Real ESL

Today I want to talk about the value of television (the value of s.t. = the benefit of s.t.) (s.t. = something).

But first, I must start with a confession: I’ve always been anti-TV (anti- s.t = you don’t like s.t. or you disagree with s.t. or you think it’s bad in some way). I think it can harm creativity (harm = hurt) and get in the way of people becoming successful (get in the way of s.t. = stop s.t., keep s.t. from happening). And don’t even get me started on how bad it is for kids (don’t even get me started on how … = don’t let me start talking about …). Why do you think Americans are so fat? Oh, wait a minute, (wait a minute = oops, I made a mistake, let me stop myself here) I’m supposed to be convincing you to watch TV!

For ESL learners, English television is very helpful.

You may find the following story hard to believe, but it’s true. I had a student from Brazil who didn’t take any English classes, but she became nearly fluent in English while she was living in Brazil. She didn’t have any English-speaking friends or any opportunities to speak English. Instead, she did it by sitting on her sofa, watching television.

When she came to my advanced English class at Kaplan in Westwood, she took the practice TOEFL for her first time and she aced it (to ace a test = to get a top mark, to score high). I asked her how she did it.

She told me she was a couch potato in Brazil (couch potato = someone who watches television all day). She watched English television for about six hours a day. She put on the English subtitles (subtitles = words at the bottom of the screen) and looked up all the words she didn’t know (to look up words = to check for the meaning in a dictionary). She repeated words out loud (to say s.t. out loud = to speak it so that people can hear). She practiced the vocabulary by having conversations with herself.

No, she wasn’t a big loser (a big loser = a person with no friends). She was a really neat woman (neat = cool, fun). I’m sure she could have been going out, partying and having a good time. But she chose to learn English.

That’s all it is: a choice.

Go for it! (Go for it = do it!)

Kim