How I Learned English with Movies and TV-Shows

Summary

In this video, the speaker shares how they improved their English fluency, pronunciation, and accent through watching TV shows, movies, and shadowing actors. They emphasize the importance of early pronunciation practice and understanding connected speech, highlighting how mimicking native speakers helps with language rhythm, melody, and vocabulary acquisition. The speaker discusses the value of cultural immersion, learning not just words but the context and expressions behind them. They recommend using Lingo Pie, a language learning platform that combines entertainment with education, to enhance fluency, pronunciation, and cultural understanding in multiple languages.

Takeaways

• 🎬 Watching TV shows and movies can significantly improve English pronunciation, fluency, and accent by exposing learners to authentic speech patterns.
• 🗣️ Focusing on pronunciation early in the language learning journey builds confidence and motivation by helping learners enjoy how they sound.
• 🇺🇸 The speaker developed a strong American accent by imitating actors’ pronunciation, rhythm, and connected speech in TV shows like 'Sunset Beach'.
• 🔤 Repetition and imitation of specific sounds (like the English 'R' and 'TH') are crucial for mastering pronunciation differences from one’s native language.
• 🎧 Shadowing—repeating lines simultaneously with actors—helps learners internalize natural speech patterns, rhythm, and intonation.
• 💬 Watching shows teaches not only vocabulary and grammar but also cultural communication cues like tone, emphasis, facial expressions, and body language.
• 🎭 Mimicking actors’ delivery helps learners ‘feel’ the language, improving prosody—the melody and rhythm of speech—which is often neglected in schools.
• 📚 Traditional education focuses too much on grammar and writing, neglecting listening, pronunciation, and natural speech flow.
• 🧩 Learning vocabulary through context in movies provides full sentence structures and natural usage instead of isolated word lists.
• 🚀 Repeating full phrases and expressions builds fluency faster than memorizing individual words, enabling smoother, more natural speech.
• 🌍 Using tools like LingoPie allows learners to combine entertainment and education, practicing pronunciation, vocabulary, and cultural understanding across multiple languages.
• 🎭 Treating language learning as a performance—imitating emotions, tone, and gestures—helps learners sound more natural and connected in conversation.

Q & A

Why is it important to focus on pronunciation early in your language learning journey?

Focusing on pronunciation early helps you like the sound of your speech, which is motivating. When you like how your English sounds, you're more likely to practice consistently.

How did watching TV shows and movies help the speaker improve their English accent?

The speaker developed a solid American accent by carefully observing actors on TV shows, mimicking their speech patterns, sounds, and rhythm. This process helped them internalize the pronunciation and melody of the language.

What is connected speech, and how did it affect the speaker's understanding of English?

Connected speech refers to the way words blend together when spoken, so you can’t separate them. The speaker learned about connected speech from watching American TV shows and realized it wasn’t something they were taught in school.

What challenges did the speaker face when learning the 'R' sound in English?

The 'R' sound was tricky because its pronunciation depends on where it appears in a word and the surrounding letters. The speaker practiced by repeating words with the 'R' sound over and over, even walking around the house to perfect it.

How did the speaker use TV shows to improve their understanding of different sounds like 'th'?

The speaker closely observed how actors pronounced sounds like 'th' by watching their mouths and exaggerating the movements to replicate the sounds accurately. They practiced saying words like 'thank you,' 'there,' and 'three' while mimicking the actors.

What is shadowing, and how did the speaker incorporate it into their language learning?

Shadowing is the technique of repeating after a native speaker in real-time. The speaker used this method to practice speaking and improve their accent by mimicking the actors' speech and intonation patterns as they watched TV shows.

How did watching TV shows and movies help the speaker with language melody and rhythm?

TV shows and movies helped the speaker learn the correct stress patterns, intonation, and rhythm of English, which is crucial for sounding natural. They discovered that communication isn't just about vocabulary and grammar, but about using the right tone and expression.

What is 'prosody' in language, and why is it important?

Prosody refers to the melody, rhythm, and intonation of speech. It is important because it affects how clearly you express yourself and how easily you can connect with native speakers. Without prosody, speech can sound unnatural or misunderstood.

How does learning vocabulary through TV shows differ from traditional methods like using word banks?

Learning vocabulary through TV shows provides context, where you learn words as part of full phrases and situations. This helps you understand the correct usage of words and expressions in real life, making it easier to remember and apply them in conversations.

Why did the speaker find shadowing more effective than just memorizing vocabulary lists?

Shadowing was more effective because it helped the speaker learn words within complete phrases and in context, rather than in isolation. This approach allowed the speaker to remember the words more naturally and use them in real-life situations without needing to recall every word individually.