Which movie is fine for increasing my english skill?

[eeboot]

Hi,

I like to watch a movie with its english soundtrack so far the movie has one. Of course there a some differences in the difficulty among the movies which is actualy based on the genre of the movie. Action movies like Ramboo get along with just a few very easy sentence. I tried to watch the movie Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio some time ago. To be honest i quitted watching the movie, it was a bit too difficult for me. My main problem was the vocabulary which was largely unknown to me.

So my question is which movie can you recommed for learning purposes. I have no problem in sitting with a dictionary in front of my TV, but I would be happy if I don't have to look up any single word. I managed to watch Oceans Eleven the other day with success if that helps as point of orientation .

I am thankful for any movie tips

greetings

[friendly2004]

Hi eebot

I would suggest to watch TV series. I've been watching Friends recently. Although I have a large vocab there are about 3 - 5 words per season which I don't know. Sometimes I am just too lazy too look them up, so I guess them or don't care. The advantage of series is that they are rather short in comparison to films.

My tip:
write down the words and maybe the sentence or a view cues and look them up after you have seen the film.

I couldn't pause all time and look the words up.

And since you have written them down you can add the German equivalent and use it as a learning aid

[Keswick (Contributor)]

I would NOT recommend any films or TV series that involve slang. The simple reason for it is: slang changes a lot and you certainly want to end up going to the States or to the UK and say things like "it's raining cats and dogs".

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

I would NOT recommend any films or TV series that involve slang. The simple reason for it is: slang changes a lot and you certainly don't want to end up going to the States or to the UK and say things like "it's raining cats and dogs".

@Keswick
Might it not just be possible, Fair Maiden of the North, that thou hast forgotten the little word of blood-red colour in thy comment that is both well-worded and oh so true...

Cheers
Duckduck of the Dark Ages

For all to see, language changes all the time and using outdated slang is "just not done" (to coin a phrase... )
So, I would recommend to watch adaptations of Victorian novels (e.g. Jane Austen, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens etc.) There are sooo many of them and the actors speak wonderful (British) English. Of course some of it is not modern but it helps to get a feel for the language. And if it is American English you're after, try adaptations of American novels of the time.

[Keswick (Contributor)]

@Keswick
Might it not just be possible, Fair Maiden of the North, that thou hast forgotten the little word of blood-red colour in thy comment that is both well-worded and oh so true...

I have indeed forgotten to add this little word you - lovely as you are - have added to my comment which without your correction would not have made any sense... or as a fair maiden from the Northeast would say: it waad not hev made ne sense whatsoever . So thank yee ever so much flower .

[eeboot]

One of my personal goals is not to sound (too) british. I prefer the american english dialect and I am quit interested in increasing my knowledge about "turn of speeches" aka slang expressions. I wouldn't travell to the UK anyway....where is the point in going to country where it rains as much as here ^^?

I would travell to the states, Singapore, .....there are several countrys that has english as offical language and besides of the UK itself they are often characterized by the US-english.

So I am fine with learning US slang expressions.

By the way does anyone know a book that is about (US) english slang expression, but not a dictionary. A book to learn slang so to speak?

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

One of my personal goals is not to sound (too) British. I prefer the American english accent and I am quite interested in increasing my familiarity with "turns of speeches" aka slang expressions. I wouldn't travell to the UK anyway....what is the point of going to a country where it rains as much as there ^^?

I would travell to the States, Singapore, .....there are several countries that have English as the/an official language and except for the UK itself they are often influenced by the US-English pronunciation.

So I am fine with learning US slang expressions.

By the way, does anyone know a book that is about (US) English slang expressions, but not a dictionary. A book to learn slang so to speak?

Well, why don't you just google speaking American slang and see what happens?

Good luck says
Duckduck

[Keswick (Contributor)]

eeboot, let me tell you one thing: learning slang from a book is like readng yesterday's news. Either you learn slang in the States or never. Learning slang from a book is a waste of time because it - as I've already said - changes too quickly to even put it in a book.

