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Hi, / I'm Jennifer, / certified English teacher / and communications expert. /
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In today's video, / I'm going to share 3 tips /
on how to understand English movies. /
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At the end of the video, / I'll share with you / a bonus exercise /
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that you can do / to instantly improve your listening skills. /
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Alright, / let's get started. /
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Tip 1 / Listen for the Main Idea /
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So / let's make it simple. /
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When / you're listening / to an English movie, /
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you don't need to understand / every single word /
in order to understand / the overall idea. /
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And in fact, / this is / how native English speakers / watch movies. /
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I don't listen to / every single word, /
and / I don't understand / every single word. /
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In fact, / many times / when / I'm watching a movie, /
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I'll turn to my friend / and I'll say: / "what did they say?" /
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What did they say? /
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And / my friend will say. / "I dunno." /
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We both didn't hear / what they said. /
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Now, / do you think /
we're going to pause the movie, / rewind, / turn on subtitles, / or start saying... /
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Ohh / I guess / we'll never know / how to do it. /
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No, / of course not. /
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You know / what we do. / We keep watching the movie. /
We don't care. /
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The only time / I would remind the movie is /
if it was the vital moment. /
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They just revealed / a big secret or a big plot twist /
and / I didn't understand. /
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That's the only time / I would rewind / and listen again. /
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So / don't worry / if you don't understand / every single idea. /
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But / you should be able to follow / the overall plot. / The overall movie. /
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If / you're watching a movie / and you realize / you don't understand it, /
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well then / likely that movie is just too complex / for you / at this time /
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and / I would suggest / stop watching it / and try something different. /
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Or / try a short TV show instead. /
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Tip 2 / Don't Rely on Subtitles /
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Ok, / subtitles are a band-aid fix. /
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Which means / they don't actually solve the problem, /
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they just temporarily cover up the problem. /
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But, / your problem is, / you're not able to understand / fast English, / natural English. /
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When / you use subtitles, /
you're actually not improving / your listening skills anymore. /
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At that point / you've switched /
and / your brain / is now focusing on reading. /
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Your brain cannot focus / on two different things / at once. /
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So / while / it's focusing on reading, /
it is not focusing / on your listening skills. /
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So, / to be honest, /
I think / relying on subtitles / is the worst thing / you could do. /
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And / it doesn't solve the problem. /
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It's an easy fix, / a quick fix, / but not a long term solution. /
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Because [ the reason / why you want to understand English movies ]
is so you can also understand / fast paced English conversation. /
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Because / the language they use in movies, / is the same language /
that's used in everyday situations, /
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like a business meeting, / ordering food at a restaurant, /
going to a networking event. /
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All of these / use the same style of English / in movies. /
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So when / you're at a business meeting / you cannot ask for subtitles. /
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When at you're at a restaurant, /
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you cannot ask the waiter / to write down everything / they're saying /
and give it to you. /
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So because of that, / don't rely on subtitles. /
It doesn't solve the problem. /
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Tip 3 / Practice with Short Clips /
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Because / I said / you can't rely on subtitles, /
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at the beginning / watching a 2 hour movie /
is probably going to overwhelm you. /
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It's just too long. /
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It's too much practice. /
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It's like if / you were starting to speak English /
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and instead of just having a short 30 second conversation /
you gave a 2 hour speech. /
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That's just too much. /
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It's over whelming. /
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So instead, / find a short clip / on YouTube. /
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So / maybe it could be the movie trailer. /
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The movie trailer / is going to be about 3 minutes long /
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and / it's going to be a combination / of graphics and speaking /
so / that 3 minutes / is not speaking the entire time. /
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Or / you can just watch a clip / of an older movie / that's now posted on YouTube /
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and / just watch a very short portion /
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And at that point / you can watch it again and again / and really study it. /
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And become familiar with / the type of language / they're using. /
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Listen for the expressions. /
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Listen for the pronunciation changes. /
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Hear those reductions. /
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And from there, / if / you can understand a short clip, /
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there's no reason / why you can't understand / longer and longer clips. /
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But first start small, / become comfortable / with the style of English /
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and work your way up / towards longer and longer clips /
until / you're finally able to watch / a full movie / without subtitles /
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and be able to understand / the overall idea. /
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That's your goal. /
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Bonus Exercise / Transcribe Short Clips /
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Ok, / this is the best thing / you can do / to improve your listening skills. /
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Step 1 / find a clip on YouTube / that uses natural English. /
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So / a fast paced clip. /
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I recommend / using the TV show "Friends", /
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because / there are so many different Friend's episodes / available on YouTube /
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and [ the language / they use in Friends ] is the same language /
you'll hear / in everyday English. /
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Step 2 / Listen to 10 seconds of the clip. /
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That's it. / Just 10 seconds. /
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But step 3. /
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Write down exactly / what you hear, / word for word. /
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That's transcribe. / Transcribe the clip. /
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Write it down / word for word. /
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Listen to the prepositions, the pronunciation changes, / get everything. /
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And step 4, / is listen again and again / until / you have the 10 seconds. /
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You're not going to be able to transcribe / a 10 second clip /
the first time / you watch it. /
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In fact, / when / I do this exercise, / with English clips, /
it takes me 3, 4, 5 times / to hear every single word. /
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And then, / step 5, / is turn on the subtitles /
and see / how close you were to the actual clip. /
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And then watch again / and listen / along with the subtitles. /
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So / you're listening to subtitles / as practice. /
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It's OK / to use subtitles / when / you're practicing English, /
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but not in a real situation /
when you're just watching a movie / for a leisurely activity. /
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That's / when subtitles do more harm / than good. /
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But / when you're practicing, / absolutely use the subtitles. /
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Do this exercise / every single day. /
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It will only take you 5 minutes. / But / you're going to learn so much. /
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Your brain is going to pick up /
on all these pronunciation changes, / expressions used, /
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you're going to train your ear / to hear the natural reductions, and the expressions /
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and / it is such great practice. /
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And / it only takes 5 minutes. /
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So there / you have it. /
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You're well on your way / to understanding English movies. /
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Just listen for the main idea, /
don't rely on subtitles, / and start with short clips. /
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And then to practice, / every day / spend 5 minutes / transcribing clips. /
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Alright, / so I'm dying to know. / What's your favourite English movie? /
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Let me know / in the comments. /
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If / you found / this video helpful, / please hit the LIKE button, /
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share it with your friends, / and of course subscribe. /
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Thank you so much / for watching / and until next time, / happy studying. /