19 Most Common And Useful Chinese Idioms (You Can Actually Use)
Do you know what Chengyu means? Well, if you aren't a Chinese learner, you probably don't know.
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Do you feel exhausted from doing exercises in English, practicing grammar, and reading pronunciation rules repeatedly?
No matter how much you like learning English, sometimes it can be quite exhausting.
You often catch yourself dreaming of coming home, taking a seat on the sofa with a cup of tea, and just watching TV.
And then, you get back to reality and realize you have to study.
We’re going to tell you one secret: you don’t have to dream of the cozy sofa and TV anymore, nor you have to give up learning English.
You can learn English with TV series.
Yes, you’ve read that right.
Watching sitcoms can actually help you with English. You can expand your vocabulary, improve your listening skills, learn slang words, and so on.
Besides, it’s way more fun that way.
Can you think of any entertaining American sitcom?
Of course, you can.
But, can you think of at least 7 of them?
Get ready for some of the most exciting American sitcoms that can help you learn English.
Let’s dive in.
The 7 Must-Watch American Sitcoms to Learn English
Generally, all sitcoms have realistic contexts of English.
Thanks to these American sitcoms, you have the opportunity to master words and phrases that are used in everyday conversations. Not only can you expand your vocabulary, but also improve your American accent as well.
As fun as sitcoms can be, you have to take a break. While you are resting your eyes, you can practice conversational skills with English tutors to make sure you’ve got all that right.
Friends
Everyone has heard of one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, Friends.
Even though this TV series is no longer being produced, you can find it online in several countries.
About the sitcom: Six main characters, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler, and Joey, are friends who live in Manhattan, New York City. They show you their everyday lives, their daily struggles, ups, and downs.
They hang out all the time in a coffee shop, Central Perk, in their neighborhood.
The sitcom is full of fun and humor, and once you watch it, you will come back to it over and over again.
How ‘Friends’ can help you with English: All the characters use English full of humor. The jokes are evident, so it is perfect for those who don’t speak English perfectly.
You can also learn the conversational language and many words and phrases that are used in real life. Conversations between characters are slow and precise, so you won’t have a problem to understand everything.
Sex and the City
About the sitcom: The show follows four best friends, Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte, in Manhattan, New York City, where they live. All four have entirely different personalities, but that doesn’t stop them from spending every free minute together. They are in their 30s and they all have a sense of fashion.
Carrie is the leading character, a columnist and journalist who writes articles about love, relationships, and sex.
Even though this American English series talks about love, it is also about relationships, sex, and it humorously breaks many taboos.
How ‘Sex And the City’ can help you with English: The show is fun and straightforward, so you don’t need to concentrate on it too much. It is one of those sitcoms you sit and relax with.
The characters use simple English, their phrases are clear to understand, and you can see everyday dialogues used in different situations.
How I Met Your Mother
This American English TV series is available to watch on Netflix.
About the sitcom: This is a hilarious show, with Ted Mosby as the main character.
The story is a little bit weird because it starts in the future in 2030. It gets back to 2005, where Ted tells the story to his kids about how he met their mother, his wife.
After college, Ted’s best friend got engaged, which made him think about finding his true love, getting married, and having a family.
Every episode is related to the final story of how he met his future wife, so every character in the sitcom is somehow connected to that.
How ‘How I Met Your Mother’ can help you with English: If you want to understand how Americans go to date, fall in love, behave in relationships, you can find all that here.
The show uses a lot of humor from everyday language, and you can hear many words and phrases repeating, such as ‘awesome’ or ‘legendary.’
That 70s Show
Even though the last season of this tv-series was produced in 2006, it’s still quite popular.
About the sitcom: At first sight, it’s one more typical American teenage comedy. But something that makes it different from others is the period. The show is set back in the 1970s, the time of peace, hippies, and rock music.
The main character is Eric, an American teenager living with his parents. His friends, Hyde, Fez, Kelso, Jackie, and his girlfriend Donna, are a group who spends most of their free time hanging in Eric’s basement.
How ‘That 70s Show’ can help you with English: The show is full of humor but, on the other hand, it shows real problems and the lives of teenagers.
This sitcom can show you that making mistakes while learning English is not so terrifying. One of Eric’s friends, Fez, a South American exchange student, is the perfect example.
Grey’s Anatomy
For those who like everything about medicine and doctors, but also for the others who think that they are normal human beings with their everyday lives and problems, Grey's Anatomy is the perfect match.
About the sitcom: The story follows the main character, Meredith Grey, through her residency in the Seattle Grace Hospital, her training, her ups, and downs until she becomes one of the best general surgeons.
With 16 seasons, 17th aired this November, this medical sitcom is one of the longest, most popular, and best English series of all time.
What is even more appealing is that the characters in this show move along. Some of the main ones even die, others show up, but it's always exciting. Meredith Grey is in the show from season 1.
How 'Grey's Anatomy' can help you with English:
Even though characters use medical terms that many language learners don't quite understand, conversations between them are natural.
They speak slowly and clearly.
Besides the fact that you will learn medical phrases, you will improve your listening and conversational skills thanks to different situations.
Desperate Housewives
If you are looking for drama, and then more drama in a fun way, you should watch Desperate Housewives.
About the sitcom: The story takes place in Wisteria Lane, a street in the suburb of the fictional town Fairview.
The show begins with a narrator, a woman who killed herself in the first episode. It follows women's everyday lives and struggles, the narrator's friends. Even though all these characters seem to love their families and have perfect lives, it's only on the surface.
Many secrets that come out through the sitcom, drama, love, affair, and crimes that happen in Wisteria Lane will make you want to watch it over and over.
Things you can learn: This sitcom is among the rare ones that use colloquialisms and idioms. Therefore, you don't want to miss the chance to learn English idioms with so much drama.
The language used is ideal for every proficiency level. Not only will you learn many idioms, but you can also hear informal speech and some famous sayings such as 'I want to take a rain check.'
The Big Bang Theory
Nerds are going to take over the world. But in the right way.
So, it would be best if you watched this sitcom. But, let’s first see what it is about.
About the sitcom: Group of friends, scientists, work together at the university. Every one of them is doing different researches and experiments.
Besides being physicists, the two of them, Leonard and Sheldon, are roommates as well. Their two colleagues, Howard, and Rajesh are proud to be nerds as well.
This sitcom is about how scientists and nerds live their everyday lives, along with their problems, ups, and downs.
One day, Penny, who is working as a waitress and has nothing to do with science, moves across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. Even though she’s the complete opposite of them, Penny slowly becomes a part of the gang.
Things you can learn: If you are interested in science, thanks to this sitcom, you can improve your vocabulary with science words and phrases.
Don’t let the word ‘science’ confuse you. Besides using science words, conversations between them are clear, so it’s pretty easy to understand.
While you are improving your English listening skills, you can see that nerds can also have fun.
Final Thoughts
Learning English with movies and sitcoms is excellent. Not only can you practice English in general, but you can also choose which of the English variants you want to improve.
Sometimes it can be hard to understand some phrases, especially if they are from a specific field, such as science, medicine, etc.
You can write them down and search for them in the dictionary, or you can ask for help from an English tutor. With tutors, you can also practice those phrases until you master them.
Happy learning!
