The Best 2020 TV Shows to Learn English
As an adult, learning English isn’t always about memorizing rules from a textbook. If you want to improve your conversational fluency, then watching movies or television might help a lot.
With TV shows, I even see some advantages over movies and documentaries. There are many different episodes and seasons, which makes it easier to get used to a character’s accent. Also, TV shows can really draw you in (=capture your attention). They are engaging, and it can be hard to stop watching the show. That’ll make it easier to stick to (=continue with) your practice.
To boost your English listening comprehension and vocabulary, you should approach this systematically. For this purpose, I have designed a method that will take you to the next level:
Watch movies, documentaries and TV shows with English subtitles.
Alternate (=switch) between different types of TV shows and movies.
Take notes while watching TV. Write new words and expressions into a notebook specifically for your English practice.
Review your vocabulary the next morning. Revisit the vocabulary every couple of days until you are comfortable with it.
Be selective! Watch TV shows, movies, and documentaries that cover topics that interest you and/or focus on everyday life.
Watch TV in your own language with English subtitles. Take notes here as well.
Build sentences with the vocabulary, send the sentences to your English teacher, coach or trainer for corrections and clarify if you used the vocabulary in the right context with the appropriate tone and connotations. Remember English is very contextualized. You always need to make sure that you use the vocabulary correctly.
Now, read on to learn what TV shows are on everyone’s mind in 2020 so that you can be part of the U.S. zeitgeist (=current discourse/debates/themes in society/pronounce the “z” like an “s”) and improve your English at the same time.
Mrs. America (Hulu) - This series tells the story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and the unexpected backlash through the eyes of important women leading the movement at that time.
The Plot against America (HBO Max) - This dystopian (=the opposite of “utopian”) show presents its viewers with an alternate American history post-World War II told from the perspective of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey.
Ramy (Hulu) tells the story of Ramy Hassan, a first-generation Egyptian-American, who is trying to find himself.
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu) -this show, set in Ohio in the 1990s, follows the intertwined (=connected) stories of a seemingly perfect family and a mother and daughter who move into their neighborhood. This miniseries explores themes like art, identity, motherhood, and the weight of secrets.
High Fidelity (Hulu) - A record store owner in Brooklyn revisits past relationships in this romantic comedy series.
Hollywood (Netflix) - Post-World War II, aspiring (=wanting to succeed) actors and filmmakers are trying to make it (=succeed) in Hollywood.
Unorthodox (Netflix) - A young woman in Brooklyn escapes from an arranged marriage to Berlin where she is trying to find her own voice and build a life for herself. (I included this show because I highly recommend it. It is, however, not only in English but also in Yiddish, and German).
Self Made (Netflix) - This series tells the incredible (=amazing) story of Madam C.J. Walker, the first African American self-made millionaire.
The Morning Show (Apple TV) - This show explores the challenges faced by women working in morning television while examining the effect of the #MeToo movement on their perceptions of how they are treated, how they relate to other women and their male colleagues.
Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens (Comedy Central) - This series centers around the struggles of young adulthood experienced by Nora and her friends in Queens, NY.