[eeboot]

You are propably right, but there are slang expressions which last longer as other one in the language. For example that "Bob Saget" matter i read in a thread here is sure something that will disapear after one to two years, and sure is not worth it to add it to any english book. I would be satisfied if my spoken english is not immediately identifiable as "book learned" english, because I only use typical patterns in my sentence construction.

Writing here sure helps to gain some flexibility in forming own sentences, but the real thing is to apply that in a conversation .

[Delfino]

You are probably right, but there are slang expressions which last longer as other ones.
For example the "Bob Saget" matter, I read about in a thread here, is surely something that will disappear in one or two years, and therefore it is not worth being added to any English book.
I would be satisfied if my spoken English is not immediately identified as book-learned English, because I only use typical patterns in my sentence construction.

Writing here sure helps me to gain some flexibility in forming my own sentences, but the real challenge is to apply my skills in a conversation .

Remember the Americans are not very welcome everywhere these days and being associated with them can backfire.
Although as a very well behaved tourist you'll probably stand out anyway with your selfless actions and charisma towards the locals.

You shouldn't be so worried about others identifying you as foreigner who learned English by reading books.
As long as you speak and write proper (British) English you will be understood even in countries like the Republic of Singapore or the USA.
Some people might even compliment you on your level of English. Try to take the time to learn it properly - including the spelling...
Btw. most native English speakers use short sentences compared to the Germans who use rather complex structures.

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

You are probably right, but there are slang expressions which last longer than other ones.
For example the "Bob Saget" matter, I read about in a thread here, is surely something that will disappear in one or two years, and therefore it is not worth being added to any English book.
I would be satisfied if my spoken English were not immediately identified as book-learned English, because I only use typical patterns in my sentence construction.

Writing here sure helps me to gain some flexibility in forming my own sentences, but the real challenge is to apply my skills in a conversation .

Remember the Americans are not very welcome everywhere these days and being associated with them can backfire.
Although as a very well behaved tourist you'll probably stand out anyway with your selfless actions and charisma towards the locals.

You shouldn't be so worried about others identifying you as foreigner who learned English by reading books.
As long as you speak and write proper (British) English you will be understood even in countries like the Republic of Singapore or the USA.
Some people might even compliment you on your level of English. Try to take the time to learn it properly - including the spelling...
Btw. most native English speakers use short sentences compared to the Germans who use rather complex structures.

I agree with Delfino.
Only living in a country will enable you to acquire at first the language proper and then, as a second step, so to speak, the colloquial and slang expressions. No film will help you, not even 1000 films. It will always sound artificial.
Don't learn slang expressions by heart, they are horrible when they are not natural. I think you can compare it to a person who tries to speak with a certain accent (Saxon, Bavarian or whatever) and simply can't do it. Doesn't that strike you as embarrassing?

Best wishes
Duckduck

[Keswick (Contributor)]

There is nothing wrong with people recognising you as a foreigner who learned their English from books, eeboot. At the end of the day you put the effort in learning their language and I can say that I have NEVER met a British person who laughed at me or frowned at me for making mistakes because they appreciate that I do speak the language in the first place.

[cuce_amber]

If you lack vocabulary, I would recommend watching any (not too trivial) movie with English subtitles. Pronunciation may be improved later on, when you acutally know how to write the words (for example on leo.org, you can find spoken samples). This will help you to develop a feeling for pronunciation and eventually you should be able to correctly pronounce any new word you encounter.

[cuce_amber]

If you lack vocabulary, I would (muss raus) recommend watching any (not too trivial) movie with English subtitles.

Kann man irgendwie die eigenen Beitraege editieren? Doppelposten ist bloed...

[Delfino]

Kann man irgendwie die eigenen Beitraege editieren? Doppelposten ist bloed...

Ja, aber nur innerhalb der ersten 20 Minuten nach dem Posten des Beitrags,
d.h. auch das Editieren selbst muß innerhalb dieser Zeit abgeschlossen sein.
Nur während dieser Zeit ist für den Autor neben den Zitat-Button der Editieren-Button sichtbar.

PS: Du kannst dir übrigens auch während des Schreibens eine Vorschau/Preview anzeigen lassen.