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One of the most effective ways to learn English online can also be one of the most enjoyable. It’s simple, fun, and free.
Would you like to know what it is?
Do you like watching TV or videos? Just about everybody does. But you may not know that there’s a little trick you can use to turn your TV or video viewing into a free English lesson.
It involves turning on the “Closed Captioning” feature to bring up subtitles on the screen. The closed captioning (“CC”) button or icon looks like this:
You’ll find it on the bottom right of the YouTube video player, or on the remote control for your TV. If you turn this on when you’re watching an English-language program or video, text corresponding to the spoken words you’re hearing will appear on your screen just below the picture, like this:
When you follow along by reading what you’re also listening to, any new vocabulary you encounter has a better chance of taking hold in your memory. This trick effectively reinforces the acquisition of new words in your brain by giving you a “double whammy.”
There are millions of videos available online for you to watch. Choose instructional videos in a subject area that already interests you, such as fashion, cooking, sports, gardening, gaming, or technology. You could also watch favourite TV dramas or comedies with captions, or music videos with the lyrics on the screen. If you’re already enthusiastic about a topic, it will be easier for you to pick up vocabulary related to it.
Try pausing and repeating sections of the video so you can speak along with it. Pay close attention to how the speaker pronounces the words as you read along. The combination of reading, listening, and mimicking words is almost like having an English tutor right there beside you.
Closed captioning was originally intended to assist people who have hearing difficulties, but it turns out to also be an excellent way for students of English as a Second Language to learn new words.
Why don’t you try it for yourself?
Photo credits:
Photo 1: Image by Jermain Allen from Pixabay
Photo 2: Wikimedia Commons
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Photo 3: Oregon State University on Flickr CC BY-SA-2.0