Bilingual people are in high demand, both in everyday life, studies and professional spheres, and that is why so many modern people wish to learn a foreign language, spending lots of money and time attending schools and courses. But not all of them reach this goal. Why does it happen?
Words by Robert Everett
Many language schools focus on giving you more theoretical knowledge, and they usually completely forget about practice, which is the most important aspect of studies.
But don’t get upset yet! There is another answer to the question of how to become bilingual – movies; and in this article, we are going to tell you why this method is working and how to apply it to your studies effectively!
Why is it helpful to watch films?
A person receives 90% of information visually. This means that watching a film (or show), a person is able to perceive more information because we can hear and see it at the same time, and according to many studies, we tend to perceive visual information much better.
Besides, motion pictures are an invaluable source of live speech. And for the person who does not live in a country where they speak the target language, such things as radio, TV and movies are often the only sources of a live foreign speech.
Also, many people enjoy watching movies, which makes the learning process much more enjoyable and helps to perceive that information faster (especially if you are watching the movies you like), and new words and phrases spoken by the characters in the film are often very emotional and, therefore, easy to remember.
Five simple steps to start learning languages from movies.
1) Decide when you should start.
According to the study of New Zealand Professor Paul Nation, a person needs to have a vocabulary of 7-8 thousand words in order to understand movies in a foreign language; at this level, you understand about 98% of what you hear. Of course, you can try to start watching movies when you are on the lower level, but in this case, consider watching a foreign film with subtitles in your native language.
2) Choosing the best foreign language film.
Selection of the movie is probably the most responsible step. If you are a beginner, there is no need to watch films that are difficult to understand; try to start with kid’s movies (fairytales) or cartoons, and once you feel comfortable with those, move to another level. As we said earlier, it will be better if you like the movie you are watching, so try to find good pictures that you will enjoy; you can search for them by looking at some “every student must watch” charts.
3) Watch a film that you already saw.
If you experience difficulties with perception of foreign speech, we advise you to watch films that are already familiar to you, something that you saw recently (or several times) in your native language. This way you will be able to understand and follow the story and will not have to constantly put the movie on pause to look up an unknown word in the dictionary.
4) Write down and learn unknown words/phrases.
If you hear a phrase or a word in the video often, it means that it is a widely-known and popular saying; make a note of its statement to the dictionary, learn it and try to use it in conversation in the classroom or with a native speaker.
5) Try to imitate the speech of native speakers.
Do you want to work on pronunciation? Repeat the phrases that were said by the characters of the movie, try to imitate not only the pronunciation of sounds, but also the tone and manner of speaking. It's quite an interesting and at the same time useful exercise!
Now you know how to learn languages with films. And for students who are not confident in their command of English language, today there exists many tools and services that help them perform well in their studies. One of them is assignment help in Australia that provides custom paper writing help while students can get more free time to perfect their English.
Robert Everett: I am a freelance writer currently based in Chicago. Solving students career and university problems. Having interest in marketing and business.
My Facebook link: www.facebook.com/roberteverett82
My Google+: plus.google.com/u/3/110029123750852456335
Robert Everett: I am a freelance writer currently based in Chicago. Solving students career and university problems. Having interest in marketing and business.
My Facebook link: www.facebook.com/roberteverett82
My Google+: plus.google.com/u/3/110029123750852456335