Using Television to Improve Your English Speaking and Comprehension Skills

When I studied in Russia a few years ago, I stayed in a dormitory with students from all over the world, from Europe to Africa to both the Americas and more. While all the students were there to learn Russian, our common language -the common language of the world- was English. Although English was my first language, the vast majority of students spoke English as their second language. I was interested by how some ESL speakers were far more advanced than others in their speaking skills.



The most impressive student told me he never took a formal class—he learned everything he knew from watching television, mostly cartoons and MTV. I myself learned Spanish predominantly from watching Mexican soap operas. Here are a few tips for using the communicative power of television to improve your English language skills.



1. Start out with using captions



Some people are strongly visual learners, while others are more aural learners. Still, almost everyone falls somewhere in the middle. As such, it is important to first start out watching television with the captions set on, so you can read what you don’t understand when characters may be speaking too fast for you to keep up.



2. Watch shows that you enjoy



It has been proven time and again that you mostly retain information that you processed when you were having fun. As such, it is absolutely vital that you watch programming that you find enjoyable. Whether it's sports, news, cartoons, or music videos, find something that you would watch in your mother tongue, and enjoy yourself!



3. If you are just beginning, watch children's programming



Although watching something you enjoy is essential when trying to learn something new, it is also important that you start small so that you have the confidence of understanding almost everything that you watch. There's no point in watching news stations if you don't have the vocabulary to understand current events. If you have a small vocabulary, start with children's shows and work your way up to more complicated shows and movies.



4. Record programs and watch them several times until you understand everything



The value of watching television to improve your speaking and comprehension skills is already quite apparent. However, if you'd like to learn all the new vocabulary you picked up watching a specific show, it's best to record the show, and then watch it multiple times. Write down all the words you don't know, look them up, learn them, then watch the show again until you can see the whole thing without stopping.



Of course, many language learners on this blog and others suggest other forms of media to enrich your language skills, especially media that involves the Internet. At the same time, I strongly believe that there's nothing quite like watching some good old fashioned television.

This guest contribution was submitted by Lenore Holditch, who specializes in writing about top online colleges. Questions and comments can be sent to: holditch.lenore @ gmail.com.

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General Training Model Answer – IELTS (Task 1)

A friend recently invited you to a special party. You intended to go but at the last minute you were unable to attend.



Write a letter to your friend. In your letter

Apologise for not going to the party

Explain what prevented you from going

Suggest a way of making up for this



Dear Isabel,



I’m really sorry for not coming to your party. I know this was a special occasion for you to celebrate your graduation and I wanted to be there. I had every intention of coming but unfortunately while I was getting ready to come, I had a huge argument with my boyfriend.



I don’t want to get into the details of the argument but you know that my relationship has been shaky recently. We exchanged some nasty words and I was too upset to come after that. I locked myself in the bathroom and cried the whole night.



I feel sad that I let you down and I hope you will let me make it up to you. If you are free on Saturday night, I would like to take you out for dinner to that Mexican restaurant that you like. We can go clubbing after that.



Love,

Laura

Question taken from New Insights into IELTS Student's Book p.118

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