Learn English at home

Watching TV and listening to radio are good ways to learn English. Many of the programmes are available online, to watch (or re-watch) at a later time. You can use subtitles to read the dialogue being spoken by the actors.

Here are some tips for learning or improving your English by watching TV:

• Watch something that interests you – you are more likely to pay attention to something you already enjoy than something you do not enjoy!
• Find a programme that matches your English level. You may want to start with children’s TV shows, especially if you are helping your children to learn English.
• If you have seen a film or a TV show in your own language already then watching the English version (with or without subtitles) might be a good idea.
• Watch the news. A lot of news channels repeat the same stories throughout the day, which you might find helps you understand the English being used.
• Use subtitles to help you with reading English, as well as listening to the speech.

Here are some tips for learning or improving your English by using radio, other audio services or podcasts:

• Listen to something you enjoy!
• You can listen to the radio on most mobile phones, or online, for free. This means that lots of people can listen to the radio wherever they are.
• The BBC Sounds website allows you to listen to the BBC Radio stations live, or at a later date.
• If you are listening to music on streaming services, such as Spotify or Apple Music, lyric catalogue services such as Musixmatch can show you the words or lyrics to songs. This can help you when you are listening to music.
• There are lots of podcasts that can help you learn English. There are too many to list here, but you could start with the British Council Podcasts | LearnEnglish or the BBC’s Learning English website. The BBC site includes scripts for the podcasts, which can help with your English.