Saying you learned a language by watching tv?

People are always saying "I learned English by watching movies/tv..etc." Are these people truly learning English by just watching TV or are they doing something else? Is there anyone here who learned English by just watching TV? And if so, how did you do it? Is it only possible to learn English by watching TV or can other languages be learned by watching TV (in that language of course)? I never hear of anyone learning Spanish by TV, but it seems everyone can learn English by watching TV, why is this?

Saying you learned a language by watching tv?
By my personal experience, you can learn a certain skill in language by watching TV; listening. Believe it or not English is my third language. I moved to America when I was in 5th grade (im a sophomore in highschool now) and being a little kid i was, i consumed my time watching cartoons. I gradually leaned how to listen for keywords, and soon in just about 2 weeks i began to understand basic English that my friends and teachers spoke at school. No you cannot learn the whole enchilada (speaking and writing) Just by watching TV. However by being able to listen I picked up the other two skill with incredible speed.





This was the same with my second language, Japanese. Again i lived there so i was in a stronger position to learn the language itself, but TV definately helped.





Conclusion:


You can learn the listing concept of any language through TV, but not speaking nor writing.





p.s: my first language is korean, just in case ur wondering :P
Reply:...well, I´m german and I learned (and am still leaning) my english by watching every movie in english and some american tv shows, like Buffy and Angel (very helpful with slang and "bad" words), Mr. Ed, the Brady Bunch and some others - thank god for inventing the dvd - and if I hear a word I don´t know, I look it up in my dictionary...


I improve my knowledge by visiting the yahoo chat so I can ask the british or american people what I don´t understand and to "keep in training" - so to speak.


Since I grew up in eastern germany we had to learn russian in school, so I started learning english by translating the lyrics of the "Pet Shop Boys" and later "Simon %26amp; Garfunkel" and Dean Martin with my dictionary.





So I can tell you, it´s really possible to learn a language by that method and I think it should work with spanish, too.


But I have to admit, in spanish-speaking TV they talk really really fast, so it´s harder to understand what they are saying. So if I wanted to learn Spanish I would start listening to spanish music and translating the lyrics.


(By the way: how is my english, is it good enough to make myself understandable???)
Reply:TV certainly helped me learn Italian while I was stationed in Italy many years ago. The news shows are good because you already know many of the main stories. Commercials are great because there is so much repetition and they show you the product. Watch the same commercial a dozen times and you will never forget that lavastoviglie is the word for dishwasher. Watch commercials for Cynar and you will never forget that carciofo means artichoke. Etc,
Reply:Learning by watching TV is probably an over-simplification but if you want to learn a foreign language it is a very useful supplement to what you are learning in the class room. It has the advantage of being available in your own home, you are not purely relying on the written or spoken word but on action as well to aid comprehension. It is more natural and true to real life than reading or listening to radio or a CD. While living abroad I noticed that in Holland and Belgium English or American films are subtitled rather than dubbed - as is the case in France and Germany. The opportunities to hear English are much greater than just about any other language so it is not surprising that watching TV is such a popular method of learning it.
Reply:Mila Kunis learned English by watching the Price is Right