Full transcript
0:00Today, I'll teach you the exact method I
0:03recommend to my own students.
0:05A simple system that turns your favorite TV
0:08shows into one of the most enjoyable speaking
0:11practice tools you will ever use.
0:14Now, here are the things that you're going
0:16to learn through this video.
0:17The biggest mistake almost everybody makes.
0:20My 7-step method for learning from TV
0:22shows.
0:23The best English shows for every level.
0:26How to sound more natural and not just
0:28know more words.
0:30It's one thing to know all the correct
0:31words and it is another to speak naturally.
0:35Good vocabulary is also about putting the right
0:38kind of words into your sentences, looking at
0:41the occasion.
0:42So that is also something that we're going
0:44to be covering today.
0:45Okay, apart from that, that one habit that
0:48makes TV shows actually improve your speaking.
0:51Let's start with part one, which is the
0:54biggest mistake people make when they're trying to
0:57learn English from TV shows.
0:59The mistake I never made.
1:02No, I'm not boasting.
1:04I really mean it.
1:05Ever since I started to watch English TV
1:07shows, I was very focused.
1:09I knew why I was watching those shows.
1:11It wasn't just entertainment.
1:12Of course, entertainment is a product.
1:15Of course, you will enjoy.
1:16Of course, it's funny.
1:18It's witty.
1:19It's great colors.
1:20It's great dialogues.
1:21Everything is awesome.
1:23It's so well scripted and everything.
1:24Okay, but I had a theme in my
1:26head.
1:27I wanted to learn.
1:28I initially started to watch TV shows and
1:31believe me when I say this, many times
1:33what used to happen was that I wouldn't
1:35really get what they were talking.
1:37It was very hard to understand every single
1:40dialogue and it used to put a lot
1:41of pressure on my head.
1:42You know, two people talking, but you really
1:44cannot figure out what they're talking.
1:46It's very hard.
1:47It used to happen and back then I
1:49remember asking myself, will this ever get easy
1:52for me?
1:52Will this ever get natural for me?
1:54I found the answer many, many, many, many
1:57months later or maybe years later.
2:00It did become natural.
2:01It did become enjoyable.
2:03I could actually figure out, not just figure
2:05out, I could actually enjoy, understand the dialogues
2:08without the subtitles.
2:10Of course, initially, subtitles were not an option,
2:13but now they're totally an option.
2:14It helped because I trained my brain accordingly.
2:18I had a goal in my head and
2:21watching TV was actually purposeful and not just
2:25entertainment.
2:26So I will tell you, hold on, let's
2:29talk about the biggest mistake people make here.
2:31The mistake is that they switch on the
2:34television, they sit back and everybody does this.
2:36By the way, most of the people do.
2:38They sit back, enjoy the show, relax and
2:42then we close Netflix or whatever platform they're
2:44on.
2:44They close it, switch it off and go
2:46back.
2:47The goal was never learning.
2:49That is where the problem lies because passive
2:52exposure creates familiarity.
2:55Okay, maybe you will start to recognize a
2:57few words which were earlier alien to you,
3:00but now you've seen them, you're familiar with
3:02those words.
3:03You're familiar with those idioms.
3:05Remember, passive exposure, where you're not participating will
3:08only create familiarity.
3:10Active exposure, active practice will create fluency.
3:15Okay, now what does this mean?
3:17That lies in my answer in the part
3:19two, which is the seven step guide that
3:22I have for you.
3:23Okay, so this is the mistake.
3:24Be aware, be more cautious, be more conscious
3:28with your learning.
3:29We're not just watching TV for the sake
3:31of watching TV or entertainment.
3:33Of course, if you don't understand a language,
3:36you're watching television show in that language.
3:38If I watch a television show in German,
3:40even if I have English subtitles, I probably
3:44will not enjoy anything in that show.
3:46Why?
3:47Because it's so hard to focus on the
3:51picture and focus on the words together at
3:54the same time, simultaneously.
3:56It's hard.
3:57Where is the fun in that?
3:58I don't get it.
3:59And I know initially it's going to be
4:01hard for you.
4:02It was hard for me.
4:03It's no more hard for me.
4:05In fact, I prefer that English movies that
4:07I watch very frequently do not have subtitles.
4:11I somehow prefer that because knowingly, unknowingly you're
4:14drawn to those subtitles.
4:16You keep, I mean, even if you understand
4:18what they're saying, your eyes are automatically drawn
4:21to them.
4:21And that's what I don't really like.
