Hello everyone and welcome back to English with Lucy.

As requested and as promised here is, finally,

my lesson on the top TV shows that you can use to

learn British English.

I have got lots of recommendations

that are suitable for everyone.

And I'm going to work through them,

starting with programmes that are suitable for beginners,

moving to pre-intermediate, intermediate and then advanced.

Now I know that a lot of you

are hoping to use TV shows

in order to improve your fluency, your vocabulary,

your pronunciation, your listening skills.

Honestly watching TV shows in a second language

can work magic on your language skills.

However, it can be really, really stressful,

trying to find the right one for you.

Because you've got to get that mix

of something that you're interested in,

something that is at your level,

and something that is going to provide educational value.

Now another really frustrating point is,

when you finally find a TV show

that you would like to watch,

that you think will help you

and it's blocked in your country.

It's so annoying.

I really enjoy watching programmes in Spanish

and I find it really frustrating trying to

gain access to websites that are blocked in my country.

Well, a lot of you aren't based in the UK,

so how are you going to gain access

to these British TV shows?

Well, I highly recommend NordVPN.

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The link and the code are in the description box.

Right, let's get started with the list

of TV shows that you can use in order to learn

and improve your British English.

Right, let's start with the beginners.

So, for people who are just starting to learn English,

or maybe people who've been learning English for a while

but are really struggling with their listening,

because listening is incredibly difficult.

It's a skill that some people are naturally good at,

but most people find very, very challenging.

Now, I've been teaching for many years

and when I come across beginners

or people who are really struggling

with their listening skills,

I recommend children's TV shows.

But you have to be really, really careful

because so many children's TV shows

are dumbed down, in order to entertain children.

And there aren't so many high quality

children's TV shows, where the characters speak well,

with good pronunciation

and they don't put on a stupid baby voice.

One programme that I think is excellent

for improving your English,

if you are a beginner, is Peppa Pig.

Now, if you have children,

you will probably know about Peppa Pig,

but it is a British TV show.

It's been translated into so many languages

across the globe.

It's about a little piglet who goes around

solving problems and causing problems.

And she speaks with a British accent.

She speaks quite clearly, but the best part is,

they cover the basics of English.

It's written in simple English, simple tenses,

and they cover the basic vocabulary

because they are hoping to teach a child its' first words.

Well, it's sometimes the same situation for us

when we're learning our second language.

- No George, I'm playing with Suzy.

You have to play somewhere else.

- Another cartoon I can recommend is, Sarah and Duck.

This is another children's cartoon

that actually now has quite a strong adult following

cause it is very entertaining actually.

I look forward to having a child so that I can

watch these programmes with them.

It's about a little girl, a little British girl,

who is best friends with a duck.

And it is quite funny and it focuses on problem solving.

- [Voice over] It's a bit early for bed isn't it?

- No, It's so tomorrow gets here quicker.

- [Voice over] Oh.

- All of the information for these programmes

will be in the description box,

I'll show you where you can watch them.

The next one is another one produced by the BBC,

it's Katie Morag.

And this one I've mentioned

because it's the Scottish accent.

It's about a little girl who lives

on a fictional Scottish island,

but it's not a cartoon, it is a real girl.

Now the Scottish accent, in my opinion,

is absolutely gorgeous, I love it.

And I know that it's a very desirable place,

so on the off chance that you are hoping to visit Scotland

or you just particularly like that accent,

this is a fantastic TV show.

And as I've said many times before,

it's really important to understand

and to listen to, a variety of accents.

The Scottish accent is considered to be fairly difficult,

so it's best to start

with a children's TV version of that accent.

- [Katie] And everyone looks out for me

when I'm out and about, having my adventures.

- Right, let's move on to pre-intermediate.

So we've covered the basics with children's TV programmes,

where they cover basic vocabulary

and they use simple grammar.

Now let's go a step higher to pre-intermediate.

What I recommend for my pre-intermediate students,

is nature programmes.

