Practice English with Netflix in your free time and at your own pace
Practice English with Netflix is a great way to improve listening skills and get used to different accents and registers in English. Okay, you may think that watching series in the original version will be very difficult and that you prefer not to make the effort and watch your favorite series and movies in your own language.
However, I assure you that once you get used to watching them in the original version you will never want to watch them dubbed again because the naturalness, intonation and part of the realism is lost with dubbing, no matter how good the dubbers are!
Read on to discover some tips, tricks and tools to practice English effortlessly by watching your favorite series and movies on Netflix.
If you feel like practicing English with Netflix in an alternative way and you live in Barcelona, sign up for our English screenings with a discussion afterwards,contact FunTalk for more information!
4 basic techniques to learn and practice English with Netflix
1. ALWAYS use English subtitles. If your level is still very basic you can use Spanish subtitles, although I do not recommend it because no matter how basic your level of English is, you will be surprised by the amount of vocabulary you will understand. 
You can also use the online tool Fleex, as I will discuss below.
2. If you are one of those who (still) watch the series in Spanish, change the language to English as well. The combination of “Reading” and “Listening” simultaneously is a great exercise. Even if you don’t always understand the dialogue, you’ll see that you won’t lose the thread of the series thanks to the images and everything you’ll understand.
3. One of the advantages of practicing English with Netflix is that you can repeat the parts that you did not understand well and that are key to the understanding of the chapter or movie as many times as you want. I know that when you’re watching something, it’s hard to pause the video because you want to know what’s going to happen next, but just do it! Stop the video and watch again that important part that was not clear to you and this is where you have your chance to learn new vocabulary.
4. Use the dictionary. Important point, especially to support the previous one. You don’t even have to have a pencil and paper next to you anymore. Grab your Smartphone or Tablet, open your text editor and create your vocabulary list there for each series you watch. Use Wordreference or other good online dictionaries to look up the words you do not understand. For series with very informal use of language or a lot of slang, use the Urban Dictionary.
To use Fleex you will have to register but it is easy to use and recently they have expanded their offerings to platforms such as Youtube and TedTalks.
Fleex as a complement to practice English with Netflix
This Chrome extension is the perfect add-on for those of you who want to learn or practice English by watching Netflix series and movies. Fleex is an online platform designed for language practice with Netflix through the customization and adaptation of subtitles.
Once the extension is installed, Fleex takes care of controlling the subtitles displayed on the screen and adapting them to the user’s English level by displaying subtitles that the user can understand. It can also set learning objectives and offers the possibility of consulting the meaning of words and expressions in the dictionary in real time.
Some recommended series or movies to practice English on Netflix
While the amount of material on Netflix is overwhelming, if you want to practice English with this tool, I recommend that you choose a series by looking at, apart from the content and your tastes, the accent, the register, whether a lot of slang is used or not, etc.
I’m sure you’re not short of material but here are some series recommendations for those of you who want to practice English on Netflix:
British English: Black Mirror, Downtown Abbey, The Crown, Sherlock.
North American English: Modern Family, How I met your mother, Stranger Things
American slang: Orange is the New Black.
Different accents: Sense 8.
Always remember to check the age rating for each series! And that’s it, you can now use Netflix in the most complete way and combine entertainment and learning, just the way we like it at FunTalk!
If you liked this article, share it on social networks and I remind you that in FunTalk we have screenings in English with subsequent discussion periodically in our center in Barcelona. It’s the perfect activity for those of you who want to practice English with Netflix while socializing.
Contact FunTalk for more information!
