Watching
series and films in English is a good way to practice your understanding
skills. So here it is a list of tv series worth watching. I classified them according
to the level of English, so if you think some modifications should be done,
please tell me.
TELEVISION
Easy to
understand
Pocoyo. Yes I know, it’s for kids but listening to
Stephen Fry is always great and he speaks slowly and clearly. Give it a change
to be a child again for once!
Medium
Friends. A classic sitcom. It is the perfect series to
start using English subtitles. Easy soft American accent, available for all
publics.
Two and a half men. Charlie Sheen. Nothing else to say. Funny and
understandable.
The big bang theory. Forget all the science gibberish in
English and you’ll understand the rest. Don’t pretend you understand or can
explain E=mc2 in your own language, so focus on geting the jokes in
plain English.
Hard
Game of thrones. Be prepared to listen to “sort of” medieval
English, so they speak slowly sometimes and with good grammar, if they are
kings, but with ancient words. So you can end up using your grace in a business meeting if you get into it too much!
Extremely
hard even with subtitles
True detective. One of the best series since the Sopranos.
Woody Harrelson can be understood, Matthew McConaughey has
a deeper southern accent. If you want to
know more about the depiction of Lousiana I recomend you read “A Louisiana Native Awaits the “True
Detective” Finale” http://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/a-louisiana-native-awaits-the-true-detective-finale.htm.
Beacuse it is not only about learing English and enjoying good TV, it’s also
about knowing the world better, broaden our horizons (even it sounds topic, it’s
true)
The opening theme "Far from Any Road"
by The Handsome Family is brilliant and sets into the mood of the series. I
highly recomend watching the version with the lyrics on youtube.
WTF are
they saying, is that really English?
Shameless UK version. Amazing, incredible tv drama. You’ll
find yourself listening to Mancunian, Manchester English. Politically
incorrect, you have to watch it! If you can’t follow them in English with
English subtitles go for your own language subtitles but don’t miss this great example
of how to do good television and entertain at the same time. It’s not for
everyone, so you are warned!