4:23So I prefer movies without subtitles, but it's
4:25really not a choice.
4:27If you're in a PVR, whatever they throw
4:29at you, you take it, right?
4:31So yes, that is part number one for
4:33you. Now we move to part two, where there
4:35is a seven-step guide.
4:37It will make sense to you.
4:38Hold on, give me about five minutes.
4:41We are sorted with this problem forever.
4:43And your learning is going to be supreme
4:45level learning, because this will help you.
4:49This has helped me the most.
4:51Of course, watching television, it's more of a
4:54consumption activity.
4:56And I've told you in, I think 10
4:57of my previous videos, that consumption versus active
5:01participation, that is where you speak or you
5:04create something.
5:05Consumption versus creation.
5:08You learn more when you create, but you
5:10cannot create without consuming.
5:13We've learned this concept earlier in one of
5:16my videos.
5:17So remember, this is again, consumption, you're watching
5:19television show, but you can actually find a
5:23way through my seven-step guide to start
5:26actively creating by consuming both at the same
5:31time.
5:31And that is where your learning paces up.
5:34Let's go to part two and look at
5:36the seven-step guide that I have for
5:37you. Step number one, choose a television show that
5:41is slightly above your level.
5:44Slightly above.
5:45I have recommendations in part three.
5:48I will give you four or five good
5:50options.
5:51You will recognize your own level and then
5:53you choose a show accordingly.
5:55So select a show that is slightly above
5:58your level.
5:59It shouldn't be so easy that you learn
6:01nothing and it shouldn't be that difficult that
6:04everything sounds like noise to you.
6:06Let's move to step number two.
6:07Don't watch more, rather watch deeper.
6:11What do I mean?
6:12I want you to not binge.
6:14I know binge is attractive.
6:16I know that, but I'm asking you not
6:19to binge watch.
6:20The quantity is not important.
6:23Repetition is important.
6:25I will tell you what I mean by
6:26repetition.
6:27So just one episode at a time is
6:30enough.
6:31Why?
6:32Because the moment you move from watching one
6:36episode to another, the next one, the next
6:39one, I feel the purpose will be lost.
6:42After a while, you will forget your goal.
6:44After a while, you will no more be
6:46on your learning.
6:49Rather you just sitting like an idol in
6:51front of the TV and not getting anything
6:53what's going on.
6:53Or you may probably be enjoying and then
6:56the goes in the background.
6:58I don't want that.
6:59We are doing this as an active activity.
7:03We want to be engaged.
7:05We want to be entertained, but learning comes
7:08first.
7:09So no binging.
7:10And one more thing, if the episode is
7:12really long, say 45 minutes, one hour long,
7:15you need not watch the entire one hour
7:18long episode.
7:19We can divide it into small parts, say
7:2115 minutes, 15 minutes at a time.
7:25But goal oriented approach.
7:27We know why we are watching the first
7:2915 minutes.
7:30We should be clear here.
7:31See, just recently, I have started to learn
7:35to swim.
7:36I've taken about 18 lessons.
7:38I can swim by the way.
7:40But I'm really stuck on the step of
7:42breathing.
7:43I don't want to scare you if you're
7:45probably planning to learn swimming next.
7:47But breathing is not that easy to learn.
7:50The rhythm is hard to get.
7:52When I'm doing this nowadays, I'm actually reminded
7:54of the time when I was trying to
7:56learn to speak English fluently.
7:58Because I'm telling you, I've worked very actively
8:01on this part of my life.
8:03It wasn't natural to me.
8:04I wasn't getting raised in an environment where
8:07it would become natural for me.
8:09It wasn't that easy.
8:10It came as a conscious choice.
8:13I actually prepared for it.
8:15And nowadays, I'm going through that same loop
8:18of fear, hesitation, nervousness.
8:21When I'm about to get into water, I
8:23feel all those feelings which I used to
8:25get when I was preparing to speak English
8:28fluently.
8:29It was a phase of my life.
8:31And all those feelings are back to me.
8:33And I totally get it if you feel
8:35nervous, if you feel hesitant, and if you
8:38feel like you're freezing every time you're trying
8:41to open your mouth.
8:42I get it, man.
8:43It's hard.
8:44It's hard.
8:45Because I am reminded of every of those
8:49feelings right now when I'm thinking about my
8:52swimming lessons.
8:53It's freaking hard.
8:54It blows my mind sometimes.
8:57But yes, one thing that was common back
8:59then and now is that I never stopped
9:03then and I wouldn't stop now.
9:05Until the time I get it.
9:07Until the time I've become a really good,
9:11amazing swimmer.
9:12And maybe somewhere in the future, I would
9:14like to see this video again.
9:16And remember these days when I was struggling
9:18to breathe in water.
9:20And then in the future, probably I'll be
9:21really good at that.
9:22So I don't know.
9:23But I never stopped then I wouldn't stop
9:25now.
9:26And I want you to have that attitude
9:27to whatever you wish to accomplish, or whatever
9:31you wish to have in yourself is somewhere
9:33around you is not too far.
9:35It's in your effort zone.
9:37It may not be in your comfort zone,
9:39but it is definitely in your effort zone.
9:41Okay, so hold my hand and let's walk
9:43hand in hand together towards fluency.
9:47Okay, let's move to step number three of
9:49the seven step guide.
9:50You watch the entire scene with subtitles.
9:54Okay, let it flow.
9:56Don't pause every sentence.
9:58It's a terrible way to learn because it
10:00will totally kill your thrill.
10:02We don't want that.
10:03All right, let the scene be completed.
10:06All right, don't pause every sentence.
10:09Understand the story.
10:11Then we move on to step number four,
10:13which is watch the same scene again.
10:17All right, but this time what you do
10:19is you absorb the useful expressions that are
10:24used in the scene.
10:26All right, I'm just talking about useful expressions,
10:30useful sentences, useful words, not difficult words.
10:35Our focus is right now not on the
10:38difficult, it's on the useful because it's obvious
10:42if you're trying to learn to be fluent,
10:44we probably will not be able to grasp
10:46difficult at this moment.
10:48And it's okay.
10:50Learning is always phased.
10:52All learning cannot happen all at once.
10:54No, it doesn't work that way.
10:56Can I be an amazing elite level swimmer
10:59on day one of my lessons?
11:01No, I cannot be.
11:02I will have to dedicate a few months
11:04to it before I reach that level.
11:06Elite?
11:06Maybe not.
11:07But good?
11:08Yes.
11:09You get it?
11:10Expressions like, I'm just kidding or no worries
11:14or fair enough.
11:16That makes sense.
11:18So, these are English chunks.
11:20I'm getting to that part.
11:22English chunks are groups of words that are
11:25spoken together usually.
11:27Something like no worries.
11:29So, no worries is used as for saying
11:32you're welcome or if somebody says I'm sorry,
11:35you say no worries.
11:37It's okay.
11:37So, you say no worries for it's okay.
11:40So, no worries is a chunk, all the
11:42native speakers and everybody who's fluent in English.
11:45Remember one thing as a rule of thumb,
11:47just remember this.
11:48They do not extract word by word from
11:52their brain when they're speaking English.
11:54They extract ready-made sentences.
11:57And these ready-made sentences are called English
12:00chunks.
12:00This is what makes you fluent.
12:02You don't learn word by word.
12:05You learn sentence by sentence.
12:08Something like, I'll be there.
12:10I'm sure you must have heard the sentence
12:12several times.
12:14I'll be there.
12:15Now, this is me throwing a sentence, speaking
12:19one entire sentence without thinking about every single
12:23word in the sentence.
12:25This is an English chunk.
12:26Group of words usually spoken together.
12:29So, our focus has to be on chunks
12:32rather than words.
12:34Words is also good, but chunks is easier.
12:37Chunks is more doable.
12:39Step number five is very important.
12:41You repeat immediately.
12:43The moment you see something useful on the
12:45screen, one useful expression, you pause.
12:49And this is the second time you're watching
12:50the scene.
12:51Let me remind you.
12:53I asked you to watch the entire scene
12:55all at once first, and then you come
12:57back, you rewind, and then you watch again
12:59for useful information.
13:01So, something you find useful, you pause, you
13:04see, and you repeat it out loud.
13:06You do not say it in your mind.
13:08No, you say it out loud.
13:10Just as much as your brain needs practice,
13:13so does your mouth.
13:15Your mouth also needs practice to speak English.
13:19So, we have to speak.
13:21Speaking is a physical skill.
13:23It will drain you.
13:25It will make you uncomfortable.
13:27But every single time, and this is something
13:29I used to tell myself back then when
13:31I was learning, that every single time I
13:34feel uncomfortable while speaking English, I'm learning something.
13:38Every single time you feel uncomfortable, remind yourself
13:42that this discomfort is going to make you
13:45better.
13:46This discomfort is actually very useful, okay?
13:50We don't have to run away from discomfort.
13:53I'm sorry we are not dealt with great
13:55cards.
13:55Sometimes it happens in life.
13:57Sometimes you're not given everything that we want
14:00right now.
14:01We have to work for things.
14:03And it's okay.
14:04This is where the fun lies, right?
14:06What is the fun in having everything that
14:08you want all at once?
14:10I don't see the fun.
14:11I mean, we all want to have our
14:13challenges.
14:14We all want to have our blessings.
14:15But sometimes challenges are just another way of
14:18looking at blessings.
14:20Challenges do convert into blessings after a while.
14:23So yes, I know you're not dealt with
14:26some amazing cards where you were born speaking
14:28great English and you wanted to do that
14:29and you knew it.
14:30You probably were not dealt those cards.
14:32But it's okay.
14:33We'll practice, we'll improve and we will get
14:36fluent.
14:36Next is step number six, shadowing.
14:39What is shadowing?
14:40Shadowing is repeating after somebody and not just
14:45the words, also the expression.
14:48If I say and you repeat after me
14:50in the same way, the way I say,
14:52I'm very happy today.
14:56Now, if you said it like this, I'm
14:59very happy today.
15:00You just shadowed me.
15:02So this is what you do with actors.
15:04You pause, you repeat their words, you repeat
15:07their chunks or you repeat their expressions or
15:10whatever, mini dialogues, big dialogues, whatever.
15:13It's written in the subtitles.
15:14You repeat from there and you repeat with
15:18the same expression.
15:20The same story continues.
15:22So this is shadowing.
15:23So this is how you practice with the
15:26actor rather than repeating after them.
15:29No, you play the scene and you repeat
15:32with them.
15:33It works out better that way if you
15:35can.
15:35But just in case you're not that comfortable
15:38or probably they're fast and you're not that
15:40fast, it's okay.
15:41Pause the screen, repeat after them.
15:44That works equally well.
15:45It's okay.
15:46You have to match speed, emotion, pauses, pronunciation.
15:51You're not acting, you're practicing with your mouth.
15:55This is what you're doing.
15:56You're training your mouth.
15:58Moving on to step number seven, the last
16:00one on the right.
16:01Steal the sentence.
16:03You don't steal words one by one like
16:07I just taught you.
16:08Steal the entire sentence.
16:10So this way, you're not just training yourself
16:13on vocabulary, you're also training yourself on stealing.
16:19Okay, forget that.
16:21Don't, don't do that.
16:22Stealing is not a good habit.
16:24But you can steal vocabulary, you can steal
16:26idioms, you can steal expressions.
16:28So instead of saying or learning, actually, how
16:32about you pick up the entire sentence?
16:35Actually, I don't think that's a good idea.
16:38So this is what I'm asking you to
16:39do. Don't just steal actually.
16:41Steal, actually, I don't think it's such a
16:44good idea.
16:45The entire sentence.
16:46Guess.
16:47Don't learn the word guess.
16:48Learn, I guess we'll figure that out.
16:51I guess we'll find out.
16:53So steal the entire sentence.
16:55I guess we'll find out.
16:56Okay, your brain remembers chunks much better.
17:00Remember that these are chunks, groups of words
17:02often spoken together and they have a specific
17:05meaning.
17:06So listener always understands what you're saying.
17:09Native speakers don't build every sentence from grammar.
17:13They retrieve thousands of ready made sentence patterns.
17:17Our brain learns language through repeated exposure, meaningful
17:21context and pattern recognition.
17:24And that is why we tend to remember
17:25dialogues of movies better than the vocabulary lists
17:29that we create.
17:29Who does that?
17:31Don't create vocabulary lists.
17:33Okay, we don't want all that hard work.
17:35Just follow simple steps that I'm giving you.
17:37This is enough.
17:38Now this is part three for you.
17:40Things that you do not have to do.
17:42Okay.
17:43A.
17:43You do not have to pause every five
17:45seconds.
17:46B.
17:47Don't write every unknown word.
17:50C.
17:50Don't use shows as grammar classes.
17:53D.
17:54Don't chase perfection.
17:55E.
17:56Don't translate everything.
17:57Our goal is not to inflict pain upon
18:00ourselves.
18:01No, that's not the goal.
18:02The goal is to enjoy and learn together,
18:05side by side.
18:06Okay.
18:06And it is possible.
18:08Just follow this simple step.
18:09It has to be purposeful learning.
18:11It has to be short episodes.
18:13It cannot be very long, because then your
18:16purpose will go in the background.
18:18Like I said, we don't want that.
18:20Okay.
18:20And then follow these simple, very simple steps
18:23that I gave you.
18:24And shadowing is important.
18:26Do not skip that part.
18:27You have to shadow the actors.
18:29Now, part four, I will give you the
18:31best shows that I have for beginner level,
18:34for medium and for advanced.
18:36Okay.
18:36Let's see the beginner ones.
18:37Extra, Bluey, Modern Family, Young Sheldon.
18:42For intermediate level, I've got Friends.
18:46This is my absolute favorite.
18:48Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Office, and With an
18:52E.
18:52These are all very highly rated shows.
18:55Okay. And I want to remind you one thing
18:57that very often adults skip cartoons.
19:01And that's a big mistake.
19:02Cartoons are very, very smart.
19:05They are very organized and structured.
19:08They have a certain comic timing, and they
19:11use some amazing expressions.
19:13They're brilliant at times.
19:15Like Bluey, maybe for really small kids, but
19:19it's a pretty cute show.
19:21You can enjoy it.
19:23And Simpsons is an all time amazing show.
19:27One of the greatest they've got.
19:29So these cartoons, they cannot be skipped.
19:32You should use these cartoons.
19:34Like there's this Bojack Horseman, amazing show, but
19:38adult content.
19:40So probably wouldn't want to watch with your
19:42parents sitting next to you.
19:44It will be very awkward.
19:45And then you will say, Alina ma'am
19:46ne bola tha.
19:48Don't watch Bojack Horseman with your parents sitting
19:50next to you.
19:51And it is 18 plus.
19:52Okay.
19:53I gave you the warning.
19:55Moving on.
19:56Advanced.
19:57Suits.
19:58The Crown.
19:59Sherlock.
20:00This is us.
20:01Nowadays, I'm watching a few shows, I'll tell
20:03you.
20:04I am in the middle of From.
20:06Then I'm watching Ginny and Georgia.
20:09I will find you.
20:10I finished that.
20:11I see a lot of shows.
20:12I'm not always sitting in front of the
20:14TV.
20:15I usually watch it for an hour or
20:16so every day.
20:17I mean, that's the time I have my
20:19dinner and I relax in the night.
20:21So yes, an hour or so, max one
20:23and a half hours.
20:25I don't exceed that time.
20:26And let me remind you, I did talk
20:28in favor of watching animated shows, the cartoons,
20:32because they have clearer pronunciation.
20:34They cover everyday vocabulary and their delivery is
20:38slower.
20:39So yes, cartoons can serve as a great
20:42medium to teach you English.
20:43Things that you have to copy when you're
20:45learning from a TV show is hesitation, laughter,
20:50emotions, intonation.
20:52Intonation is rise and fall of your voice.
20:55Contractions.
20:56You have to imitate these five things.
20:59Okay.
20:59Instead of just learning the words or learning
21:02the chunks, also follow the emotion.
21:05One thing that I want you to know
21:07before I close this video is that fluency
21:09is not about knowing more English.
21:12It's about using the English that you already
21:15know faster.
21:17Okay. That is what fluency is.
21:19Fluency does not mean that you understand every
21:22single word on this planet.
21:24No, it's practically impossible, but also absolutely unnecessary.
21:28I have always quite confidently opened up to
21:32saying this and I will again that I
21:34don't know everything and there's still so much
21:37to learn.
21:37Every single day, I'm opening up to new
21:40words, new idioms, new phrases people use in
21:43their daily lives.
21:44And sometimes I surprise myself with words that
21:47are quite common and probably I'm hearing after
21:51a very long time or maybe I'm hearing
21:53for the first time and I'm learning it
21:55in that moment.
21:56It's absolutely natural.
21:58So next time you open an OTT platform,
22:01do not ask yourself which show should I
22:04watch?
22:05Rather, ask yourself which sentence can I steal
22:09today?
22:10So this is it for today.
22:11I hope you enjoyed this video.
22:13If you did, please subscribe to this channel
22:15because how else will you find my videos?
22:17Okay. Subscribe to the channel, like the video, share
22:20it with somebody you care about, you like
22:21learning with.
22:23Thank you.
22:23My goal is to teach you and to
22:25make you better every day and I think
22:28we're doing a pretty good job together.
22:30So let's stick together.
22:32I'll see you in the next one.
22:33Bye-bye.