The ONLY 4 TV Shows That Will Make You Fluent

[@storylearning]

Get 4 months extra on a 2 year plan here: nordvpn.com/ollyrichards. It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!

[@MathAdam]

After watching Star Trek in French, I can now say important phrases like “shields up” “red alert” and “evasive manoeuvres”. I’m ready for those francophone Romulans.

[@dominicnault1233]

LOL

[@theliterarytarot]

❤

[@ak5659]

I wonder if I can get Star Trek in Polish.....🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@TokyoXtreme]

I wonder what's the French term for "soliton wave".

[@belstar1128]

@@ak5659 they have it with one of those lectors i don't recommend it. polish people get defensive about it but it really ruins the movie

[@pushthedesign]

I recommend watching interviews, because people speak at a casual pace with enough time to think about what they're saying.

[@60sec_ital_les]

Good idea !👍

[@LanguageMaus]

There is Easy German who does exacty that, interviewing random strangers and turning it into learning content with double subtitles.

[@kianbensend]

@@LanguageMauswhere can I find this? Is this on KZbin?

[@LanguageMaus]

@@kianbensend Yes it's a youtube channel :) (there are others too under "Easy Languages", but the german one has the most videos).

[@elainepotgieter9403]

Great idea! Thanks

[@JasperSynth]

Cartoons are great. And kids programming. Especially when you are at a lower level.

[@williamiversen2842]

I agree. Dora the Explorer may not be something I would otherwise watch, but it got me started pretty well.

[@kianbensend]

@@williamiversen2842I can’t tell if this is joke or a serious statement

[@jimgorycki4013]

Spongebob in a different language is funnier.

[@zengseng1234]

If you’re learning French, and you like cooking competition shows I recommend “Qui sera le prochain grand pâtissier”. The episodes are on KZbin, and they don’t have subtitles so it helped my listening comprehension A LOT! Sometimes they explain what some baking terms mean and I get to simultaneously learn French and learn new things in general! Win win

[@maalmi]

The problem with most subtitles on (especially dubbed) Netflix content is that it doesn’t match the audio. So you’re listening to one thing in a foreign language and reading another 😝

[@heinrichheine8822]

That's true. I guess that the subtitle writers and the dubbers do their translations separately. However there are a few that are the same. For example, I'm learning Russian and both Chaos and Monsters use the same Russian version for dubbing and subtitles. It's worth checking each series.

[@rupertspencer6382]

I'm learning Thai and your comment about the news was spot on. In Thailand they have formal speech (which the news uses) and informal which is how you talk with your friends. If you learn from the news your vocabulary is going to be overly formal for most situations.

[@lynnsee730]

My secret weapon for Italian is the soap, Un Posto al sole. After somewhat less than three years, the stages have been, 1. No clue, can’t get a word, but she is evidently mad at him for some reason; 2. Can pick out a few words; 3. Can follow plot with some holes; 4. Understand most of it; 5. Understand virtually everything including analyzing grammar as it goes by. I usually watch each episode twice, once with subtitles in Italian and once without, but the order varies. I also take scenes and copy the subtitles (correcting them when the subtitles are inaccurate) in column. 1, translate in column 2, make any notes (a new word, a grammar point) in column 3, then several days later cover all but the English column and retranslate into Italian. PS. In the early stages I enjoyed Olly’s short story books and the 30 day grammar topic books.

[@Nancy-sj7yg]

I watched Un Posto al sole for about 5 years! The characters became almost like family to me, and I loved the really out-there plots. When I was watching the soap, subtitles were not available, so I was forced to listen. At first, I didn't understand much, but after a while I could understand nearly everything. I am not learning German and am into Krimis (crime shows).

[@chud67]

I agree. I'm learning German, and have been watching Sturm der Liebe (Storm of Love).

[@shezwood9770]

Ho dimenticato di Un Posto!

[@Sourcoolness]

I watch it sometimes. it reminds me of Home and Away.

[@alicetwain]

Linguistically, Un posto al sole has a major problem for learners: some of the characters speak with a fairly strong Neapolitan accent, and occasionally in dialect.

[@ReinholdOtto]

I activate subtitles in my target language for everything I watch in KZbin. That helps.

[@sabrinusglaucomys]

Woah that's an amazing tip!

[@terryschima4964]

In Japan, I met a girl in the donut shop who spoke perfect American English. I asked her where she learned it so well. Her answer blew me away: the children’s show Sesame Street!

[@LevelUpLanguages-mo3hz]

Disney+ has been my favorite service for learning languages. Disney movies are pretty universal and since the language is meant to be somewhat simpler to understand for all audiences, they make great practice. Also because it's Disney, they tend to pay top dollar for voice actors so most languages are represented pretty well. The Incredibles in Spanish, underrated btw.

