Favourite TV Shows to learn a language

Clever! Might try and utilise this

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I like this show too!!! Itā€™s such a thriller. And youā€™re right, it has a happy ending, and the trope was executed well-rounded

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Yes please, I would love to see someoneā€™s recommendations or just your list of series or films you watched and what you thought.

Do you pay for Language Reactor? It used to be free but now it asks for me to pay to get the pinyin+hanzi+English :cry:

What I do though is do a search for films in Language Reactor Mandarin catalogue and make sure my VPN is set to HongKong, and suddenly all these films and series become available! :smiley:

On the subject of Taiwanese films, I loved Marry My Dead Body. Moving and funny, and I then read up on this ā€œMarrying a ghostā€ thing and discovered it was a real thing!

Another resource I use to find shows and actors is MyDramaList.com. If a show can be found anywhere, it will list the place. I did look up Skip Beat, but only found the manga is available on Amazon. I did look at the cast list of the drama and thought one of the actors looked familiar, so when I clicked on him figured out he was in Bloodhounds, a Korean drama I watched a couple of weeks ago!

The information on the site is pretty extensive; itā€™s how I find other shows.

No, I donā€™t pay, I use the free version. The free version works just fine for me. I put Netflix on original language (Mandarin), then turn on Language reactor which does the rest.

Here is a list of what Iā€™ve seen. Most are on Netflix (Iā€™m in the US), but Iā€™ve noted if I watched it on another platform.

Rise of the Phoenixes (Chen Sun) was the first I watched. Liked it until the end. Then I hated the whole thing.

Meteor Garden (with Dylan Wang) was the first I watched with my daughter.

Accidentally in Love - my daughterā€™s favorite

The Perfect Match (Wu Kang-Ren. He started dating the FL, Ivy Shao, after this and they are still together)) - great way to increase my cooking vocab and get great recipes. :sweat_smile: Rewatching (for the 3rd time) with Language Reactor and a notebook)

Use For My Talent

Mom, Donā€™t Do That! (Wu Kang-Ren) - not for kids, adult humor

Take My Brother Away

The Legend of Bruce Lee

Once Upon a Time on Lingjian Mountain (Xu Kai)

Handsome Siblings

Triad Princess - havenā€™t really gotten into it, so havenā€™t finished it

Flavorful Origins - not a drama. More like a documentary of different cuisines in various places in China. 10-13 minute episodes

Falling Into Your Smile (Xu Kai) - watched at least 6 times, by myself

Kingā€™s Avatar (Yang Yang) - another gaming one, no romance!

Office Girls

(on iQiYi) Lost in Kunlun Mountains (Xu Kai) - started out good, then, I donā€™t know. The characters didnā€™t develop well, seemed to regress. Weird.

(Viki) Arsenal Military Academy (Xu Kai) - I liked the ML (Xu Kai) in this one. Character developed well. Watched more than once.

(Viki) The Legends (Xu Kai)

Story of Yanxi Palace (Xu Kai) - started it a while back but havenā€™t finished.

Well-Intended Love

The Prince of Tennis

Love 020 (Yang Yang)

Hidden Love

Doona (Kdrama)

Word of Honor (Zhang Zhehan)

Who Rules the World (Yang Yang)

Everyone Wants to Meet You (Zhang Zhehan)

She and Her Perfect Husband (Xu Kai)

Bloodhounds (Kdrama)

Autumnā€™s Concerto (Wu Kang ren)

Miss Shampoo (movie, Taiwanese)

Medical Examiner: Dr. Qin (on Viki)

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I knew about Language Reactor Pro but i didnā€™t know the pinyin+hanzi+English was not free anymore!

Iā€™m glad you found a way around it, great tip!

It should be free. I donā€™t pay for Language reactor and I still have the pinyin+hanzi+English on Netflix. The settings I use are the ones Iā€™ve always had. :woman_shrugging:t5:

Well 1 thing I have been told that instead of watching a completely new show, watch a show that you have previously watched and watch it this time in your target language.

I havenā€™t tried this yet but I feel if I watch Money Heist, FRIENDS, Reacher in a different language it can help me as I already know what they are saying more or less in English.

What would you guys think about this method? Is it something youā€™d try?

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This is actually a really underrated hack, Rushi, I might do the same.

FRIENDS in Mandarin, Japanese or Italian :eyes:

I think knowing the story line and plot means you can focus more on the language you are learning and less on the story itself.

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I do this with Disney movies! Sometimes I donā€™t put on English subtitles, just knowing the plot really well helps a lot with listening and Iā€™m not distracted by reading subtitles.

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Weā€™ve done it often (my daughter and I). On Netflix, my kids were basically raised on My Little Pony, and we know the first two seasons backward and forward in English and Spanish (weā€™ve been through the series at least 7-8 times!). So many life lessons I refer to in those episodes, lol! Recently, some episodes have been available in Mandarin, so we started watching the series again in Mandarin. Iā€™d love for Avatar (cartoon version) be available in Mandarin, as thatā€™s another series weā€™ve watched more than once.

Iā€™ve also watched some Chinese dramas with subtitles first (maybe 2 times) to know the story, then gone back to watch them again without the subtitles (using Language Reactor, so includes pinyin and hanzi, as well as English). The Perfect Match, Use for My Talent, and Falling for Your Smile are the three Iā€™ve watched at least 3 times already.

I must say I tried this just as fun in Hindi and Gujarati, it feels VERY VERY weird at first but then it has a bit of humor to it.

It makes me curious that whether that novelty may help to stay consistent on that method for longer