Learning English From Documentaries
What comes to your mind when you turn on your television and a documentary comes on? I know quite a few people might feel like they just found a rare gem, but the reality is most people would show little to no interest or simply watch for a few minutes and switch channels almost immediately when they find there’s no exciting drama or action they can see in movies and television shows.
However if you sit down and quietly enjoy a documentary, you will find that if it’s critically acclaimed they can be really fun to watch, especially if you’re looking for a good way to learn English.
Hence, next time do give documentaries a try when it comes on your television set, especially if they’re anything that’s mentioned here in this article!
March of the Penguins:
This 2005 documentary is most famous for it’s narrator: Morgan Freeman.
This legendary and acclaimed actor agreed to narrate this thrilling yet educational documentary and it ended up being a hit the moment it was released and it was once of the most viral documentaries in recent history. This has even received an academy award for best documentary in 2005! What made this so successful was the fact that it was a guaranteed fun time for all ages, yet at the same time it was informative and it helped Antarctica and the emperor penguins gain so much more attention and love it deserves.
So it for all animal lovers out there, what are you waiting for? This one is the one you definitely can’t miss!
David Attenborough TV shows:
Perhaps you don’t enjoy sitting through a few hours of film to watch one documentary and you feel like you are not going to learn much. Well, don’t worry because BBC natural science shows will always get you covered.
With their legendary broadcaster and narrator David Attenborough, his voice is instantly recognisable and his shows cover a wide variety of natural science topics. From Tropic rainforest in Amazons, to jungle life all around the world, David Attenborough will get close to all these creatures and wonderful wildlife to narrate to you his first hand experience to make you feel like you are present there.
His most famous TV show on BBC, Planet Earth, is so inspirational and viral that it inspired thousands of people to film similar content, especially after the show the number of nature documentaries have been constantly on the rise.
OJ Simpson: Made in America
If you want to find the thrilling and excitement of a crime-solving drama in documentaries, OJ Simpson: Made in America will definitely suit you.
This American football icon committed a crime in 1990s and due to inconclusive circumstances, he was ruled as not guilty and it was a shock to the whole world, as it was more than clear that he committed the crime. After 20 years, this film is created to revisit the case and to investigate the circumstances and everything that happened. The informative yet chilling style and the fact that more and more stories were uncovered led this documentary to an Oscar academy award for best documentary this year.
This trial reflected a lot about the 1990s, American culture and thrilling crime stories, so if you enjoy knowing about the three categories mentioned above, go for it!
Citizen Four:
Edward Snowden might seem a bit distant in our memories as it was a few years back, but the information he revealed still keeps a large population of human beings awake and angered at the scale of the monitoring of government. As a global citizen, even though the NSA was only spying on its own citizens, we should still be concerned. It also a lot more related to us than we think, as for one Snowden revealed his identity and information in Hong Kong, the reporters he gave the information was also based in Hong Kong and he even found shelter with refugees in poorer areas of Hong Kong!
Citizen four captured all these moments; from his decision to steal the information to the revelation to how he avoided escape, not only does this documentary provide us with a context of the society but at the same time, it’s a nail-biter if you are rooting for Snowden to make it out safely.
Food Inc.:
Last but not least, you might be aware of issues of food production, but believe me when I say this documentary will shock you with the extent of the horrific situation of your dinner and how the process beforehand is gruesome and terrifying.
Its slogan is: “you will never look at your dinner the same again” shows you how powerful this documentary is and by looking into America’s chain production of poultry and food, it inspired a lot of advocates and activists to do something and raised a lot of awareness that this problem actually exists.
The reason why this documentary was so iconic and acclaimed was because despite it showing us a lot that we don’t know about, it’s closely tied in to our daily lives and so many people are surprised at this short documentary exposing the food industry.