[@timothybruggeman9332]

@@LevelUpLanguages-mo3hz I would think that the movie Encanto in Spanish would be amazing. Except, I'm not learning Spanish... 🤣

[@patax144]

@@timothybruggeman9332 it is pretty great specially given there is only 1 Spanish version, Colombian Spanish, with some of the actors reprising their roles, while there is some obvious slang they tried to make it as neutral as possible.

[@LevelUpLanguages-mo3hz]

@@timothybruggeman9332 I've only watched part of it but I remember a colombian friend telling me they liked it.

[@choreomaniac]

And because it is aimed at a global audience, a lot of things are translated into a dozen languages in both dubs and subs.

[@tabruc4186]

@@timothybruggeman9332 Encanto is worth watching in Spanish over English, in general. The music flows better

[@ryanpmcguire]

BLUEY. This is the answer. Basically the perfect show for language learning.

[@danielavolkmann6422]

Good tip. I love children’s cartoons. At the moment, I’m watching Bobo to learn German. He is a lovely toddler!

[@Rumne]

I’m gonna use this 👀 love bluey even tho I don’t have kids and the episodes are short so I don’t have to sit still for too long if it’s an off day

[@rachelledellavecchia4951]

Yes this i decided to learn Mandarin this year and in the Australian ABC kids app they have all Bluey episodes in both Mandarin and English.

[@Ffontibz]

A Palestinian woman who was tutoring me in Arabic had good American English. I asked how she was so fluent in English. Her reply was that she watched “Fresh Prince of Bel Aire.” Apparently Will Smith is a good ESL teacher.

[@Dylan-oy3ch]

🇵🇸 Cheers. May all Palestinians soon have their right to life dignity and freedom back.

[@sputnikone6281]

@@Dylan-oy3ch may all Palestinians be gifted a pager for their birthday

[@DENVEROUTDOORMAN]

​@@Dylan-oy3chnope they have it already and deny it to Isreal

[@DENVEROUTDOORMAN]

​@@sputnikone6281and for all their family too

[@joob40]

​@@Dylan-oy3chThey've had freedom from the beginning. They choose a death cult over prosperity.

[@60sec_ital_les]

Exactly how I do to learn Polish and Portuguese: first watch na episode with subtitles in my language, then watch it again with THAT language. It works great! Thanks for your videos, they’re really interesting 😁😁

[@PetrocaVT]

Do you have anything you could share with me for learning polish!? I can only use Netflix but sometimes the subtitles don't match so it's pretty hard to learn it well

[@60sec_ital_les]

@@PetrocaVT​​⁠ That’s right, subtitles don’t always match. I’ve tried polishpod101 it’s quite cool. Next month I’ll start polish lessons with a tutor. For the rest I use Mondly app and listen to polish radio online while I’m working

[@sophiac8824]

Ah okay that's how you should do it! I was watching the Italian show 'Baby' with English subtitles and then just repeating what they said and ignoring the subtitles but will go back for a re-watch.

[@elag912]

Can I ask why you learn Polish? 😮

[@ak5659]

​@@PetrocaVT-- I read an article recently about how the quality of Netflix subtitles can vary widely depending on who did them. So keep trying diferent programs ontil you find one with good subtitles. One good thing about Polish is that the words are spelled exactly the way you say them. I'd maybe watch an episode in English with Polish subtitles and seee if you can connect the Polish words with English you hear. Then watch it again in Polish with Polish subtitles. Once you're familiar with the characters and general plotline, just watch in Polish with Polish subtitles. This help?

[@artbrutnewyork]

I agree with your 4 categories. However, I find exposure to news programming or interviews gives me valuable vocabulary needed to discuss and understand current events in a foreign language.

[@CowbopBeBoy]

When I was stationed in Germany I used to like to watch the German-dubbed episodes of The Simpsons, because I'd seen them in English so many times and as a huge dork, committed most of them to memory in English. Made it easier to pick up on the German.

[@jackofallgamesTV]

The Bart The .)

[@mrtveenstra]

I did the same thing learning French. It's the only way I could learn French word for "Hillbilly".

[@MaxHohenstaufen]

Before I even start watching this I'll just say: Back in 1998 I had 0 english skills and english class as a foreign language was completely gibberish to me. The regular class with meta-language was useless because I did not even understand much of my own native lang grammar, so trying to teach english by comparison was totally futile. But in 1998 we set up cable TV and I started watching american sitcoms with subtitles. Seinfeld, married with children, the nanny, that one with Tony Danza (where, I still remember, I learned the word "why"), 3rd rock from the sun, that 70's show and, most importantly, *friends* . If I speak english now, it's all on those old shows. Of course much more came later, but I went from knowing 0% english to 60-70% in about a year just by catching up with Kramer and Chandler's antics. EDIT: after watching it, yes, I agree with the principle and the importance of repetition. Much of what I learned is due to that. Sony entertainment Tv and Wrner would show new episodes once every week and reruns of older ones ALL DAY LONG. And as a teen I'd watch or at least listen to much of it. And thanks to that, I can still finish most of friends' punchlines before the characters say them and i know most of all the lines even after over 20 years, during which I spent many without ever wathcing a single episode again. The thought process that goes behind it is beautiful. Every little detail is deeply engraved. I only watched the office recently, but I already know the quirks of them characters voices like the palm of my hand, because I'm so well trained in it.

