The Maple Leaf Rag
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Canada
November 21, 2007
I was talking to a friend of mine at work on the weekend. I asked her how she had learned English when she came to Canada. Her native tongue is Portuguese, she is from Brazil, and I was curious about how she learned English.
She told me that she first tried to watch CNN but the titles at the bottom didn't always match what was on the screen. Finally, she tried the 'closed caption' setting on her TV set. This is the one that is for people who are hard of hearing. Titles are on the bottom of the screen which, more or less, match the words of the speaker. Well, if seems this didn't work quite as well as she had hoped. It seems she was watching regular shows.
At some point she decided to watch children's television and it was all very cool from then on. The children's shows use easy words and the sub-titles are excellent and move along with the words the speakers are saying. She found this to be the easiest and most efficient way to learn English. Once she got a start, and could listen to the flow of the language, she found it so much easier.
I've suggested watching movies before, with the sub-titles turned on but maybe, if you are just beginning, kid's shows might just be the answer. Check it out. I know, I know the shows are silly and basic but that's a good place to start. Later on, you can move on to something more age appropriate.
Keep it up! You're better than you think !
(I had to edit the first post because of a SPAM comment. Oh do I hate SPAM!)
More entries: A New Year, New Ways to Learn (1), English sucks...but don't give up. (6), Learning English is never easy, but it's worth the effort. (4), Easy English Stories, English vocabulary - another way to learn (1), A Shit of Paper (3), Break a leg - another English idiom. , Repost: Are all Chinese girls lesbians? (3), How language affects your life. (3), Chinese Writing (5)
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06:00 AM Nov 21 2007 |
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DS
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Thank you to take time to help us to improve our english (there is a lot of "to" in this sentence)by your suggestions and your videos (i watched only one, i will watch the others later). I discovered that my english is not as bad as i thought cause i undrestood all what you said in your blog (may be i didn't undesratand 2 or 3 words),it's a great feeling You use easy words and i like that. Thank you again. |
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04:53 AM Nov 21 2007 |
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yoyi0124
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