Here are ten great British TV shows that you can watch to improve your English.
Watching TV shows is a great way to learn English because we get exposure to new and
very interesting vocabulary. We get to hear different accents and we also get a great
opportunity for listening practice. And I think it's really important that you guys
get exposed to modern English. The kind of English that you are going to hear if you
come to visit Britain.
Alright, let's straight to number one.
Number one, The Great British Bake Off. This is a competition in which every week contestants
have baking challenges and they are judged on the quality of the food they make. It's
fun, it's light-hearted and it's very funny. Three reasons that it's a great programme
for you guys to learn English. First of all you have a variety of accents from all around
Britain so that's really interesting to see how people speak in different parts of Britain.
it's a very contemporary show which means that all the contestants and all the people
in the show are using modern English. And because it's a competition they are using
very natural English because they are reacting to things and they are giving their opinions
and they are talking about their feelings. And it's all very natural. So you are going
to be exposed to phrases and vocabulary and utterances that are very natural. It's also
quite an interesting insight into British culture and the kinds of foods that are popular
in Britain and also just where people are from. So you'll get to know people from different
parts of Britain which I think is interesting.
Alright, the next one is Black Mirror. Now this is a science-fiction TV series that looks
at modern society and how technology is used and it's pretty dark but it's also really
exciting. So this is maybe not one for kids, this is probably quite an adult TV series
but it's really good. Now the reasons why I think it's great for learning English well
because it's so well-written there's some fantastic conversations and dialogues that
I think are really worth listening to. I also think that it's a really thought-provoking
TV series. It makes you think about topics to do with technology and the future and with
that there's lots of interesting topic vocabulary. So vocabulary relating to social media and
to technology, you are going to hear a lot of that so if that's something you are interested
in then this is the perfect TV series. Now because each episode is totally different
you are going to get exposed to a variety of accents as well so that's again, a really
big bonus, is the variety of different types of English you are going to hear.
Another cooking programme but this one is different! This is Jamie Oliver. Now Jamie
Oliver is an internationally known British chef who is hugely popular around the world.
Now the reason I think it's great for you guys is, well a couple of things. He speaks
really informally, his English is very informal so you are going to be exposed to a lot of
British slang phrases. Now he's from Essex which is a county to the East of London and
his pronunciation reflects that. So for example he won't pronounce some /t/'s in the middle
of words for example he'll say water instead of water which I also sometimes do. So you
are going to hear that kind of pronunciation which I think is fascinating. You'll also
get a great amount of food vocabulary, you'll get interesting verbs. He also uses interesting
adjectives to describe his food. So there's a variety of interesting English that you
can hear when you are listening to Jamie Oliver. Also you get to learn how to cook some of
the most delicious food so that's kind of cool. Also Jamie Oliver is a really good Ambassador
for Great Britain and British culture so you are going to get a lot of that in his TV shows.
This one is X Factor. Now X Factor is the most popular singing competition I think on
British TV. Now why I think it's so good for learning English is a couple of things. First
of all, for each contestant they always go and tell their story about how they got to
this competition. So where they came from, what they used to do as a job or what they
still do as a job and the story about how they came to X Factor. Now in these stories
you are going to be hearing narrative tenses, lots of past tenses, past perfect, past simple
and that's a really great way to kind of pick up on how to tell a story. How to bring emotion
in to your English as well. Now it is a very emotional TV programme and you are going to
hear lots of natural exchanges between the contestants and the judges so again lots of
natural English, opinion phrases, adjectives. So there a lot of really interesting English
that you are going to hear. Also it's a really insight into British culture so you are going
to hear lots of British music, you'll obviously see the fashion, the clothes of the contestants
and you'll also get again a variety of accents because the competition goes around Britain.
So sometimes they are in Liverpool, sometimes they are in Birmingham, in London so you are
going to hear a variety of accents again. Plus it's quite fun. It is quite a fun show
yeah, I think you might enjoy it. Now just to remind you guys, you can find a lot of
these shows on YouTube. Even if it's not the full episode you'll get clips and I know for
a fact that X Factor has it's own YouTube channel and there are loads of videos on there
that you can watch and follow the show. So you don't need to watch the whole episode
you could just go on YouTube and check out their channel there.
The world's most famous detective Sherlock played by Benedict Cumberbatch. This is a
classic TV series and I'm sure you are probably familiar with it. So what you've got is fantastic
vocabulary and conversations that are really funny so really playful with the language.
You've also got it set in modern London which is fantastic, so you get to see London and
also again a variety of accents because there are different characters coming in so yeah
again, variety of accents that you are going to be exposed to. Plus it's extremely thrilling
so you are going to want to watch not just one episode but another one and another one
and another one. We call this binge watching. If you just keep watching the same TV show
just the next episode and the next episode it's to binge watch. So I'm going to predict
that you will binge watch Sherlock once you start watching it.
Another competition, this time a dancing competition. Strictly Come Dancing. The reasons that I
recommend this one is because A it's really fun. I mean it's just a fun show. If you love
music and you love dancing, you'll love watching it. Secondly once again you've got natural
reactions to the things that are happening in the show. So you'll be exposed to natural
English once again. So whether that's the judges giving their opinions or the contestants
saying how happy they are at doing the dance. Whatever the reaction is you're going to hear
it as being quite natural. Maybe they are going to stumble on their words, maybe they
don't think of the right words, maybe you might even hear some grammatical mistakes
but that's natural English. So that's why I think it's really great for you guys to
watch these kinds of reality TV shows because yeah, you are going to hear really every day
English.