[@alicearmen5601]

French audio books. I find that better for immersion. Somehow Harry Potter is working for me. I love the books and I know them so well that reading or listening in another language is very fun. Plus people who do Harry Potter in audiobooks tend to have a lot of fun with the voices. Thank you for your channel. I love learning languages. It’s fascinating

[@carrington2949]

Do you think knowing the content in your native language before listening in another language is the key?

[@alicearmen5601]

@@carrington2949 I think it helps with the immersion part. You can relax.

[@patax144]

@@alicearmen5601 I read the books for the first time in French while learning the language

[@KaiOpaka]

I'd love to use French HP audiobooks because I bet they're great for that. I'm trying to figure out how to do that w/o putting $ in JKR's transphobic pocket. (If you either agree with her or believe she's not a bigot, save your breath).

[@carrington2949]

@@KaiOpaka You’re the one who brought politics into the thread though. For future reference if you don’t want political engagement, leave it out. I’m over hearing about it.

[@confidencemagnet]

If you are Anki-heavy and want to find words and phrases to mine, something Im doing is watching a movie with Spanish subs and Spanish audio. If I see a word or phrase I've never encountered, I make an Anki card for it. I do it for 5 mins at a time if there are a lot of unfamiliar words. My main input is passive listening and reading.

[@jichaelmorgan3796]

Watch the same episode over and over again with anki until you have every word memorized (or just high freq words), make note of number repetitions and time. Move on to the next episode, do the same. Note progress.

[@confidencemagnet]

@@jichaelmorgan3796I think the guy from BTS, the K-Pop group did that with the show Friends, but I don't know if he made Anki cards for it. He got the whole series and just kept re-watching it.

[@jichaelmorgan3796]

@@confidencemagnet Oh fr?? Maybe I'll try it with the Spanish version of Friends suggested in the vid.

[@confidencemagnet]

@@jichaelmorgan3796 Friends has 235 episodes. That's a lot of content. If you read books in Spanish, something that works for me is a book series. I'm doing the Harry Potter series (I'm on Book 4 now). The first book is the hardest due to the large amount of unfamiliar words and phrases and sentence structure. It gets easier as you progress through the series. My reading speed is even increasing. I think the next series I want to do is Game of Thrones.

[@jichaelmorgan3796]

@@confidencemagnet Yeah I think those are great ideas! As soon as you mentioned Harry Potter I thought of Lord of the Rings, then you mentioned Game of Thrones haha. Being immersed in a whole world like that in another language is really interesting. Makes me wish I hadn't read them already. Maybe there are some good epic Spanish speaking story tellers we aren't so familiar with. I've considered reading Don Quixote in Spanish, which I'm sure is valuable, but something more modern or a series?

[@nicoperezgalli984]

Hey Olly! First off, love your channel-it's been such a great resource for me! I'm an English teacher, so I’m pretty close to perfecting my American accent, but I really want to nail it to the point where no one can tell I’m not a native speaker. I know it’s mostly about making small adjustments at this stage, but do you have any tips for fine-tuning pronunciation? Thanks for all the great content-you’re a legend!

[@Zomerset]

For Japanese, I have been finding street interviews and podcasts quite useful. You start to pick up on common words and natural ways of speaking.

[@zengseng1234]

Thanks for this, because I couldn’t tolerate Terrace House

[@oliversissonphone6143]

News is great! One narrator speaking to the camera, without other characters interfering. You probably know the context already and if you get a little lost, it's easy to pick back onto what they're talking about. I like Visualpolitik for Spanish.

[@alicetwain]

A trick that I often suggest for Italian (it may work for some other languages as well) is watching dubbed films. We Italians make a huge effort to dub everything, and we have some really good actors working as voice artists for dubbed films (actors like Francesco Pannofino, Anna Proclemer, Anna Marchesini, Gigi Proietti, Giancarlo Giannini all worked or still work in dubbing). Plus dubbed films have the advantage of having the background sounds much quieted down. A trick to helo learn Italian is to watch the Italian dubbed versionof a flim classic that you know very well. Let's say that your favourite movie is Gone with the Wind, and you have seen it dozens of times and can remember all of the dialogues. Watching it in the Italian version you can learn a lot (once you get over the shock of the voices not matching the original ones).

