One of the most enjoyable ways to learn English is through watching a film or TV. After all, it’s almost effortless and it feels like entertainment, rather than a “lesson”. Perhaps the only problem is that you might not understand every word the actors or presenters are actually saying. But often, this isn’t such a big problem, as you can pick up lots of clues from how the actors are interacting with each other, as well as understanding what’s happening through the action.
An important point to realise when you watch a film or the TV is that you don’t need to watch for a long time. Often a few minutes is all you need to improve your English. So it’s possible to watch a film in original language then swap back over to your own language. Or you can just watch the trailer to get an idea of what the film is about.
Here’s a roundup of three sites that you can use to help improve your English. Let me know if there are more that you use!
Films
You can find movie clips as well as music, and they’re often short enough to give you a quick burst of English. Use the search box to find your favourite singers or groups, turn up the volume, and sing along!
This is a great idea. You can see the trailer of a film, with the text underneath. You can highlight any part of the text to go directly to that part of the trailer. There are lots of different types of film, from action, animation, comedy, through to fantasy, horror and thriller.
Lessons
Videos are divided into different categories: business, travel, social and media. In each category, you can choose the level of difficulty (easy, medium or hard). You can watch the video (reading the text at the same time), then practise vocabulary and speaking.