Think in English | Learn English with TV

Today we’re taking scenes from TV and we’re using  them to practice our English. You can train your  

mind to think in English so you can recall the  words faster and stop translating in your head.

I’m Rachel, and I’ve been teaching the American  accent on YouTube for over 15 years. Visit  

RachelsEnglish.com/free to get my free course,  the Top 3 ways to master the American Accent.

We’re going to do three scenes today. First,  we’ll take a scene from the show ‘Insecure”.  

The scene is on mute because it’s not about  watching the clip for fun, and the audio can  

be distracting. It’s about describing the clip in  English, it’s about thinking through what you see.

First, you’re going to see 10 seconds of a clip.  Think the word in English for the nouns that you  

see. If you see a donut, think ‘donut’.  You’re just naming objects. We’re going  

to watch this scene later with a different  focus, but this is just objects. Here we go.

There are so many things you  could have thought. Let’s go  

over some of them. I’ll start big and go smaller.

Conference room

Conference table

Bulletin board

Poster

door

window

People

Chair

Drinks

Donuts

Plate

frosting

Binder

Papers

Napkins

Laptop

Sticky notes

This in the middle is a  speaker for conference calls

Pens and pencils

Water

Man

Woman

Glasses

crumbs

If there is a TV show you want me  to feature in an English lesson,  

please put your suggestions in the comments  below. Okay, let’s take a look again,  

and this time think adjectives, words  to describe what you see, like colors.

Let’s review the adjectives.

frosted,

open,

full or busy,

blonde,

brunette,

messy.

Lots of colors: pink,

green,

yellow,

orange,

blue.

We’re going over a lot of words here,  and if your brain is moving more slowly,  

coming up with just one or two words, that’s  not a problem. The thing we want to do is,  

recall the word in English without first thinking  in your own native language. Even if you’re  

just thinking of one or two words without first  translating, that’s building the skill we want.

Now we’ll look at the scene, and  I want you to think of verbs. What  

can you think of to describe  the action that you’re seeing?

Let’s review the verbs.

This man stands up. That’s a phrasal verb.

He’s passing out sheets. That’s another phrasal  verb. To pass out. You could also say hand out.

Pass out, passing out papers like you’ve  seen but it also means to faint, to pass out.

He’s walking,

talking,

people are listening.

They’re reading.

Our next scene is from Schitt’s creek.  Remember, this first time through you’re  

just naming objects in your head. See  something, think of the English word.

Let's review the nouns.

phone chain

necklace

bracelet

ring

eyebrow

nose

eyelashes

shirt

New part of the scene,  we’ve got button down shirt.

Can’t help but see his eyebrows too.

beds,

blankets or covers,

window,

curtains,

bricks,

lamp shade,

headboard,

magazine,

stars,

handbag,

couch,

table.

Now think adjectives.

Let’s review the adjectives.

Gold.

Silver.

This has a quilted look.

The blankets are also quilted.

Colors, we have black,

white,

teal,

tan.

The background here looks very full,

a little messy.

She looks distracted, doesn’t she?

She’s in a conversation but  she’s mostly on her phone.

And now, verbs.

Let’s review the verbs.

She’s holding her phone,

she’s scrolling.

She’s arranging her hair.

Moving her bangs.

Talking.

He’s sitting down. A phrasal verb, the opposite  of stand up which we saw in our last scene.

They’re talking.

He opens the magazine.

He crosses his legs.

She’s sitting.

She shakes her head.

If you’ve seen Schitt’s creek, leave me  a comment with your favorite character.

Our last scene today, to help you learn vocabulary  and start thinking in English, is from the TV  

show ‘Young Rock’. First time though, notice  objects, think their names in English.

Let’s review the nouns.

Earring.

Ponytail

Belt.

They have backpacks

He’s wearing a sweatshirt.

There are display cases.

Jewelry

Stand

Column

Poster

Frame

Collar

Sweater

They’re in a mall.

In a store.

A jewelry store.

Salesman

Mom

Tracksuit

Mustache

Straps

Clips

Headband

Now adjectives. There’s a lot of  emotion and color in this scene.

Let’s review the adjectives.

Pink,

purple,

blue,

red,

When something has large pieces of color  like this, we call that ‘Colorblock’.

His sweater has green,

gray,

it’s knit.

Black

yellow

They’re curious.

Her outfit is a little bit shiny.

Okay, now she is mad, angry.

He’s worried.

She looks intense,

like she might be speaking loudly.

Her brow is furrowed.

Her headband is braided.

Her necklace is thin.

Now, verbs.

Let’s review the verbs.

They’re shopping,

they’re looking around.

He points.

She walks up.

She’s striding into the store.

He turns his head.

She’s maybe yelling at him.

Lots of words and I’m sure some of you came  up with totally different words. After you  

watch this video, try this yourself with a  show you like. Go and watch a few seconds  

on mute. Pause it. Go through all the words  you know that could describe the scene. Try  

a couple times a day to just look around  you and think in English describing what  

you see. It will help you not only think in  English, but discover words you need to learn.

If a word comes to mind that you don’t know  in English as you’re doing these exercises,  

take the time to stop and  look those words up. It’s a  

great way to learn new words because  you’ll have a visual to go with it.

To help build our vocabulary, let’s  go back and watch all of the objects  

again with the name to cement  any new words into your mind.

Conference room

Conference table

Bulletin board

Poster

door

window

People

Chair

Drinks

Donuts

Plate

frosting

Binder

Papers

Napkins

Laptop

Sticky notes

This in the middle is a  speaker for conference calls

Pens and pencils

Water

Man

Woman

Glasses

crumbs

Phone chain

Necklace

Bracelet

Ring

Eyebrow

Nose

Eyelashes

shirt.

New part of the scene,  we’ve got button down shirt.

Can’t help but see his eyebrows too.

Beds,

blankets or covers,

window,

curtains,

bricks,

lamp shade,

headboard,

magazine,

stars,

handbag,

couch,

table.

Earring.

Ponytail

Belt. .

They have backpacks

He’s wearing a sweatshirt.

There are display cases.

Jewelry

Stand

Column

Poster

Frame

Collar

Sweater

They’re in a mall.

In a store.

A jewelry store.

Salesman

Mom

Tracksuit

Mustache

Straps

Clips

Headband

Check out all my videos designed to help  you think in English. They give you the  

tools and the training to increase  your vocabulary and start thinking  

more in English. And please do subscribe  with notifications on. I love being your  

English teacher. That’s it and thanks  so much for using Rachel’s English.