[@CartoonJessie]

For me, my English really developed by watching a ton of Star Trek on the BBC with the subtitles on. It was my biggest interest at that moment and there were 4 shows on per week as I watched. You mentioned that sci fi and fantasy is not great for learning the language but I'd disagree. The moment something sparks your interest enough to rewatch it (like I did with Star Trek, where I sometimes rewatched a good ep 3x a week), it's easy to pick up new words and expressions.

[@spraunts]

A lot of European countries have their own version of TaskMaster. I've been watching the Norwegian version. Not only fun but they are saying numbers and different types of measurements all the time. I also get to hear different dialects.

[@lenamafalda]

I have got so many thoughts to share over this topic! 1) I thank Trinity Blood for introducing me to Buck Tick's "Dress" which I really love. Even though my Japanese got rusty over the years of studying hiatus, I still remember the chorus lyrics and what most words in it mean! I'll start studying Japanese again together with watching anime. 2) Even though I've been studying Korean for some time, I would struggle finding enjoyable content to watch and practise on, apart from BTS shows, because the majority of K-Dramas are in the romance genre and I'm not into this. After a long search I found some non-romance K-Dramas to watch. I will also search for more reality shows in Korean, since I've noticed they entail a lot of visual cues for emphasis that makes practice somewhat easier. I can pinpoint episode 5 of Run Jin as an example of this. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas on this! You gave me inspiration to search for more content to practise and on more languages.

[@alicearmen5601]

I listened to all of Harry Potter in French. Now I’m reading it in Spanish

[@laythadrian5705]

French audio books or the movies?

[@patax144]

@@alicearmen5601 native Spanish speaker, who read the books in French for the first time, but have consumed fan content in both English and Spanish related to the franchise it is really interesting the translations made for English and Spanish, in French they changed more stuff while in Spanish they chose to keep a lot things.

[@kellieflanagan9725]

I started reading HP in Hindi, and I liked seeing that Mr Dursley played tabla on the steering wheel 😅

[@zacharyferreira2469]

You learned how to read Spanish by listening to French!!! That is impressive!

[@matt92hun]

I recently finished reading The Little Prince in French and now I'm trying to read other translations in split screen on my phone, while asking ChatGPT about things I don't get or need help with.

[@nonnapapera3044]

I didn't expect an italian episode 😂 (and didn't expect a mistake in it... You should not use "di" between "hai dimostrato" and "quanto sei egocentrico", maybe this is useful for someone 😅)

[@giuseppeagresta1425]

Ahahahah true

[@heinrichheine8822]

A few observations on why telenovelas, soaps and TV comedies are better for learners: 1. The characters talk all the time unlike in more expensive films where there are usually lengthy periods without dialogue. 2. They rarely have distracting background music which can make the speakers harder to hear. 3. Cheaper sound filtering and editing actually makes the dialogue CLEARER in soaps and telenovelas. - Not sure I agree about the idea that if you are using subtitles that you should use those of the language you are studying instead of English. I know this may seem counterintuitive but consider this. Learners usually cannot read the target language easily which means that their brains end up focusing on the reading task rather than listening. However English subtitles can be read in literally less than a second, giving you the opportunity to understand the gist but also the time to focus on the sounds you are hearing. Obviously though, you shouldn't overuse them.

[@einar7724]

Yes, I very much agree with your opinion on using English subtitles. I've managed to get barely conversational in Persian and watching Iranian movies with English subtitles is very helpful. I am able to quickly read the subtitles and can use the remaining time to focus on the Persian.

[@entropie138]

My friend is inviting me to South Korea this winter. He gave me recommendations for K-Dramas to watch while learning the alphabet and grammar. Currently halfway through Crash Landing on You (사랑의 불시착).

[@habeebah6135]

What are the other recommendations?

[@entropie138]

@@habeebah6135 So far, he only gave me Crash Landing and All of Us are Dead, as to not overload myself. He did tell me Squid Game is overrated.

[@dperrym]

Isn't Crash Landing set in North Korea lol

[@entropie138]

@@dperrymThe story is set in North Korea. Highly doubt it was made in actual North Korea.

[@dperrym]

@@entropie138 right it was definitely filmed in South Korea. I was just laughing thinking about you going over there and using North Korean vocabulary

[@jasonmiller8839]

Let me share my three best TV learning tools. As you said, watch what you like, because you will stay engaged. I love cooking, and I love the Korean language, so there was a series called King of Food that taught me the most. I also watch Kpop videos and KDramas. The second best is when I lived in Costa Rica, and we watched a soap opera called Sos Mi Vida. My Spanish improved rapidly. Third best was watching Family Guy in Spanish. It is twice as funny, and really helped with my Spanish. I am also an Anime addict and prefer to watch in Japanese.

