Although learning English through movies is one of the recommended methods today thanks to everyday language, not too academic. However, you will not achieve the desired results without a suitable roadmap and approach. Below are common mistakes and how to avoid them when applying learning through movies.

1. Watching movies without support

Basic mistake: Watching movies without subtitles or support is a basic and common mistake in learning English through movies.

Solution:

If you have not watched many video clips in a foreign language, watching a complete movie without subtitles will make you unable to keep up with the movie content and bored with this form of learning. If your foundation is not very solid, use support resources: subtitles or watch with someone who has experience learning using this method. These support resources will provide the necessary skills to be able to watch movies entirely in the language you are pursuing.

Watch short videos on YouTube.

One source you can use to hone your skills before watching a full movie is YouTube. This world's largest video sharing channel has many programs to supplement middle school English with short clips with available subtitles. Or you can choose to watch short music videos. For example, Korean learners can watch the song “Paint Me” by girl group MAMAMOO with lyrics in Korean and English. Watching short videos will be an effective way to get acquainted before moving on to movies or TV series.

Use additional resources for support.

Even if you're ready to enjoy a movie, don't ignore the supporting tools. You can use translator apps that have voice translation options, such as Google Translate (iOS | Android), which is a quick and easy way to look up any word or phrase you have You may not know while watching the movie.

2. Choose the wrong movie

Basic mistake: Choosing movies based on hotness. But the biggest blockbusters aren't always a good choice for learning a language. Because fantasy or art films often use highly difficult vocabulary.

Solution:

Check the difficulty of the movie

First, you will need to consider the difficulty level of the movie. You can assume this based on the movie genre. For example, most children's movies are relatively easy. For those who have lost their roots, starting to learn children's English through cartoons is the right choice. Some action movies are also good choices because they often lean more towards visuals than dialogue. However, art films (the Oscar-winning genre) are highly difficult because the language used is often stylish and difficult to grasp.

Pay attention to target vocabulary

You should pay attention to the possibility of using vocabulary in the movie. For example, a police drama will likely include a lot of difficult crime jargon. In contrast, movies like romantic comedies often have more common vocabulary. Similarly, if you want to learn a specific set of vocabulary, you might consider finding a movie that uses those terms. For example, if you want to learn legal terms, find a legal movie.

Don't forget to enjoy the movie!

Finally, consider which movies you will actually enjoy. Enjoying a good movie will be a valuable source of motivation for you to continue watching and learning from it. Above all, why do we have to learn foreign languages ​​through movies if it's not interesting?

3. Not understanding the content of the movie

Basic error:

Starting to watch a movie without finding out the information will make it difficult to grasp the content and learn English through the movie. If you don't know anything about that movie, not only will it be difficult for you to follow the movie, pay less attention to the language, but instead need to focus more on finding out who the characters are, what they are doing and why they are doing it. have such personality.

A movie that is difficult to grasp will cause you to lose interest, leading to a missed opportunity to improve your foreign language skills in one of the most enjoyable ways.

Solution:

 

Do a little research

If you consider watching movies as a supplementary program for your secondary school English, prepare carefully. You don't need to do in-depth research on the film's techniques or camera angles, but something simple - the main content of the film. Find the movie's summary to understand what the movie is about. IMDB and Wikipedia often have summaries of famous foreign films.

Know about the actors

You can also learn about the actors first. Pay attention to the names of the characters when you look at the photos of the actors' faces. This way, when you start watching the movie, you won't waste time trying to remember who's playing what role.

4. Being overwhelmed

Basic mistake: The movie is too long. Most of the listening exercises in the Middle School English program are relatively brief, so you often get frustrated when listening to a foreign language for a long time. However, movie lovers often assume that because they can watch a movie in their native language, they can also watch it in a foreign language.

However, learning from a long work can be a bit overwhelming because in order to understand what is going on, it will take a lot of concentration and thinking.

Solution:

Divide it into parts

One of the best ways to avoid getting overwhelmed is to split the footage. Instead of trying to view the entire content at once, break it up into smaller chunks. You may not be ready to watch a movie in a foreign language for two hours, but you can definitely deal with one scene.

Breaking the movie into parts will ensure your listening practice doesn't get overwhelming. Another small benefit is that a few minutes of watching is a lot easier to add to your daily schedule than watching a full-length movie.

5. Watch quickly

Basic error:

When watching movies in Vietnamese, you can watch and do other things while still grasping the content. However, watching the entire movie in one go is sometimes overwhelming with language learning. In the process of learning English, repetition is important to help you remember vocabulary or grammar rules, and watching a movie as quickly as possible does not bring about these repetition experiences.

Solution

Take breaks to process information.

You should take regular breaks. After every scene or two, you can take a break to reflect on what you just saw. What happened? What new vocabulary words have you heard? Thinking about these things will give you time to process what you just saw.

Watch again and again!

Then you might also consider reviewing key scenes, paying special attention to interesting quotes, new vocabulary, or difficult grammar rules. If you like a certain line, try memorizing it! This not only helps you remember vocabulary but also builds structure for flexible use in the future.

6. Expectations can be understood immediately

Basic mistake: Even if you have a good English foundation in middle school classes, it is too difficult to immediately understand all the movie content. Plus, expecting to be understood immediately puts you at a disadvantage. If you expect listening to be easy, you may be disappointed and dismayed when it's not as easy as you thought. Worse yet, you may start to question your qualifications.

Solution:

Set reasonable expectations

Don't set your expectations too high, you aim to understand some part of the movie. Because not understanding the entire movie right after watching it is nothing to be ashamed of, and it also doesn't reflect your overall knowledge.

Understanding a native accent takes time, even if you have studied long enough. Be patient and practice with other movies and at some point, you can understand the entire movie in another foreign language the first time you watch it.

7. Watch movies passively

Basic error:

Watch the movie quietly, without actively interacting with the film. However, watching movies is a great way to help you practice listening, but if you want to truly maximize the learning benefits that a movie can bring, you'll need to do more than sit around and watch. movie.

Listening, speaking and writing are skills you need to practice when watching movies. Although watching movies mainly improves listening skills, it usually doesn't help much with speaking or writing skills. This can lead to an imbalance between skills. But with more effort and engagement, you can turn movies into comprehensive sources of language practice.

Solution:

Combine words when watching movies.

To achieve the best results when watching movies, in addition to listening, you should practice speaking according to the movie. For example: During dialogue scenes, pause and guess what the next character will say. When you hear a line you like, repeat it out loud. You can even give advice to the characters if that's something you're interested in. The key here is to speak in the language you're after.

Write it down.

Also, keep a notebook and pen handy and take notes while you watch the movie: Write down words you don't know, phrases you like, and anything else that catches your attention. For added challenge, use a foreign language to try summarizing a scene after you've watched it.

8. Looking up too many words

Basic error:

You are too concerned with looking up the exact meaning of each new vocabulary word. Although this can be a good vocabulary building activity, it is not effective in listening practice. When you focus too much on individual words, you forget to really understand what the overall message of the paragraph is.

Putting off looking up new words helps you increase your ability to reason on your own and fill in words you don't know based on context. During a conversation, you may hear words you don't know. Having experience understanding the overall meaning of a sentence based on context will help you prepare for situations like this.

Solution:

Focus on its main idea.

Instead of focusing on individual words, focus on the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph. If you miss a word or two, that's okay. Sometimes, pausing and looking up each word, instead guessing the vocabulary yourself and filling in the vocabulary gaps you don't hear can be an incredibly valuable skill.

9. Relying too much on subtitles

Basic error:

Subtitles are a great guide for beginners to learn English through movies. However, once you get used to this form of language learning, using subtitles will make learning through movies simply a matter of reading subtitles and missing the opportunity to practice listening skills.

Solution:

Strategize your caption usage.

To avoid this, you should develop a strategy. For example, you can try alternating segments with subtitles on and off. First, listen to a scene at your own pace and see how much you understand. Then, turn on the subtitles to check how much you heard correctly. Finally, turn off the subtitles to see if you can understand more than you did the first time.

Skim the subtitles.

If you don't want to repeat segments as often, you can also develop a strategy for how you read subtitles. As soon as the subtitles turn on, you can quickly skim and then focus on listening to the spoken dialogue. Otherwise, focus on listening to the dialogue and if you realize you don't understand, quickly skim the subtitles afterward.

Always remember that subtitles are just a tool to help tide you over until your skills are refined enough that you don't need them. Your ultimate goal is to not need them anymore.

10. Study alone

Basic error:

Watching movies often feels like a solitary pursuit of a language goal. Learning a foreign language is essentially an activity that involves interaction. Your communication skills will be best developed when having real conversations.

Solution:

Watch movies with others

To really upgrade your language skills, you need to interact with others. You can build a group of people who learn English through movies. You can watch the movie as a group or each person can watch it independently and then all discuss it together. Not only do you get the great listening practice that movies provide, you also get the opportunity to practice communication, and the potential topics for it are almost endless.

Connect with other fans over the Internet

You can also connect online with other movie fans through social networking sites or websites dedicated to “cinephiles”. There are many such forums for movie fans in specific regions or languages. For example, Spanish film fans may enjoy posting on Foro de cine (film forum). To find a forum, simply search for the name of the language and “movie forum” in your desired language.

The biggest advantage of learning English through movies is high entertainment. You can choose to watch your favorite movies without being forced or academically heavy like the traditional method. English learned from movies is also highly practical, you can quickly apply it to life contexts. Hopefully with the above notes, you will avoid mistakes to maximize the effectiveness of this form of learning. Good luck!