A very rarely suggested yet an effective way of learning Spoken English is by watching English movies. I personally feel that this is the best way of learning English. This is why I recommend watching one English movie, preferably British films a day throughout this course and in the days to come even after the course is over. In multiple ways, this is going to yield positive results for you.
Even when we are aware of the meaning of a particular word, we are mostly confused about how it is used in spoken terms. Movies help us in learning multiple forms of usage of a particular word. So, as we learn new words, we are practically learning its correct form(s) of use as we watch movies. Also, we get to know the contexts in which those words are used. In the initial days, you may find it difficult to understand what is being said on screen or you may find it very difficult to keep pace with the actors. But gradually you become familiarized with the pace and grab what they are saying. Further, you need to maintain the proper body language while you speak something. You cannot propose your girl ‘I Love You’ with a pensive body language! You need to be exuberant, rapturous and beaming with positivity and confidence if you are to win her. Movies help us in learning the correct body language apt for a situation. I am not telling you to imitate the silver screen stars while you deliver a dialogue. You don’t need to be Marlon Brando to express your anger, you don’t need to be Humphrey Bogart to express your exasperation, you don’t need to be Leonardo Dicaprio to raise your toast, but still, you can learn the correct body postures while you are in the similar situations.
I suggest the readers make a list of movies genre-wise, like animation, thriller, crime, mystery, sports, war, romance, comedy, etc and watch seven movies of a genre in a week. You can start with the animation movies in the first week. As these movies are targetted for the kids mostly, the English used in these movies simple, friendly, uncomplicated and relatively easy to understand. After a week, you may select the crime genre. You are familiar with words like- sin, alibi, clue, felony, accomplice, arson, nuisance, infringement, outlaw, gore, etc. But once you watch the movies and see the stars using these words in the correct context with the proper body language, it is easier for you to remember those and use fittingly. Similarly, as you watch the war movies, you get to know how words like conflict, belligerent, bayonet, hostility, combat, skirmish, blitzkrieg, feud, skirmish, ambush, artillery, arsenal, etc are used in the right way.
In the initial days, it is better to watch the movies with subtitles or else it may become impossible to understand what is being said on the screen. Once you fail to understand the dialogues, you may soon lose interest in the movie and may give up in the middle and English movies instead of becoming a mode of an entertaining way of learning may become a punishment for you. Further, whenever you fail to understand a part, do not skip it to the next scene, Rather, you need to pause there, rewind it, listen to it again and again, read the subtitle, follow the lip movements, consult the dictionary for a new word, utter the sentence yourself and then proceed to the next scene. This way, you get to learn the intricacies of the language as well in the most entertaining form without encumbering yourself with an uphill task. You need to jot down the new words, phrases, and sentences that you learn along or else months down the line you will forget those.
I am providing a list of 15 movies to be watched during this course
- The Lion King
- Finding Nemo
- The Jungle Book
- Braveheart
- Gone With The Wind
- The Sound of Music
- Casablanca
- Titanic
- Psycho
- Ben-Hur
- The King’s Speech
- Up
- Gandhi
- The Mask
- Ten Commandments
P.S- Do not be in a hurry to learn English cuss words from the movies!
Do not forget to read the previous parts of this series.
To be continued…
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