[@patricep2715]

love turkish dizis.. purely watching turkish series for 2 years, i understand and read at b1/b2... when i was a child i learned english by watchnig tv

[@YogaBlissDance]

GUYS LANGUAGE REACTOR IS AMAZING...it can pull a transcript from Netflix or KZbin that you can print or at least have digitally. You can also keep both sets of language on or either one.

[@Itsjustdeenah]

Is it an app?

[@me0101001000]

Technique I use: watch once without subs, with subs + taking notes on unknown words, watch again without subs + reviewing notes.

[@yorgunsamuray]

I tried it with Indonesian. I found the first Indonesian show I could find on Netflix and started to watch. After watching the episode in Turkish subtitles (my native tongue) then I switxhed to Indonesian subtitles but the thing was....they didn't match with the sound. Like most of the slang or the English words they used were written in standard Indonesian.

[@jefflehman5278]

Extra (mentioned around the 6 minute mark) isn't a real sitcom, but an educational series produced by Channel 4 in the UK. They made a version in Spanish, French, German and English, all with basically the same plot and the same male actor. It's definitely worth watching, but not an actual sticom, FYI.

[@alicearmen5601]

La Vie Douce is a good way to learn everyday French as spoken among friends.

[@danrobrish3664]

In certain circumstances, watching news programs can be helpful. For example, when I was studying Spanish in Ecuador, I lived with a host family. We would watch the TV newscast and it would be a starting point for conversation about current events. Of course, I benefited more from the conversation with native speakers than from the newscast itself, but the newscast did start the conversation.

[@faithbwire9164]

Never been happy like today.... this is extremely helpful. Thank you

[@braukorpshomebrew6039]

The 7 minute mark - YES! I understood a reference in a Russian film about Dostoevsky and felt so accomplished.

[@mollyzeidler5494]

I recommend watching vis a vis if you're learning Spanish and you like orange is the new black (English title: locked up)

[@rinotilde2699]

I've seen a few movies in Spanish, I mean, I changed the audio and subtitles to Spanish hehe of course, some Spanish movies also and a couple of Spanish series. YES, I ALWAYS TELL MY STUDENTS OR OTHER PEOPLE LEARNING LANGUAGES TO WATCH WHAT THEY FIND INTERESTING, WHAT THEY LIKE, IT'S MORE FUN AND RELAXED THAT WAY...

[@loremipsum7ac]

My tip for beginners in a language is to chose a show from a different language and select the soundtrack of your target language. These trachs are recorded in sound studios and the voice-over actors tend to articulate words better than the original actors.

[@bhall]

Extr@ is in English, French, German and Spanish. The English version goes on for about 30 episodes. All the others stop around 15 I think.

[@Peggy-f8r]

And the “American” is actually a Dutch actor who also starred in a Dutch version of Ugly Betty. 😊

[@_Rafiki.]

Please share a link if you can. 🙌

[@birgittnlilli9726]

Watching Doctor Who in English with subtitles really excelled my English. Nowadays I prefer watching series in English with subs, mostly the original is better than the synchro. I recently started watching italian series and am searching for good stuff 😊

[@Behold-the-Florist]

I think something that's overlooked is sports shows. I know not everybody is a fan of sports, but if you are, it's a great way to learn the more descriptive verbs of motion, related adjectives and adverbs and collocations related to position and transition. Watching gymnastics or any sport which requires finesse in particular will be helpful as there is more attention to detail. Give it a try if it's an area you'd like to work on. 😊

[@jichaelmorgan3796]

I think watching movies you've already watched many times so you basically know the dialogue by heart, might be helpful

[@machiavelZongo]

i love he is a teacher who is just wonderful

[@Patricio_Marcel]

Spot on! I remember watching a bunch of Spanish speaking series which really helped me on my journey! I watched “el cartel de los sapos” and “distrito salvaje” to name a few. Both were very useful in helping me to really understand Spanish from Bogotá and Cali Colombia.

[@PaulThronson]

Now I'm going to go check out all the recommended programs. I hope they are the best.

[@AngelStickman]

Anime in different language setting is quite useful as well.

[@sport8133]

All true. Listen to this man.

[@Dashdecent]

Maybe it's just a stage I'm going through but I think I'm doing really well listening to speech with target language subtitles until I'm faced with a real person. Turns out I'm getting better at reading my target language.

[@professordianaskole]

I have a PBS passport account. For $5USD per month, I can watch international tv series on demand. If you’re learning English, BritBox might help but keep in mind there are some words they use in the UK for ordinary items that are slang for things you should never say in mixed company in the States. . . I can’t speak French (my youngest daughter accidentally learned French before English, so it’s not like I didn’t try) but I love the show Astrid. I find it helps to watch shows with subtitles in languages you’ll never speak, just to help your ears get used to other language sounds if you don’t live in an area where several are spoken. Watch out those Mexican novelas-- they tend to include words and phrases you can’t use in polite conversation. My neighbor from Mexico told me I needed to stop watch them, when she asked what I learned, and then nearly died when I started rattling off words I’d picked up. . . This reminds me, I got your short stories in Norwegian right before we got Covid back in June and I’d forgotten I had it until just now. Bought it at the Nordic Museum in Seattle.

