English television shows are a great way
to learn English and maybe there's
a new English TV series that you're about to watch.
In this English lesson, I'm going to tell you
about seven things that you should do
before you watch that TV series.
When you do these things before you watch the TV series,
it will make it easier to understand,
I guarantee you will learn more English words
while you're watching the TV series
and I think it'll just make it a more enjoyable experience.
(upbeat music)
The first thing you should do before watching
a new TV series is go to YouTube
and search for a trailer for that TV series.
A trailer is a short introduction
to the series you're about to watch.
In it, you'll find out about the location of the show.
You'll find out about where it takes place.
You'll be introduced to some of the main characters,
and you might even learn some of their names.
When you watch the trailer,
it helps you to be more familiar
with the show when you start watching it
and this will help you understand more
about what's going on.
So the first thing you should do, go to YouTube,
search for a trailer, watch it,
and get introduced to the show.
The second thing you should do is go to the Wikipedia page
for that TV series and read the premise.
The premise is again, another summary
of what the show is going to be about.
It's usually one or two sentences long
and most TV show Wikipedia pages have that section.
The premise will tell you a little bit, again,
about the location and the characters,
and maybe a little introduction to the plot.
The plot is what the story is actually about.
So the second thing you should do, find the Wikipedia page.
You can do this in English or in your own language,
by the way, find the section labeled "Premise,"
and read it over and get an understanding
of what the show is going to be about.
The third thing you should do is write down
the names of all the characters in the show.
You can actually find this information on
the same Wikipedia page where we found the premise.
Usually if you scroll down a little bit,
there'll be a section with all the names.
If you're lucky, there will even
be small descriptions of each character.
So take some time, find a pen and a piece of paper
and actually write down the names
of every single character that's in the show
with a little description behind them.
Then when you start watching the show,
you'll already be familiar
with the people who are in the show.
You'll know some of their names.
You'll know a little bit about what they're all about
and what they might even do based
on the descriptions that you read.
So number three, write down a list
of all the characters that are in the show.
The fourth thing you should do is you should
read a description of the first episode.
Don't read a description of every episode,
but if you scroll down even further on
the Wikipedia page for the TV series you're
about to watch, there will probably be
a section where they describe each episode.
Read the description for episode one.
The reason I don't want you to read all the
other descriptions is I don't want you to read any spoilers.
Spoilers are when you find out things about a TV series
that you didn't want to find out before you watched it.
I mean, it's nice to know some things before you watch it,
but you do want to be surprised
while you're watching it as well.
So the fourth thing you can do
and you can consider this one optional,
scroll down a little further.
Find the section where they describe each episode
and read the description of episode one.
See if you can get a sense
of what happens in the first episode
before you start watching the whole series.
The fifth thing you should do is you should
learn some vocabulary based on the genre of the TV series.
Here's what I mean by that.
If you're going to watch a fantasy TV series,
learn about swords and dragons, learn all the words
you would need to know to watch that type of show.
If you're going to watch a TV series
that is science fiction, learn about rockets
and planets and all the words you would need
to understand when watching a science fiction show,
or if you're watching a TV series
that's based on a little bit of romance,
learn about love letters and holding hands
and some of the words and phrases
that we use in English when we talk about love.
So the fifth thing to do before you watch a TV series,
make sure you know some of the words, phrases,
the vocabulary that you'll need to understand the show.
The sixth thing that you can do before watching a TV series
to learn English, watch the first episode
in your own language if that's possible.
If you're watching the TV series on a streaming service
like Amazon Prime or Netflix or another one,
usually you can change the language.
When you start watching a series,
it's important to get a good understanding
of the characters and the location and the story.
Watching the first episode
in your own language can really help.
If you do this though, make sure you rewatch episode one
in English before you continue with episode two.
So anyways, another thing you can do
to improve your understanding of a new TV series,
watch the first episode in your own language.
The seventh thing you can do is you can write down
what you think the TV series is going to be about.
I know this sounds a little strange.
You haven't watched it yet, and I'm asking you to write
about it, but this kind of gets your brain ready.
If you've already watched the trailer
and you've read the premise on Wikipedia,
this will be a little easier.
But take some time to write down what you think
will happen in the TV series, what you think
certain characters will do, even if you're wrong,
it just helps your brain to get ready
to watch the entire TV series.
So number seven, take some time, sit down,
write down what you think it will be about.
Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson
about things you can do before you watch a TV series
so that when you do watch it, you can understand more
and that it can just be a more effective tool
for your English learning.
Remember, if this is your first time here,
don't forget to click that red Subscribe button.
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and if you have some time, why don't you
stick around and watch another English lesson?
(upbeat music)