Learn English having fun
Studying and learning English is often hard. Complicated grammar, tedious rules, thousands of words to memorize. It will definitely be better if made fun. I offer a few tips to learn while having fun.
Hollywood Films
Start with the movies that you already know. Watch them in English, with Italian subtitles at the beginning…the second time you watch the film (yes, you should cover the same movie several times) try it with English subtitles. Keep a notebook nearby to take note of the new words and phrases or write them on your smartphone. Where to find movies? On digital TV it is possible to change many movies into English using your remote control. I noticed that fewer Rai programmes offer this, while Italia Uno (for example) often does. Clearly a subscription to Sky or Mediaset Premium will expand the possibility to listen to films in English. Alternatively you can buy a DVD from www.amazon.it. If you want to learn the language used in the movies you can browse www.eslnotes.com where you will find many notes about so many good movies targeted at students of English.
Cartoons
If Hollywood films are too difficult try watching a cartoon. You’ll find many on Amazon. There are loads of good ones, here are some of my favourites: Dogtanian; Thundercats; Inspector Gadget; Dungeons & Dragons; Mysterious Cities of Gold; Around the World in 80 Days with Willy Fog.
Laughing with Laurel and Hardy
Loved by the Italians for their cute English accents, Laurel and Hardy, are still great at making people laugh.. Known by their surnames, you can always find them on Amazon, for example in this box. What’s good about these films is that dialogues are slow and simple. There are also some films on YouTube such as this one.
Songs
Nothing more fun than singing your favorite songs in English – while learning at the same time. Clearly you have to really learn to structure everything (taking note of new vocabulary and also grammatical structures and anomalies). But fun makes everything easier. My article Learn English by listening to music lists sites that help you in this endeavor.Spotify is a new and very effective tool (read more in this article). And if I had to choose I would listen all the Beatles songs (see the article that explains how to learn with the Beatles).
Magazines and Gossip sites
Do you enjoy reading about the private lives of celebrities and famous people? A nice way to improve your reading skills (and acquire new vocabulary) is reading some gossip sites. Usually the language of these sites is quite simple. A site that talks about Hollywood (uncovering all the dirt!) is Perez Hilton. A similar one is The Hollywood Gossip. The British gossip magazine (which is a ‘bit more classy’) is Hello Magazine. Another UK one is Now Daily.
Youtube
On YouTube a film clip leads to another. This is good if you watch them in English and exploit your fun to improve your English. There is everything on youtube (just do some research). If you want movies specifically on learning you can view my site TuttoInglese (I’m redoing the site at the moment- please be patient!). Enjoy!
