Teaching English Creatively Through Films

Are you tired of teacher-talking?

Looking for other ways to spice-up your ESL teaching sessions?

If yes, include films and documentariesin your classroom sessions. Watching films and documentaries is a fun way to improve English!So, let us go through 10 of the best movies for studying English as a foreign language. There are a lot of ways to use films, television shows and other video clips in your ESL classroom to make it more interactive and creative!

Documentaries and Short Films offer ---

• Motivation to learn
• Give visual context
• Introduce real-life talk
• Develop all language skills
• Fit conveniently into any lesson plan
• Make learning more interesting
• Role play
• Practice vocabulary
• Explore culture
   

Let us look at five great movies that will work brilliantly for ESL classes!

5 Great Movies for ESL Classes

We hope you students will like them ---

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This movie can be a good introduction to reading for substanceby understanding unidentified vocabulary from the framework.Also, it is clear and extremely accessible to children. As most of the 1971 moviesare musical, some students may like that truly, particularly if they learn well through songs, while others may find it a bit cheesy and old-fashioned.

2. The Hunger Games

The books are enormously popular and the movies also have also been amazingly popular with several different age groups.Well, it’s at a good and intermediate level for your learners. Movies are visually striking and they bring the story to life. Please note, this combo includes three books and four movies.

3. The Mirror (Short Film)

The Mirror is a short film by Ramon and Pedro. This tells the story of a young boy’s journey from childhood to old age. It works quite well for getting students-speaking, writing and using vocabulary associatedwith age, face, body, mood as well as actions.

4. Fight Club

This can also be a great way to teach ESL/EFL students to read for substance.The movie also has these refractions, but then again, they actually seem to highlight the “essence.”The story is more of a critique of consumerism, masculinity and contemporary societyreally.

5. The Present(Short Film)

The short film is a mesmerizing short film with a delightful twist by Jacob Frey which deals with the themes of understanding, teenagers and disability.

Apart from the above-mentioned films and short films, you can certainly try them ---

• Soar
• About A Boy
• Holes
• Rumble Fish
• Everything is Illuminated
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• i-Diots
• Fear of Flying
• Toy Story
• The King’s Speech
• Harry Potter
• The Shawshank Redemption
• Forrest Gump
• The Theory of Everything
• Submarine
   

And so on…

Helpful Tips ToLearn English Through Movies

These easy steps will aid you to reach your students and getting everyone involved in the activities.

• Try to choose interesting films
• Avoid movies that are too hard
• Keep in mind the students’ ages and language levels
• Find out if you’re going to use subtitles or not
• Try to think of the thematic direction
• Prepare language and comprehension eventsbefore
   

Final Words

It might be a good idea to start by watching short films if you think films will take a longer time. Also, there are many short films on YouTube. TEFL Course Thailand program prepares teaching professionals to make ESL teaching more engaging and accommodating. All in all, movies and short movies are irreplaceable second language learning tools for teaching a topic while engaging students’ interests.

So, don’t be afraid to use them!