[@gagszi5850]

Me as a Hungarian watching Olly to pick up more English by educating myself ... and a bit disappointed by the 'Keep English out of the picture' remark. :D:D:D

[@nonnapapera3044]

Same here, as an italian desperately trying to.improve her english :)

[@ak5659]

That's how I feel about Ukranian. Half my family speaks Polish and I studied Russian for years... and years.... Those languages are all related like Spanish, Italiian, and Portuguese.So I can't sit through 'Ukranian 101' for English speakers. I'll slit my wrists, lol. I need Ukranian 101 for Polish speakers.... A bit hard to find in ths US.

[@theblacksun2355]

@@nonnapapera3044 wish luck to all of you guys, keep up the good work💪

[@efuller3333]

when looking for good shows, check if the country or region gives out awards for the best tv. In Quebec, Les prix gemeaux honours the best in French Canadian tv, for instance.

[@julieaskingforafriend]

VPNs don't always work. I'm learning Korean, of course, and Viki, which is THE Korean drama channel, won't allow me access without a VPN, but then scolds me and won't allow me access for having a VPN.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

DVDs are better than streaming services when you can manage it. The reason being that you're not stuck with the subtitles they provide and you can more easily take those subtitles and turn them into flashcards for review between sessions and you can identify what vocab is being used the most throughout the series. Especially the nouns and verbs that carry a disproportionate amount of the meaning.

[@lalaking7974]

Such a fun channel and definitely great tips for my linguistic journey. - I watch plenty of K-dramas/Romantic Comedies in Korean; finished an entire series in Swedish (which was VERY helpful for pronunciation) and plan to check out "Extra" per your recommendation. Thank you!

[@linguist8623]

@Olly: Thanks. As for Russian, Star Media, which is on KZbin, is good for TV shows and documentaries.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It's worth noting that there is a version of Extra that's in German. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGfOmXRumr-UepY

[@1yverdon]

extr@ is available in four languages, including English, Spanish, French and German.

[@kamandi1362]

I work with a Lithuanian girl. I asked how she learnt English. “Watching Friends.” Oddly she doesn’t have that American twang some Europeans have when speaking English.

[@mrtveenstra]

The best TV shows for learning another languages are ones that are repetitive, but interesting. Gameshows, Cooking shows, shows about makeovers, or house renovation, are basically the same episode over and over. Watching one a day is really just doing a vocabulary drill, but not feeling like you are. Also, a cool thing about "Un Gars, Une Fille" is it's a remake of a Québécois show. So you can the hear the same jokes in two different accents.

[@LanguageMaus]

Reality shows are awesome for language learning! you just need to be brave enough to witness not so smart humans engaging in unnecessary drama, odd conversations and questionable behaviours lol. The moments when the participants present themselves and get to know each other are so valuable as learning content (dating shows are especially good). You also get exposed to normal everyday speech and a variety of accents (usually the participants come from all over the country).

[@sawsanalh2802]

The best one is something you love... haven't been able to get into anything in years. Depression does that to you. Guess that's why my progress is shit. Gotta, say, you raised a great point with the documentaries, though. Now that you mentioned it, I did watch a lot of documentaries as a child and my use of vocabulary and grammar in my native language was quite advanced for my age. I should really try this one, maybe it'll help.

[@pixalu]

My French friend learned English watching Friends!

[@sabrinusglaucomys]

I strongly disagree with the advice to watch with subtitles in your target language not your native language. That will help you with learning new vocabulary and making sentence structures more automatic but it will sabotage training your ear to understand the words you already know when spoken at full speed by native speakers, which is the one thing that shows do better than any other method! Put the subtitles on in your native language so your brain has the context to better interpret the sounds you're hearing and just make sure to listen closely and then listen for 100-200 hours and you'll start understanding (almost) all the vocabulary that you know. Then you can switch to target-language subtitles if you want.

[@patax144]

Not me watching the German version of extra for German class

[@MayseSantana]

I was looking for this comment! Did you notice they used the same setting and the same Sam?

