LCD TV / Laptop / Desktop PC
You can use them to watch your favorite movies. Make sure you
really like the movies, because it would take a few times watching them. If it
is an English speaking movie, watch it once with the subtitle in your mother
tongue. Make sure that you enjoy and understand the plot. Next time you watch
the movie, watch it with the English caption turned on. Since you have
understood the story, you can use the dialogues (and captions) to help you
learning on how words are used, written, and pronounced correctly.
Subtitles are available in *SRT (for Laptop / PC) and *ASS format
(for LCD TV) and can be easily converted using [Save As] command in Notepad.
Make sure you put the subtitle file in the same folder with the video file. It
is recommended to have your video file in *MKV or *MP4 format since they are
widely used for movies and can be read by most gadgets.
There are some modifications available when you reach more advanced
level. You can go to the next level by eliminating the first step and start
watching movies only with its English caption. Or you can watch a foreign movie
(which is not in English, neither in your mother tongue) and relying on the
English subtitle to enjoy it. For more challenges, you can directly watch
English speaking movies with no subtitle.
To train your English pronunciation, you may add JARVIS--not
exactly like Tony Stark's digital assistant, but close enough--to your Windows
7 / 8 systems. Read the tutorial here or here for the Indonesian version.
Smartphone / Tablet
First, the simplest thing to do is to set your phone language into
"English". By doing so, you will be accustomed with simple command
and phrases in English. You can also do the same thing with your email and
social media accounts.
Next, it's time to maximize your apps. Please install a dictionary
app to your smart phone. For the beginning, use the "English-to-Your
Mother Tongue" dictionary app. It will translate English words to your
native tongue. When you feel you have improved your skill, change the app into
an English-to-English dictionary. This means, English words will be explained
also in English.
Game Consoles (e.g., PlayStation, X Box, etc.)
Some tips in this category can also be applied in PC
or smart phone-based online games. First, it is quite similar with the tip in Smartphone/Tab
category, set English as the game language.
Last but not least, you can expand your inventory of
words by playing RPG (Role Playing Games) in English. This is actually comes
from a personal experience. When I was in my early teen years, I was crazy
about a farming-themed RPG called “Harvest Moon”. It was published on Sony
PSX/PS-One. This kind of game usually contains a lot of dialogues.
So what do you think? Are the tips useful for you?
Do you have your own tips? Let me know :)
An Indonesian man who loves to learn new things. Teaches English for living, and lives to teach English. Resides in his rough but loveable Jakarta
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