LISTENING PRACTICE WITH FILMS 1

Good morning everyone. Happy New Year! I hope you had a good weekend and a great holiday season!

We would like to start off the new year by giving you some learning tips related to listening. Specifically, this week we will review some of the key things to keep in mind when watching films to better improve your listening skills.

Watching films or television programmes is a good way to practice your listening comprehension. Digital TV, DVDs and the Internet are all sources of English-language programmes and films that usually include options to watch in English with subtitles.

Students sometimes say to me, "I watch films in English but I understand very little! I have to read the subtitles." Well, it's not necessarily a bad thing to read the subtitles while you are watching, especially if you just want to enjoy the film. However, if you want to use this time to conscientiously improve your listening skills, it can help to have clear objectives when you watch.

Over the next few days, we're going to look at some different objectives and strategies you can use to help you improve your listening comprehension while watching films in English. Let's start today with some simple suggestions for observing to eventually improve your pronunciation.

Objective: Careful observation of films in order to improve your pronunciation in English

Strategies for watching:
Listen and observe. Babies learn to speak by observing other speakers for a long time before they start trying to speak. Adult language learners can do the same! It's important to spend time listening to English so that you get a feel for the sound and the rhythm of the language. What can you do when you are watching films in English?

-Pay attention to the intonation. Notice which words are stressed. When does the tone of the voices go up or down?
-How do the actors sound when they are expressing different emotions? Do they sound different when they are being polite?
-How does their intonation change when they are asking questions?

Listen and observe these things the next time that you watch a film.

We'll continue with this point tomorrow. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, I hope to see them in the Daily Vitamin Section on our website.

Have a great day!