[@patax144]

@@MayseSantana yes

[@jackofallgamesTV]

The most obvious format you forgot Is the studio produced non-personality-based game shows. The classic American example is of a kid watching Wheel of Fortune with their grandmother who is from a foreugn nation who learned how to speak English and the alphabet from watching Pat and Vanna. I heard quite a few contestants got on that have a similar story. In the movie splash, Madison the Mermaid learned English by watching the $25,000 pyramid. That would probably be the best FIRST step but admittedly it's not very deep. One time in German 3 I decided to hopefully get bonus credit I made a thing to pick the one vocabulary word I had to define and defining it with only other German words and phrases. No obvious English cognates or just blurting the English word as the definition. Some of these game shows try to get people to say certain words using other certain words in the same language. In pyramid you can play either as The giver where you see the word and try to convey it to someone else only using the native language or you could play the receiver and try to listen to someone describe a word using only words in that particular language.

[@lisamarydew]

I think game shows fall under Reality shows - just like Survivor and other competitive real life shows.

[@BritishBubble-v9o]

I'm Russian и я просто офигела, когда увидела здесь "Кухню", столько раз смотрела в детстве

[@ak5659]

When I have time I watch Disney songs in various languages and match what I hear with what I read. It's easier with the Slavic languages because they tend to be spelled exactly the way you say them. Also, if you have limited skill in several foreign languages you have the option of listening in one and reading subtitles in another.

[@samspetifore9875]

I am studying Spanish. I struggle with programs like 'Narcos' because the characters speak so fast, and it slows down my progress. I like to watch the news in Spanish because stories are quicker, but the reporters are still speaking quite quickly. Nevertheless, they speak clearly.

[@valerietaylor9615]

Spanish is spoken faster than any other language. It's been scientifically proven. 😮

[@АсяШиринова-ч2м]

I remember watching a show in its native language for the first time, with subtitles and A2 level))) Dexter and True Blood in 2009! Watching True blood really taught me how to understand different accents, and not just in English.

[@LuisFernando21Gta]

Forget English subtitles! Me using english subtitles in this video to learn English😲

[@shweefranglais7900]

😁

[@matt92hun]

I think technical content is easier than colloquial content if you're learning a European language. They're usually the same easily recognisable French/Latin/Greek words across languages. Even in something like Hungarian, the sentence "A desztilláció vagy lepárlás egyrészt egy régóta használt laboratóriumi technika." is easier to figure out than something like "Mi folyik itt Gyöngyösön?".

[@alanokamura6250]

Great advice! Hey, any show recommendations for learning Italian?

[@vidorizkyp674]

I'm here from one of your books. I've finished it. Do you have other books similar to intermediate?

[@vyprrgirl3012]

When I was in high school, a parent of one of my classmates said she learned English from Sesame Street and the Electric Company on PBS in the 70s after her American husband insisted they move back to his hometown from Mexico City.

[@TechDaddyFr]

Any show recommendation for Brazilian Portuguese? 😊

[@Itsjustdeenah]

I haven’t seen any on Netflix but try lingopie

[@dafreakingusername]

Any recommendations for German?

[@mollyzeidler5494]

I also have subtitles on everything I watch in my target language even if it's an English show

[@Doing_Time]

It is SO hard to find any entertaining fiction, particularly intelligent comedy (my favorite genre), in anything but english.

[@jennyh4025]

Which languages are you interested in?

[@Doing_Time]

@@jennyh4025 primarily russian, german, spanish, filipino, swahili

[@Doing_Time]

@@jennyh4025 german has pretty good kids shows and documentaries and comedy is okay, russian I watch a lot of youtube pranks and most tv stuff is dark, swahili I've found almost nothing, spanish tv tends to be soapy and other hispanic tv the humor tends crude and a bit infantile, filipino shows tend toward cheesy soap and the comedy tends to be extremely infantile... not criticisms of the peoples in general, just really hard for my personality to watch intently

[@jennyh4025]

@@Doing_Time 😄 for German I would have suggested some children’s tv shows to begin with (the average age for people watching „Die Sendung mit der Maus“ is 40 and I am one of those adults as are my parents) and maybe some more light crime shows (e.g. old „Mord mit Aussicht“), everything by Loriot (one of Germany’s greatest artists) and news for someone who knows more than a little bit of German.

[@Doing_Time]

@@jennyh4025 thanks! I've been watching sesamstrasse, die fixies, and kikaninchen...

[@pedro-ehlamaar8084]

I bought your french and spanish books its funny im watching your channel and ive had before and never realized

[@MrBrianYoutube]

Я сейчас изучаю Русский, et j’apprends le français

[@What_Is_Wonderland_Anyway]

As a French, I would never think to refer to Vanessa Paradis as "Johnny Depp's first wife"... 😅 so it took me seeing the picture to understand who he was talikng about

[@shweefranglais7900]

In English one says "As a French woman/ as a French man/ as a French person "( not just "As a French") Just a bit of help ( I assume you are learning English)

[@Quinkerbell_3604]

In English, one could also say “As someone French” or, more accurately, “As a French speaker” 😊

[@What_Is_Wonderland_Anyway]

​@@Quinkerbell_3604 "as a French speaker" wouldn't be more accurate since I mean as a French citizen from the country of France since I don't know/am not sure a person from Québec or Bénin would not know her more as Depp's first wife instead of, say, Joe le taxi or her movies. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@What_Is_Wonderland_Anyway]

​@@shweefranglais7900 duly noted thanks

[@u_ok]

"Кухня" is actually not that bad, it's very popular among native Russians and you could talk about it with Russian fans of these series:)

[@coltonmykael]

Do you advice against watching English shows dubbed in your target language? I've seen The Office so many times I know so many of the lines.

