Coffee, small-town vibes, friendly neighbors, autumn falling leaves, crystal clear snowflakes, coffee, quirky chatting, tons of books… Oh and did we mention coffee? That’s right, we’re talking Gilmore Girls here.
Let’s be honest, when learning English, listening is usually one of the most difficult skills to develop. It’s normal, you’re used to the sounds of your native language. So, adjusting to the sounds of a new language is always difficult and quite confusing. That’s why the best way of doing that is through a fun activity, like chilling with Netflix. And that’s where Gilmore Girls comes into the picture.
This show is perfect for all English learning aspects, but especially for the listening part. Even if you’ve already watched many other English shows, this one will help you take your listening skills to another level. Plus, its cozy and friendly nature combined with its realistic situations makes it one of the best shows for Netflix and chill. It’s all in one!
So, stack up your favorite snacks and cozy up because you’re about to go on the comfiest English learning journey ever!
About Gilmore Girls
If you clicked on this blog, chances are you already know and love this show. But in case you don’t, here is a bit about it.
Gilmore Girls is a TV show that aired from 2000 to 2007. But nowadays it has regained popularity thanks to the streaming platforms, because now you can find it on Netflix. And in 2016, a Netflix series revival was created in the form of 4 chapters to see where the beloved Gilmore Girls are today. So, you have tons of material to watch, listen and learn from.
The show is about a single mother and her daughter, Lorelai and Rory, and their everyday lives. You’ll get to know their loved ones and watch them all grow up through the years. You’ll even see how the daughter changes from high school to full grown-up adult.
How Gilmore Girls Will Help Your English Listening Skills
Now you know what it is about, but how specifically will this lovely show help you improve your listening?
Fast speaking = Paying attention
One of the most popular traits of this series is that their characters speak super fast. Because of that, at the beginning you’ll probably won’t understand much, that’s normal, so don’t get too stressed.
Actually, that’s useful, because when we don’t understand something properly, we’re forced to pay even more attention. And that will train your ears. Maybe you’ll even notice your ears trying to sharpen themselves to hear better and therefore understand more.
Very crazy characters and dialogues = More understanding of the English language
Gilmore Girls has some characters with unique personalities, and this makes them have very crazy dialogues sometimes.
For example: Kirk is a man who is always working in every job in the town, he’s been a cinematographer, a DSL installer, a mailman, and more. He’s very weird but lovely. So he tends to have some crazy dialogues and conversations with others.
Weird but funny conversations will force you to pay more attention as well. Because you’ll have to understand all the crazy ideas they’re talking about. Therefore, with practice, you’ll start understanding even the strangest topic. It’s another way of training your ear and upgrading your English language.
Emotional show = Interest
The main characters have a very funny sense of humor, and a beautiful mother-daughter relationship. There are also funny, sweet, and realistic situations. As well as transformations for all the characters.
This makes the show very lovable, because you see how everything changes through the seasons while maintaining the emotions. And it’s always easier to learn with something that you love. You’ll be interested to listen to all the scenes, so you don’t miss a thing.
Chapters = Better comprehension
According to Cambridge’s guide to improve your listening, it’s better to do it through small chunks of time. Gilmore Girls is a series with chapters between 40 to 50 minutes. This fragmentation will help you understand the context of what’s going on at that moment in the lives of the characters.
Because you won’t have to watch thousands of hours in a row, that could be confusing if you don’t know much English. You can just watch one episode per day and then think about what just happened, so you understand the next chapter better.
You can also pick some words you’ve learned that day and practice the pronunciation throughout the week.
Even the Gilmore Girls revival is divided into four chapters, instead of being one long movie. This fragmentation will help your listening comprehension.
Many Characters = Learning different English accents and ways of speaking
The Gilmore girls live in a small town named Stars Hollow. And we all know how much gossiping and curious characters a small town has; this series is no exception.
But there are also many other places you’ll see. This means there are way too many different characters, and with them comes a specific way of talking (expressions, tone, voice, accents). That will train your ear to understand different English-speaking people.
For example: Lorelai’s great grandma is British. Though she doesn’t appear much, you can still compare English accents when she appears. Another beloved character is French, but he lives in the U.S. So, when he speaks you can hear his English with a French accent. Mrs. Kim is Korean, so she has a Korean accent when speaking English. And so on…
Many seasons = More practice time
The more seasons a series has, the more practice time you have! We already said that the fast-paced speaking in this series will force your ear to train itself for English sounds. This makes it a great show to improve your listening skills.
So, you’d wish for it to never end, so you can just keep challenging yourself and improving. Though it does have an ending, it also has seven seasons and a revival! That’s plenty of time for you to become a pro at understanding English.
Improve Your English Listening Skills with Gilmore Girls Based on Your English Level
Basic
Though we recommend Gilmore Girls for more intermediate or advanced English learners, basic level learners can still improve with it.
If you know zero English, you can start by watching the series in your native language. When you finish it, watch it again in English and with subtitles. You’ll already know what it’s about and what’s going on, so that’ll help.
If you already know some basic vocabulary, start by watching it in English but with subtitles in your native language.
If you’re having too much trouble understanding, pause the video every now and then and try to reflect on what you just watched. Think about what’s going on. Sometimes you just need to slow down to completely understand something, and pausing the video will give you time for that. Even if that means pausing in the middle of a chapter. That’s okay!
We don’t recommend looking for all the words that you don’t know, otherwise you could go crazy looking at the dictionary. But, at a basic level, you can still look for a few words you don’t understand and truly stand out for you.
Intermediate
If you just approved the basic level, start by watching the show in English with English subtitles. If you still don’t understand something that’s been said, you’ll already know what’s happening, so you won’t get lost in the story. You’ll also see the unknown words written down and learn them.
Gradually, as you feel more comfortable, lose the subtitles. If you don’t understand some words, don’t worry, keep watching and pay attention to what the characters are doing. That way you’ll attach the unknown words to the scenes and actions, so you’ll learn by context.
At this level, don’t look for the words in the dictionary. You’ll acquire them little by little. The more you watch and listen to the show, the more you’ll learn the meaning behind those unknown words.
Advanced
No help from subtitles or the dictionary. At all! That’s right, watch the whole series in English and that’s it. You are an advanced English learner; you can do this. It won’t be easy, you’re probably still not an expert at listening, but you have more knowledge to help you out. And you have probably already listened to other things in English, even if only robotic recordings from school English lessons.
Now, this is a series that we recommend watching in order and paying true attention because it works like life. That means one storyline can last several chapters, and the characters grow up. But if you’ve already watched it before and want to upgrade your level even more, put the show in the background.
All while you do something else, like cooking. This way you’ll rely only on your listening skills, not on the visuals, so your ears will work at full capacity. You can also watch episodes in disorder. You already have the skills to understand what’s going on by what the characters say rather than by what happened in the previous chapter.
Achieve an Advanced English Level with TruFluency
You’ve watched the whole series, congratulations! But to be an English expert you still need some classes, because you can’t learn all from one Netflix show. Rather, this show is a complement to your English lessons. But we get it, watching a show is way more fun than studying in a classroom. Well, not with TruFluency!
We offer English classes with native teachers that will make sure you have fun while learning useful things. With us, you’ll be a pro at all aspects of the English language, including listening and speaking. We know those are two of the most complicated things to master, but we’ll help you without judging your mistakes.
If you’re just like Lorelai and hate getting up at 6:00 am, we have flexible schedules. And all our classes are online, so you can study with us from your favorite cafeteria while sipping on your coffee! Truly something Lorelai Gilmore would do. Just choose your teacher and you’re ready to go! Or you can sign up for a 2 hour trial class for only $49!
