated quotes as part of the culture. Case in point, “How you doin’?”

Is Listening Too Difficult? No Problem, Use English Subtitles.

For many students, listening to natives on TV can be toughdifficult because they “talk too fast”. However, one wonderful thing about modern TV is the abundancelarge quantity of something of shows available with accurate subtitles in different languages.

Of course, if you’re learning English and want to use subtitles, it would be best if you watched using English subtitles; duh. With that said, if that’s still too difficult, try listening in English while using captionstext appearing on movie/TV screen in your native language. Over time, try to decreasemake smaller or fewer your dependence on subtitles and focus more on comprehendingunderstanding what you’re listening to.

Now, to show you how influential movies are, let’s play a little movie quote quiz that features phrases that are often repeated in American culture.

Which Movie is this Quote From?

Try to guess the name of the movie that these 15 famous quotes are from.

“Go ahead, make my day.”
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“There’s no place like home.”
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“Show me the money!”
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“I’ll be back.”
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“If you build it, he will come.”
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“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
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“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
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“It’s alive! It’s alive!”
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“You had me at hello.”
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“There’s no crying in baseball!”
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“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
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“You can’t handle the truth!”
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“May the force be with you.”
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“You talking to me?”
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“Here’s looking at you, kid.”

Feeling confident about your movie knowledge after taking the quiz? You can find the answers at the end of this blog.

If you watch them, your English will come.

In closing, it’s safe to say that if you watch many classic American movies in English, chances are high that your English will improve greatly over time. Additionally, the beautiful thing about this method of learning is that it’s also a very entertaining and fun way to learn. Definitely a win-win situationa situation where everybody involved wins. So, go ahead, make my day and start watching something tonight!

Quiz Answers
1. Sudden Impact 2. The Wizard of Oz 3. Jerry Maguire 4. The Terminator 5. Field of Dreams 6. Cool Hand Luke 7. Gone with the Wind 8. Frankenstein 9. Jerry Maguire 10. A League of Their Own 11. Jaws 12. A Few Good Men 13. Star Wars 14. Taxi Driver 15. Casablanca