Watching Harry Potter Films Helps the World Learn English

Expelliarmus! A Kaplan study has found that Harry Potter films help people across the world learn English.

Research by Kaplan International Colleges revealed that Muggles around the globe are improving their language skills by watching the eight-part Harry Potter movie series. The study showed that 79% of people said that watching films helped them to understand English better and the wizarding adventures of Harry Potter were the most popular movies for enhancing language learning.

Kaplan discovered that 24% of people increased their understanding of English from watching the boy wizard while 11% claimed that the epic romantic disaster film Titanic helped their learning. Seven percent said their language skills were boosted by Pixar's Toy Story.

Keith Hawk, Senior Staff Member at MuggleNet, said: "It is certainly not surprising to the millions of 'Potterheads' that the Harry Potter films have been selected as the number one way to learn English through the cinema."

 

harry potter tv
Children are interested in the story, which makes learning the language much easier

 

"The Harry Potter series will assist any child or adult willing to learn the English language through the use of cinematic or literary mediums."

The research also revealed that those people who said Harry Potter helped them learn English were more likely to want to travel to the UK to study the language.

London was one of the most-used filming locations for the series, featuring in every film from the Philosopher's Stone to the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Kevin McCarthy, Head of Study at London & Partners, said: "London is a welcoming and diverse city awash with familiar sites people would have seen on Harry Potter films such as platform 9 3/4's at King's Cross and Leadenhall Market. There are so many instantly recognisable places.

"The student-friendly capital is also a key place to come and learn English or take a course in higher education, with hundreds of different courses and thousands of opportunities available to learn both in the classroom and whilst exploring its culture and 300 free museums and attractions."

 

harry potter london
Explore London, where many of the scenes from the movie were filmed

 

Along with films, Kaplan asked hundreds of their past and present language school students whether watching television shows, listening to music, reading comics or playing video games helped them to understand English.

The results have been turned into Kaplan's How to Learn English Infographic, which was created by graphic designer Sergio Fernandez Gallardo.

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