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Watching TV series doesn’t have to be just for fun! It is a great way to spend your free time, but there are more advantages you can get. If you choose a series to improve your English learning process, you can see surprising results!
Having fun is the key to learning a language, so watching a series is a great strategy to achieve this goal. It is entertaining, doesn’t require a lot of time and presents the daily usage of language (if you choose a series according to this expectation). If you enjoy watching series and want to support your English learning efficiently, you can find these shows incredibly useful.
Sitcoms are one of the best options to learn the daily usage of English. In my last post, I already suggested some shows to watch, but there are more. I’m a huge fan of sitcoms, and I’ll give more examples of sitcoms and different kinds of series. You can try the ones that seem interesting. So, are you ready to enjoy yourself and improve your English at the same time? Keep reading, and don’t worry about spoilers! I would never ruin any shows for you, I promise.
1. Friends
Friends is one of the most famous TV series ever. Even if it ended 17 years ago, millions of people still love to watch it. You probably already know about Friends, but let’s talk about it. In this show, six close friends live in New York, and they hang with each other all the time. They have some problems in their lives like relationships, some job struggles, or similar stuff we share with our friends in real life too. It can help you to learn the daily usage of language in different situations. You can learn so many new words and expressions, but you can easily understand what’s going on without getting distracted.
Friends has ten seasons so you can do lots of practice! You will become one of the group members if you watch the series beyond the first season. Doing so will create a special bond with the characters and make you watch the series repeatedly. It is a fantastic opportunity to practice!
2. The Office
Here is my other favorite show for improving my English. I still cannot believe how an ignorant, rude, but funny boss can make us love him that much. At first, you can experience so many cringe moments, but keep watching! You will be surprised when you see that you want to work there. I only watched the US version, but there is also a UK version with Ricky Gervais if you prefer.
The subject of the show isn’t too different than that of Friends. Friendships and relationships are the common issues in both programs. Besides these, work-life balance is the most dominant subject, as you can guess. The Office has so many word jokes, so watching it with or without subtitles is one of the best ways to understand American humor, too. Understanding jokes from different cultures is so important to get used to that culture. Watching sitcoms has another advantage for this reason.
3. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a sitcom that I heard about. Somehow, I thought that it could be boring. I saw how wrong I was when I gave it a chance. This show is about a police precinct that has a successful crew in Brooklyn. They are so different from each other and yet they complete each other. The detectives solve cases in every episode. If you like to watch some detective stories as a sideline, this is more exciting than the other shows.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has unique and funny characters, like one of my favorites, Charles Boyle. He is so original, and it is hard to find a similar character like him in the other shows. In the series, there can be some police terms from time to time. This is great because even if you don’t understand everything at first, your English will improve a lot and you start to understand everything in a short time.
4. Lost
Let’s take a break to talk about sitcoms and give the legendary Lost some credit. Some people hate how it ended, some of them still enjoy talking about it, and the other ones have some prejudices about Lost. I didn’t like the final but I can’t deny it was a great adventure. I was in high school when it was broadcasting, and I saw that watching TV series can improve my English incredibly for the first time in my life.
If you don’t know the subject of Lost already, it’s about after a plane crash, a group of people tries to survive on a very mysterious island. I must warn you about something: when you watch it, you may want to binge-watch, so it can be bad if you have some work to do. It’s great for immersing yourself in English, though.
5. The Umbrella Academy
At this point, I have to admit a geek is living inside of me, and if you are the same, you will love this suggestion too. The Umbrella Academy has everything to have a great time: an interesting subject, wonderful actors and actresses, simple English, and so on. It is a fantastic series and very adventurous. The series is about an entrepreneur who adopted seven children who have unnatural powers. He educated them and made them a team that fights against evil. Now, every one of them has spectacular problems besides having powers.
The language is easy to understand with or without English subtitles. It’s worth watching if you like the topic of saving the world or prefer imperfect superheroes.
6. Modern Family
I could live with these families without feeling like a stranger! This is a special sitcom that makes my heart melt in so many scenes. They have a great bond, ready to improve their flaws and support each other no matter what. It is a fantastic series for improving your English because there are many people, from toddlers to grandparents. That’s why the series includes so many levels of English.
Plus, Sofia Vergara plays Gloria, a family member who speaks English as a second language. Gloria sometimes makes mistakes when she speaks English. As a result, the other characters tease her from time to time. Despite this teasing, she still tries to learn, even if she doesn’t always use the correct words. These kinds of examples give me more courage to talk and also make the show more realistic.
7. The Good Place
I cannot describe The Good Place just as a sitcom. A TV show about the afterlife is already interesting, but there is more reason to like The Good Place. It has a character named Chidi, who has worked as an ethics professor, and his character takes the show to a whole new level. It causes us to question some concepts like what goodness, evil, life, and death are. I have to say this is not a show if you only want to laugh and not think anything. It has a deeper meaning in some episodes and is a great option to enjoy, laugh, think, and improve your language skills.
8. Disenchantment
I have to talk about Disenchantment, a fantastic animation series with dark humor. It's about a princess, an elf, and a demon’s weird friendship and it’s anything but normal! I like their adventures because even the craziest ones are so easy to follow. At some point, you can watch it without subtitles. Every character is so unique and creative. Also, the theme songs are spectacular! You should give it a try if you are looking for an easy-to-understand show.
9. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
I am a fan of author Douglas Adams, and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency has a special meaning for me, since it’s an adaptation of his last novel. First, I must say that the TV show was canceled in the second season, and I am still sad about it. It was so adventurous, fantastic, and funny. It starts with an irrelevant coincidence as an unexplainable murder, or according to Dirk Gently, everything is connected, so nothing is coincident. So many scenes are against the sense of reality, but even the most absurd development makes you love this show more.
Dirk Gently speaks with a British accent, so it can be hard to understand him at first if you are not used to listening to a British accent. I think it is a good opportunity to improve your listening skills. The other characters use an American accent, so it was easier to understand for me. However, this might not be the case for you. It is a great show anyway. If you love fantastic literature and series, you will love it.
10. Community
Here is another sitcom that can improve your English. Community is a typical university comedy. There is a group of friends who gather up for a study group for their Spanish lesson. All of them are quite different from each other. They have so many weird characteristics, but they like each other in time. I am still watching Season 3, and I must say that watching it with English subtitles is a great choice for me. It’s easy to understand and follow. It might not be my favorite TV show, but it helps me practice my second language a lot!
These are some of my suggestions to improve your English by watching TV series! Watch the trailers and give them a chance if you think it can be worth it. I can’t promise that you will love all of them because people have different tastes, but I promise they will help you to improve your English.
ReDefiners offers language classes and professional support for learning English, Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin. Kids and adults can take our classes and start their journeys to become multilingual global citizens. For more information, please visit www.redefinerswl.org or email us at info@redefinerswl.org.