Written by Gabriela Estrada

An excellent way to improve your English language skills is to immerse yourself in the language. The most common strategy used by many intermediate students is to watch movies or videos in English, as this challenges them to listen to or read the language because they are capturing it as a learning experience. 

Today I will tell you how to make the most of your time at home while improving your English level by watching a series or movie of your choice, even newscasts or YouTube tutorials, but all in English, even if you don't understand 100% of what you hear or read. Join me in reading this blog to the end and learn about the tasks you can do to reinforce the language from watching movies in English. Let's get started.

Watching movies in English: entertainment and learning

Watching movies in English is not only entertaining, it is also a good opportunity to improve your language skills. By incorporating specific tasks such as learning new words, practicing grammar and making progress with pronunciation, the language learner can transform a movie session into a valuable learning experience. 

This strategy is very effective and we use it frequently in our English classes at Planeta Immiland. Therefore, I am pleased to present three main strategies that will help you make the most of your screen time at home. 

Tasks while watching movies in English

• Write down the new words

Always carry a notebook with you and write down new words you read or hear. After the movie, look up the meaning of these words and write sentences with them. Remember that the strategy is to learn simultaneously, so write them down. Pretending that the brain will retain the new words without having processed them correctly will be insufficient, and you will soon forget them.

This task greatly benefits students because it leads them to expand their vocabulary and better understand the context in which these words are used.

• Focus your attention on grammar

As you write new words, pay attention to the grammatical structures used in the dialogues. Write down sentences that contain grammatical structures that you are learning or that you find interesting. Then try to create your own sentences using those same structures.

This practical assignment will allow you to see how grammar is applied in real-life situations and will help you internalize grammar rules more effectively.

• Practice good pronunciation

This task consists of applying the "shadowing"(shadowing). Pause the movie after each sentence and repeat what the characters say, imitating their pronunciation, intonation and rhythm. Record your repetitions and compare them with the original.

With this technique, you will improve your pronunciation and develop a more natural accent. It will also allow you to practice fluency and intonation in English.

These tasks will not only make watching movies a fun activity, but will also provide you with an effective way to improve your English skills. 

Learn English with Planeta Immiland Education

We are the first language school with an immigration focus for Canada. If you want to learn English with Planeta Immiland, you can visit our link to take the English test. The test will assess your knowledge of English grammar based on the Canadian Language Standards (CLB). We offer the Regular English Program, the Accelerated English Program and the English 4 Express Entry. More services at: https://www.planeta-immiland-education.com/programas-ingles

I hope you find these strategies useful and apply them as soon as possible. Thanks for reading to the end, see you soon!

With love,

Planeta Immiland Education