Ok this is the first comedy programme I'm recommending. Now generally i don't recommend
watching comedy in another language because comedy is a really cultural thing and I think
so much of what one culture finds funny, another perhaps won't do. However, having said that
I think Peep Show is, it's a really good programme for a number of reasons. First of all, it
is funny, I think it is funny and I think that humour can translate, you know, to different
cultures. The idea is that it's two men in their thirties that live together and they
have very different personalities and it's their lives and how they interact with the
world. They get into all kinds of adventures and mishaps, it's the relationships they have
with other people and yeah it's a good programme. The English that you'll hear is pretty clear.
I mean they are very clear in the way that they speak so that's really good. I think
you'll be able to understand them pretty well. The vocabulary that they use it's contemporary,
it's modern English. Now it can be a little bit rude so you want to be careful if you
are watching it with children you maybe want to think about that. But yeah, it's very clear
English and it's very modern and contemporary English as well. And I think it's quite funny,
maybe you'll disagree with me, I don't know, check it out. It's on YouTube, it's on Netflix.
It's from Channel 4 so yeah check it out, see what you think. It also kind of shows
the boring side of living in London. They live in a London suburb and their lives are
pretty boring so it's kind of interesting to see that side of Britain as well. Britain
and London isn't just Big Ben and Tower Bridge, it can be boring suburban lives as well.
The complete opposite to Peep Show is Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey is hugely popular around
the world. I'm sure you have seen it or probably heard of it at least. So Downton Abbey is
set in the early 1900s. It's a historical drama, so it's the life of this aristocratic
family in their home and then it's kind of compared. So you have this aristocratic family,
a very rich family living upstairs and then the servants living downstairs. So you have
these two different worlds and how they interact. It's obviously not contemporary English so
in that respect some of the vocabulary and the way they speak maybe isn't how we speak
now. However, it is a really interesting show and you're going to get lots of interesting
dialogue, conversations and again a variety of accents you'll hear as well. So I think
it's worth watching and certainly it's a very popular TV programme so even if you just watch
it because you love it, more than anything else then that's perfect.
This one is a personal favourite of mine Planet Earth. Now specifically I want to talk about
the narrator of Planet Earth David Attenborough, or sorry Sir David Attenborough. Now he is
considered in Britain to be a national treasure. He is someone that everybody respects and
everybody loves. I've been listening to his voice every since I was a child, he narrates,
well he has narrated every wildlife programme I've ever listened to and his voice is so
comforting and soothing. It's like the grandfather that you never had. Now Planet Earth is, I
think, one of the greatest TV programmes of all time. And it looks at different aspects
of the world and the nature that lives in each one so it could be the jungle, the desert,
the seas. And David Attenborough, sorry Sir David Attenborough narrates the stories of
these places just absolutely beautifully. His vocabulary is incredible. The way he delivers
his sentences are so clear and it's with such grace and charm about them. Yeah, it's worth
watching Planet Earth just to listen to David Attenborough. Now I think the vocabulary can
be quite difficult sometimes so subtitles are a really good idea and you don't need
to understand every word with this because he uses a lot of technical vocabulary to do
with the animals and to do with wildlife. I don't understand a lot of them but that
doesn't matter, that's not what we are doing. We are matching some of the most incredible
sort of cinematography with his voice and the way he speaks. And I think that's worth
watching just in itself.
And my final one. Now I've given you a variety of TV programmes. We've had reality TV programmes,
we've had natural history programmes, we've had comedy. This last one is a bit different.
It's two programmes that I want to kind of talk about and you can choose which one you
prefer. One is Made in Chelsea and the other one is The Only Way is Essex. Now these are
structured reality shows so they are presented as being reality but they're not. Why do I
think these are really interesting for you guys to watch? A couple of reasons. First
of all you have Made in Chelsea which is a group of young, beautiful rich people in West
London. And then with The Only Way is Essex you have a group of young, good-looking people
from Essex, which is, as I said before, to the East of London. And they are very different
social groups so that's a really interesting thing to begin with. Is that you are going
to get an interesting insight into British culture and these different types of people.
Also you're going to get really fascinating vocabulary. So the difference of vocabulary
they use, it's very modern but it's not something you are going to find in your English language
course book. So I think that's great, to expose you to really fascinating vocabulary, phrases,
idioms, slang, all that kind of stuff, it's going to be there. You're also going to get
very different accents. So over in Chelsea you're going to get very posh, received pronunciation,
very very, almost upper class accents. In Essex, in The Only Way is Essex you're going
to get Essex accents which is very different. So the variety is fascinating to watch. So
I think it's an interesting way to look at British culture and the language as well,
in two very different shows. Now, I'm going to say now I don't watch ether of them but
I know that if I did start watching one of them I might get a little bit addicted. So
that's maybe why i don't watch it so i don't get addicted to them.
Alright, so those are ten of the best British TV shows that you can watch to help you learn
English. Now of course there are so many more. I've left out so many TV shows that you could
watch and of course I've left out all the American ones. There are some amazing American
TV programmes that I think would be fantastic to learn English. Obviously I've just focused
on the British ones today because I teach British English but I think I will try and
do an American English one as well at some point because there's so much great TV to
learn from. If you have enjoyed this video guys please give it a big thumbs up, share
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word and help as many people as possible to learn English. Thank you so much for watching
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Subscribe so you don't miss any of them. This is Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye!