Do This Before Watching a TV Series to Learn English

106,895 views ・ 2023-01-17

Learn English with Bob the Canadian


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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English television shows are a great way
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to learn English and maybe there's
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a new English TV series that you're about to watch.
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In this English lesson, I'm going to tell you
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about seven things that you should do
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before you watch that TV series.
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When you do these things before you watch the TV series,
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it will make it easier to understand,
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I guarantee you will learn more English words
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while you're watching the TV series
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and I think it'll just make it a more enjoyable experience.
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(upbeat music)
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The first thing you should do before watching
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a new TV series is go to YouTube
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and search for a trailer for that TV series.
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A trailer is a short introduction
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to the series you're about to watch.
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In it, you'll find out about the location of the show.
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You'll find out about where it takes place.
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You'll be introduced to some of the main characters,
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and you might even learn some of their names.
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When you watch the trailer,
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it helps you to be more familiar
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with the show when you start watching it
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and this will help you understand more
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about what's going on.
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So the first thing you should do, go to YouTube,
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search for a trailer, watch it,
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and get introduced to the show.
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The second thing you should do is go to the Wikipedia page
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for that TV series and read the premise.
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The premise is again, another summary
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of what the show is going to be about.
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It's usually one or two sentences long
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and most TV show Wikipedia pages have that section.
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The premise will tell you a little bit, again,
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about the location and the characters,
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and maybe a little introduction to the plot.
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The plot is what the story is actually about.
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So the second thing you should do, find the Wikipedia page.
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You can do this in English or in your own language,
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by the way, find the section labeled "Premise,"
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and read it over and get an understanding
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of what the show is going to be about.
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The third thing you should do is write down
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the names of all the characters in the show.
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You can actually find this information on
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the same Wikipedia page where we found the premise.
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Usually if you scroll down a little bit,
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there'll be a section with all the names.
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If you're lucky, there will even
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be small descriptions of each character.
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So take some time, find a pen and a piece of paper
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and actually write down the names
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of every single character that's in the show
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with a little description behind them.
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Then when you start watching the show,
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you'll already be familiar
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with the people who are in the show.
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You'll know some of their names.
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You'll know a little bit about what they're all about
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and what they might even do based
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on the descriptions that you read.
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So number three, write down a list
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of all the characters that are in the show.
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The fourth thing you should do is you should
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read a description of the first episode.
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Don't read a description of every episode,
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but if you scroll down even further on
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the Wikipedia page for the TV series you're
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about to watch, there will probably be
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a section where they describe each episode.
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Read the description for episode one.
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The reason I don't want you to read all the
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other descriptions is I don't want you to read any spoilers.
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Spoilers are when you find out things about a TV series
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that you didn't want to find out before you watched it.
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I mean, it's nice to know some things before you watch it,
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but you do want to be surprised
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while you're watching it as well.
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So the fourth thing you can do
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and you can consider this one optional,
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scroll down a little further.
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Find the section where they describe each episode
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and read the description of episode one.
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See if you can get a sense
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of what happens in the first episode
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before you start watching the whole series.
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The fifth thing you should do is you should
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learn some vocabulary based on the genre of the TV series.
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Here's what I mean by that.
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If you're going to watch a fantasy TV series,
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learn about swords and dragons, learn all the words
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you would need to know to watch that type of show.
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If you're going to watch a TV series
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that is science fiction, learn about rockets
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and planets and all the words you would need
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to understand when watching a science fiction show,
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or if you're watching a TV series
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that's based on a little bit of romance,
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learn about love letters and holding hands
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and some of the words and phrases
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that we use in English when we talk about love.
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So the fifth thing to do before you watch a TV series,
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make sure you know some of the words, phrases,
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the vocabulary that you'll need to understand the show.
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The sixth thing that you can do before watching a TV series
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to learn English, watch the first episode
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in your own language if that's possible.
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If you're watching the TV series on a streaming service
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like Amazon Prime or Netflix or another one,
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usually you can change the language.
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When you start watching a series,
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it's important to get a good understanding
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of the characters and the location and the story.
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Watching the first episode
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in your own language can really help.
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If you do this though, make sure you rewatch episode one
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in English before you continue with episode two.
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So anyways, another thing you can do
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to improve your understanding of a new TV series,
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watch the first episode in your own language.
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The seventh thing you can do is you can write down
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what you think the TV series is going to be about.
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I know this sounds a little strange.
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You haven't watched it yet, and I'm asking you to write
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about it, but this kind of gets your brain ready.
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If you've already watched the trailer
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and you've read the premise on Wikipedia,
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this will be a little easier.
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But take some time to write down what you think
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will happen in the TV series, what you think
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certain characters will do, even if you're wrong,
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it just helps your brain to get ready
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to watch the entire TV series.
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So number seven, take some time, sit down,
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write down what you think it will be about.
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Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson
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about things you can do before you watch a TV series
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so that when you do watch it, you can understand more
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and that it can just be a more effective tool
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for your English learning.
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Remember, if this is your first time here,
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don't forget to click that red Subscribe button.
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Give me a thumbs up, leave a comment,
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and if you have some time, why don't you
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stick around and watch another English lesson?
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(upbeat music)
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