[@tiffanimilburn8885]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good German show? Or should I watch a show that I’m already familiar with in German. Since I’m blind, when I do watch something in German, I watch it with the German audio description.

[@borneoorangutan]

i have heard that Germany is particularly good at taking foreign media and dubbing it into German. Good as in the dubs are of high quality. Which means if you can find the German version of famous movies (probably childrens stuff will be easiest) then that is a place to start.

[@glantch]

I've got two German shows I absolutely loved: The first is Dark. That's the name, not a description. It's a mind bender about a small German town where reality is broken, and all kinds of crazy things happen. It was a huge hit for his reason. Another one I found on Netflix is called Kleo. It's about a young woman raised in East Germany, and the action takes place around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. She becomes an assassin and it's very over the top. Full of action and lots of plot twists. The second season dropped about a month ago. Loved this show and I gladly watched it a couple of times, just like with Dark. Oh, and the music in both shows is fantastic. Enjoy!

[@lukejm5721]

Berlin Berlin is pretty good

[@tiffanimilburn8885]

@@glantch thanks for the suggestions. Dark is a good show. I’ve been enjoying that one. I haven’t seen Kleo, but I’ll check that out.

[@MayseSantana]

He talked about Extra in Spanish in the video, which was a huge surprise for me, who watched the German version of it! They even used the same setting and the same actor for Sam, the American visitor. So, my suggestion for you is Extra, but the German version of it. I'm not sure if you'll find it with audio descriptions, though.

[@pohlpiano]

And if you happen to be a member of a multilingual family - your own Family Reality Show!

[@SuttonShimai]

The very first time I watched a telenovela in Spanish, I saw two women yelling at each other and one of them yelled, "¡Estoy embarazada!" (I am pregnant!) I just rolled my eyes and said, "Yup! It's a soap opera, all right!"

[@davemoney6713]

I watch Caso Cerrado because all of the scenarios are 100% real and true stories.

[@sonyas.1124]

I can talk in Spanish but have not learn to read Spanish. I have been trying to learn. Also I have Dyslexia..

[@coasternut3091]

What if you hate reality shows and sitcoms? There are very few shows that I enjoy and I feel like they're too complicated for my current level

[@My_Navigator]

as a norwegian who has watched that show it is extremely weird and funny but give me stomach pain for how things turn out for many things

[@JulianaLimeMoon]

Correction on a minor thing: Lori Anne Allison was Johnny Depp's first wife, before he was even famous; he and Vanessa Paradis were never even legally married.

[@Tanjutsu4420]

use tv as the Rosetta stone got it

[@charweb31]

Another catch to subtitles, they often don't exactly match the spoken words, especially if you are watching a dubbed show where the voice actors are scripted to try and match the lip movements.

[@victorjackson150]

I found this interesting. Unfortunately, I did this for. Chinese. After two years of watching Chinese shows, I have become very god at reading Chinese and now love to read Chinese books. BUT I cannot speak or even understand spoken Chinese.

[@placebo6956]

Same thing happened to me. 😅 When I went to a language school in china my teacher would say something and I'd have no idea what she'd said, but then she'd write the hanzi on the board and I'd be like "oh I know that word!" 😂

[@centralcommittee4458]

I had a similar experience, but I don't think it's completely useless for improving listening. Those of us who get better at reading while watching are also the people who are doing the hard work of learning characters. We're also seeing them fully pronounced, especially given that Chinese subtitles are almost always identical to what's said on screen (no rephrasing).But it's true that you begin to recognize real life doesn't come with subtitles. 😅 So I've added a lot of podcasts and try to keep the subtitles off when they're soft.

[@victorjackson150]

@@centralcommittee4458 I agree. It wasn’t useless. I did not mean to imply that. I have spent years walking around with a notepad writing what I want ti say and asking the person. To write the response because life doesn’t come with subtitles. In mainland China, I ran into the problem that many cannot read or write. However, I am putting a lot of effort into listening and speaking with conversation partners.

[@hayabusa1329]

Strange. Speaking is much easier than reading

[@tatianahoggarth108]

The crucial thing is to watch sth you're interested in. Period.

[@nsevv]

oily richard, books are good but very oily.