Why i can understand CNN but not movies?? (a foreigner)?

Question

me a foreigner.. i can understand CNN almost 90% but it's difficult to get US (english lang.) movies.. i'm learning English and please advise some useful tips. Or CNN announcers INTENTIONALLY speak slowly so that to make it easy for foreign watchers to get them??

Answer 1

There is a lot of slang in movies. Terms can mean different things depending on where the characters are from, how old they are or the ethnicity. There are also many different accents that english speaking people can have. If you are staying in some certain english speaking area try watching a movie that takes place in that area at the present time. For instance if you are staying in New York watch a recent movie that takes place there. It might be easier to understand.

Answer 2

It is possible that your ears do not detect all of the frequencies in the audio spectrum and this will cause some words to sound distorted. Movie voices contain a wider range of audio frequencies than a newscaster and thus are more susceptible to distortion. A native can fill in the words that they don`t understand better than a foreigner because they instantaneously know what word to expect in the distorted word`s place. A frequency response test on your ears by a trained technician will determine if you have a problem and hearing aids will help correct it if you do. If you do not have a hearing problem then the words will clear up as you become more familiar with spoken English.

Answer 3

You'll get there, give it some time. Your english is very good so far. I understood your question. Keep up the good work. By the way, maybe you can start by renting childrens movies or the Disney classics. Especially stories you know from your native language only watch them in english. When you follow that pretty well, try watching a different movie. Eventually it will be easier and easier for you to understand.

Answer 4

Newscasters try to use only words that the common people know, without using anything too technical or too informal. It would be very unprofessional to use slang words like "ain't" (which means "is not") or "our boys are fixin' to take a whack at them insurgents" (which means "our troops are preparing an assault on the insurgents"). So, yes they are trying to make themselves more understandable. In most cases, an English speaker will be able to understand an English-speaking newscaster from any region of any country.

See if you can find yourself an American-English slang dictionary. Then you can learn phrases like "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

For more confusing English (which truly makes no sense), watch the cartoons at homestarrunner.com. "Come on down to for a free canceltation. We'll help you get a leg up on the pile."

Answer 5

CNN speaks plain, clear, correct English language while in a lot of movies the heroes use slang and don't articulate very well in order to look cool (think of the difference between yourself talking to your friends and the news announcers in your country).
Tip: watch family movies like Disney's: they tend to use more correct language so kids can understand.

Answer 6

On CNN and other such television programs, people speak slowly, clearly, and formally to ensure understanding. In movies, however, the speech is more relaxed, and thus less precise and more difficult to understand, much more like how real people speak English to each other on a day-to-day basis. Hope this helped!

Answer 7

the news is very straightfoward, it's basic delivery of information in a primarily unaccented voice, whereas movies & TV are more about telling stories - so the characters mumble, use slang, the camera isn't always on them when they speak, they have accents, there are all the different intonations . . . etc.

i'm a native speaker & i miss things characters say sometimes too.

i'd suggest that you try subtitles or close-captioning. not only would it help you follow the movie or show, but it might actually helping your understanding of the English language. i found subtitles very useful, when i was learning different languages.

~~~ morgannia

Answer 8

Movies are tough, sometimes you don't see the person who is speaking so if you're just wacthing the lips, it may seem as if the person in the movie is speaking more words than what is actually coming out of their mouth, but when you watch CNN when people talk you always see their mouths form each and every word they say....just a thought....keep up the good work, English is hard to learn and I was born here!!!!

Answer 9

CNN reporters are using standard pronunciation with minimal slang whilst movies normally use slang and yes they do talk very fast to show their emotion or expression.

One good tips is to watch cartoon series from either disney channel or nicklodean. Sesame Street is another good one to help you in understanding the language better. They all work with my children and I'm from Malaysia.

Answer 10

In addition to watch CNN I urge you to watch U.S news local channels or ABC, CBS and NBC s well as Fox television. Do it twice a day for a year then you can learn American English better. Meanwhile, go to amazon.com and buy an American slang book to read. Good luck.