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Do you feel guilty about your binge-watching weekends? Let’s be honest; we’ve all been there! We don’t have time to do our English homework… but we do find time to watch countless TV shows and films on Netflix! Come on, admit it; after all, this TV and movie streaming service may be the sole reason that ‘binge-watch’ was reintroduced as a commonly used verb!

But who says that watching Netflix has to be unproductive? In order to improve your level of English, it is important to constantly be surrounded by English. The special term for this is ‘immersion’, and Netflix is a great way to do it!

Listening Practice

When you keep the audio in English, you get used to the sounds and different rhythms of the language, and you also pick up colloquial phrases and words that are repeated.

Once you get used to it, you’ll never go back to watching dubbed versions again!

Subtitles: To Use or Not to Use?

Yes, you can use subtitles; but English subtitles only! Reading and listening to English simultaneously is the best way for your brain to absorb new vocabulary.

You could also find a film that you love, turn off the subtitles… and re-watch it in English. Relax; you don’t need to understand every single word! Already knowing the plot will help tremendously.

Practise Shadowing

Even if your grammar skills are excellent and you have a huge vocabulary, your pronunciation could let you down when you speak English.

How many times have you heard the phrase ‘repeat after me’ being said in class? Repeating spoken English (also known as ‘English Shadowing’) is an effective technique to improve pronunciation, intonation and overall speaking skills. But maybe you’re searching for some shadowing material that’s a little more exciting. Well, the search is over! Learn to speak English like a native with Netflix programmes!

British or American?

Listening to a foreign language is often quite challenging and demanding. Lots of our students travel to different English-speaking countries and then return… to tell us that they found understanding different accents really hard!

Well, Netflix is a great place to find examples of all of these accents. The more you listen to them, the easier you’ll understand them!

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Embrace the different ways technology can contribute to the learning process. Yes, there are some great free tools and apps out there which can help you make the most of Netflix.

For example, Language Learning with Netflix (LLN) is a free and handy tool that helps you watch subtitles in two languages at the same time. And there's also a pop-up dictionary!

Read Interviews & Reviews

A great way to expand your knowledge beyond a show or film itself is to find online interviews or reviews in English to read. You might even find some YouTube videos, which could work well as extra listening practice.

So, you can turn Netflix into a sofa-based language lab… Who knew! Get ready to binge-watch, grab some popcorn and prepare to sharpen your language skills!

If you enjoyed this post, please give it a quick share on your favourite social media site! Also, if you liked this article, you might also like to read: Learn English easily at home.

Do you use Netflix for language learning? Tell us in the comments below!