And there is one man in particular who I recommend.

I absolutely love him.

The nation adores him, he is David Attenborough.

This man is a national treasure.

He's a broadcaster, a natural historian,

he used to work for the BBC,

quite high up in the BBC.

And he is amazing and speaks with such

a beautiful RP accent.

He speaks quite slowly and he uses a variety

of adjectives as well,

which is perfect for pre-intermediate students.

And he has done so many BBC series' on nature.

Recent one's have been Blue Planet,

all about the sea.

Planet Earth, which is about the globe as a whole.

Frozen Planet, which is about the colder

parts of our world.

And a really good documentary called,

A Plastic Ocean, where he talks about the pollution

of plastic in the seas.

Now, I recommend his programmes

if you want to learn new vocabulary,

if you're interested in the environment

and in animals,

and if you also want to watch something quite relaxing.

It can be quite stressful

to try and listen to English,

but if you just relax, watch nature,

and listen to this man's beautiful voice and accent,

it shouldn't be an arduous task.

- The tropics, as a naturalist,

I yearn to see it and I had already

manned programmes with people from London Zoo.

- Right, let's move on to intermediate.

And what I recommend to my intermediate students,

is cooking programmes.

And I recommend that they follow

a handful of chosen celebrity chefs.

There are three that I'm going to recommend to you.

Two speak with an RP accent

and one speaks Estuary English,

sometimes with a bit of Cockney,

quite Cockney sometimes actually.

The first one is somebody that I'm sure

you will fall in love with.

(laughing)

She's amazing, she's called Nigella Lawson.

And she is known for doing really

indulgent recipes, high calorie.

Not particularly good for you.

She's here for a good time, not a long time.

And she speaks with the most beautiful, low RP accent.

All of her series are very visually pleasing.

So, again, like with the nature programmes,

it's something that you can watch whilst relaxing.

- With this sauce which, ends up to be quite thick.

Sort of doesn't run all over it,

it just sits on top and you have to mix it in.

- Similarly, we have Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall,

again somebody who speaks with an RP accent

and he has a wonderful series, called River Cottage.

This was started many years ago.

He has a small holding, where he grows organic food

and cooks it, and talks about the local industries

and just how food is put on the table.

So, it's not just watching somebody cook,

it's so much more than that

and it gives you a real opportunity

to understand British culture and what we eat.

Because I hear from a lot of people,

British food is so bad.

And, yes, sometimes it is really bad,

but I think Hugh can show you that it's not always so bad.

Again, it's a really relaxing programme.

He speaks quite clearly.

He speaks slightly more quickly than Nigella does.

Nigella is, very alluring with the way she speaks.

She's quite slow,

emphasises words very, emphatic,

and very, very relevant for English learners.

She really pronounces things beautifully.

Hugh speaks a little more quickly

and shows you a little more than just cooking.

- These lovely duck eggs

are gonna be the final flourish for that.

But underneath, there's gonna be all sorts

of delicious things going.

- And then finally we have Jamie Oliver.

You may have heard of him before.

He has a great YouTube channel actually,

and he's speaks with a more Cockney accent.

So he's not as posh as the other two.

And he's really good if you're short on time.

He has a really great series,

called 15 Minute Meals.

He actually has a book that goes along

with it as well, and he teaches great,

healthy meals that you can do

with a few ingredients and if you're short on time.

- [Jamie] The whole thing, to temper,

turn it down and that mozzarella

is just gonna reach around the bowl, and that.

- Now maybe cooking isn't really your thing.

Or you don't find it helps you,

so I have some other recommendations.

One is sitcoms, situational comedies.

These programmes are quite light-hearted

and will introduce you to British humour,

which can be quite complex for learners of English,

it can be really hard to understand British humour.

I have a whole video where I talk about,

what British humour is and the elements of it.

To start off, it would be good to watch a sitcom.

And I have various recommendations.

The first on is one I think I have recommended

before in a previous video.