Do This Before Watching a TV Series to Learn English

English television shows are a great way

to learn English and maybe there's

a new English TV series that you're about to watch.

In this English lesson, I'm going to tell you

about seven things that you should do

before you watch that TV series.

When you do these things before you watch the TV series,

it will make it easier to understand,

I guarantee you will learn more English words

while you're watching the TV series

and I think it'll just make it a more enjoyable experience.

(upbeat music)

The first thing you should do before watching

a new TV series is go to YouTube

and search for a trailer for that TV series.

A trailer is a short introduction

to the series you're about to watch.

In it, you'll find out about the location of the show.

You'll find out about where it takes place.

You'll be introduced to some of the main characters,

and you might even learn some of their names.

When you watch the trailer,

it helps you to be more familiar

with the show when you start watching it

and this will help you understand more

about what's going on.

So the first thing you should do, go to YouTube,

search for a trailer, watch it,

and get introduced to the show.

The second thing you should do is go to the Wikipedia page

for that TV series and read the premise.

The premise is again, another summary

of what the show is going to be about.

It's usually one or two sentences long

and most TV show Wikipedia pages have that section.

The premise will tell you a little bit, again,

about the location and the characters,

and maybe a little introduction to the plot.

The plot is what the story is actually about.

So the second thing you should do, find the Wikipedia page.

You can do this in English or in your own language,

by the way, find the section labeled "Premise,"

and read it over and get an understanding

of what the show is going to be about.

The third thing you should do is write down

the names of all the characters in the show.

You can actually find this information on

the same Wikipedia page where we found the premise.

Usually if you scroll down a little bit,

there'll be a section with all the names.

If you're lucky, there will even

be small descriptions of each character.

So take some time, find a pen and a piece of paper

and actually write down the names

of every single character that's in the show

with a little description behind them.

Then when you start watching the show,

you'll already be familiar

with the people who are in the show.

You'll know some of their names.

You'll know a little bit about what they're all about

and what they might even do based

on the descriptions that you read.

So number three, write down a list

of all the characters that are in the show.

The fourth thing you should do is you should

read a description of the first episode.

Don't read a description of every episode,

but if you scroll down even further on

the Wikipedia page for the TV series you're

about to watch, there will probably be

a section where they describe each episode.

Read the description for episode one.

The reason I don't want you to read all the

other descriptions is I don't want you to read any spoilers.

Spoilers are when you find out things about a TV series

that you didn't want to find out before you watched it.

I mean, it's nice to know some things before you watch it,

but you do want to be surprised

while you're watching it as well.

So the fourth thing you can do

and you can consider this one optional,

scroll down a little further.

Find the section where they describe each episode

and read the description of episode one.

See if you can get a sense

of what happens in the first episode

before you start watching the whole series.

The fifth thing you should do is you should

learn some vocabulary based on the genre of the TV series.

Here's what I mean by that.

If you're going to watch a fantasy TV series,

learn about swords and dragons, learn all the words

you would need to know to watch that type of show.

If you're going to watch a TV series

that is science fiction, learn about rockets

and planets and all the words you would need

to understand when watching a science fiction show,

or if you're watching a TV series

that's based on a little bit of romance,

learn about love letters and holding hands

and some of the words and phrases

that we use in English when we talk about love.

So the fifth thing to do before you watch a TV series,

make sure you know some of the words, phrases,

the vocabulary that you'll need to understand the show.

The sixth thing that you can do before watching a TV series

to learn English, watch the first episode

in your own language if that's possible.

If you're watching the TV series on a streaming service

like Amazon Prime or Netflix or another one,

usually you can change the language.

When you start watching a series,

it's important to get a good understanding

of the characters and the location and the story.

Watching the first episode

in your own language can really help.

If you do this though, make sure you rewatch episode one

in English before you continue with episode two.

So anyways, another thing you can do

to improve your understanding of a new TV series,

watch the first episode in your own language.

The seventh thing you can do is you can write down

what you think the TV series is going to be about.

I know this sounds a little strange.

You haven't watched it yet, and I'm asking you to write

about it, but this kind of gets your brain ready.

If you've already watched the trailer

and you've read the premise on Wikipedia,

this will be a little easier.

But take some time to write down what you think

will happen in the TV series, what you think

certain characters will do, even if you're wrong,

it just helps your brain to get ready

to watch the entire TV series.

So number seven, take some time, sit down,

write down what you think it will be about.

Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson

about things you can do before you watch a TV series

so that when you do watch it, you can understand more

and that it can just be a more effective tool

for your English learning.

Remember, if this is your first time here,

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and if you have some time, why don't you

stick around and watch another English lesson?

(upbeat music)