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Does Watching English Shows Help Improve My English?

October 24, 2019 • written by Kevin Olega

If you have an hour or two of TV time a day, I always recommend watching English over Filipino shows.

Many Filipinos watch local TV like telenovelas and song and dance shows so they don’t really pick up anything useful from these shows.

You want to watch shows that inspire you to work and be a better person.

I appreciate Japanese shows including anime because their core values are present in their entertainment.

Even as a foreigner, on almost every show, you see them exhibit the following:

Do your best and work hard.
Don’t blame anybody but your self for your circumstances and failures.
Be considerate to others. Do the right thing. Follow rules.
Back up your ambition with initiative. If you want to accomplish something, do something and back it up.
Have integrity. Keep your promises.

These are what I have at the top of my head.

And sure…

Watching English movies help BUT NOT LIKE YOU THINK.

Let me say that again…

Watching English movies and shows can help but not as much as you think.

If you’re a child, watching movies build vocabulary and improve familiarity with English but if you’re an adult it doesn’t do shit.

I’ve been helping people get hired in their dream jobs for over ten years and I’ve met people who watched hundreds of English movies and TV shows and their English is shit.

If you want to improve your communication skills, you want to spend more time communicating in English with another person.

When I say communicating, it means speaking and writing.

And that’s reality.

It’s not all just watching.

It’s like learning boxing or martial arts.

You can watch as many Manny Pacquao fights and Mike Tyson fights as you want. You can watch all the UFC and MMA fights on YouTube but if you don’t go to the gym and learn how to punch or kick, and actually punch or kick, you won’t be able to do anything in a real match.

And that’s why only one of twenty Filipino applicants pass the initial interview.

Because they saw Avengers and Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and Friends and How I Met Your Mother and Game of Thrones but couldn’t do any of the following.