TV shows worth watching to learn English

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!