How to use TV and movies to improve your listening comprehension in Spanish, (and not get frustrated

OK, so you are on this quest to sound more like a native speaker of Spanish. You probably thought that the more you watched TV and movies, the more it would help you with your fluency. So you decided to pick a Spanish speaking channel and turn on the news. What? It’s a nightmare, it is too fast, you have no clue what they are saying or what is going on. So out the window goes your idea of watching TV to help with Spanish. How frustrating! Now what?

As a child, the way you learned and improved your vocabulary in your native language was by hearing adults speak, watching TV and reading things. So why watching TV does not seem to help or why acquiring another language to a near native level seems an impossible goal? Sometimes all you need is to organize your approach.

I have suggestions on how to go about using TV and media to aid you in your Spanish learning project. Don’t think of watching a movie in Spanish as watching a movie for entertaining purposes. Not that it won’t be enjoyable, but it is not your only goal, your mindset has to be that of a motivated learner.

First things first. Try watching a children’s show. It might sound silly or even boring but give it a try. If you are a beginner, the simple vocabulary and hand gestures will help you understand most of it. Once you have watched enough Plaza Sesamo (Sesame Street) or some other similar program or even your favorite childhood cartoons, you are ready to move on.

Take another couple weeks to progress to the next stage. Choose any sitcom you have already watched, maybe some simple comedy episodes. You know who the characters are; you know what is going on. Watching TV for language acquisition is not about trying to figure out too many things at once. So avoid new plots and new characters, at least for now. The physical comedy and your own knowledge of the particular show will help you figure it out and fill any gaps in meaning. It is a good opportunity, since you have watched this before, to sit back and relax, and just focus on how the familiar lines are said in Spanish. Hopefully you will pick up a few new words too!

So, you graduated from the sitcom phase, now what? My suggestion is try some action/adventure movie. Maybe something that you have watched before but at any rate, make sure it is mostly action, lots of running around, car chases, shots fired, things being blown up and not very long and complicated speeches. You can indulge in a new release you haven’t watched before if you see you are making good progress.

Now you are ready for drama. (Or romance if you are a chick! ;)) Once again, try starting with a familiar movie, a familiar plot. And watch a number of these in the course of a couple of weeks. You can even consider it homework! At this point if you haven’t done it before, it would be good to watch a couple of times any movie that you found a bit difficult. The second time around you will understand more words. A good idea is to jot down not only the new words you have ´discovered´ but also any expressions or words that you haven’t quite understood, to ask your teacher the next time you meet.

Ok, enough drama. Here comes a real challenge. Murder mystery/police type movies. Again, pick something you watched before, or at least an adaptation of a book you read. Here you will hunt for clues; you will rule out suspects, explanations are longer so it gets more complicated. Don’t feel silly to choose a movie in which you already know who did it. You will have enough new Spanish words and expressions to make it interesting. Be a language detective! Write down words as a detective writes down clues.

Now try watching the news. But first, watch the news in your own language. Choose an international edition, world news. So you know what is going on in the world? You have all the context you need? You are probably ready to watch the news in Spanish, again, international version. So it’s not an information issue if you miss something.

This approach is all about making graded steps, going slow, transitioning to different genres while learning a varied vocabulary. Always make sure you are not making it more difficult for yourself, so keep the topics familiar, the context easy. And be patient….so what if you have to watch a scene all over again? You are using media to learn, so remember to pace yourself and you will see progress!

Some extra tips:

• Try switching the settings of your cellphone to Spanish. If you panic you can always revert the process ;)

• You like reading the news online? Try Spanish newspapers instead. Make it a morning habit to read 5-10 minutes worth of news in Spanish. If you did not understand all of the headings, you can check it out afterwards with your regular newspaper.

• We all Google. When you look for information, whenever possible, choose the search words in Spanish. Read the results in Spanish. Get used to reading a bit of Spanish. Get familiar with the vocabulary. As with the newspapers, you can check the English version later on.

• You like cooking? Look for a recipe in Spanish. Follow directions; learn about ingredients and procedures in Spanish.

• What about YouTube tutorials? Try watching a DIY project or a short tutorial about your favorite hobby in Spanish.

• You prefer reading, but you are not ready to tackle a long book? Try a comic or children’s books.

I have designed a course for adult learners based on watching movies and media, that helps acquire fluency and listening comprehension, for all language levels. If you like watching movies, you will love this way of learning Spanish!

And if you try any of these tips or my advice above, I would love to know how they worked out for you. Let me know if you have come across difficulties and I will give you more ideas on how to progress. I hope to hear from all of you and help you in your Spanish learning!