TV in Belgium
Great questions on the last post! I have to remember to post more about our day-to-day lives and not just our trips. Here’s a little about what TV is like here…
In Atlanta, we hardly ever watched TV – so much so, that we considered not getting a TV in Belgium. We liked the idea of a tv-free home, especially when we have kids. On the otherhand, we thought it might be nice for DVDs, and maybe to learn some French or Dutch. In the end, we got a TV — a really big one. I’m not sure why so big but I can only figure that even anti-tv guys (Thomas picked it out) go overboard when getting new toys. :)
I’ve recently been working on a web project and have set up shop on the couch with my laptop. There is one show that I’ve become hooked on – ER. I had never seen it before, but now I see why it was popular. Anyone else here a fan? The afternoon has a whole lineup of American sitcoms (with Dutch subtitles) – Fresh Prince, The Nanny, How I Met Your Mother, 10 Rules to Date My Daughter, Grounded for Life, Life with Jim, Friends, The Simpsons…
We get 40 channels – two are BBC and we get World News in English. Other than what I listed above, and the occassional American movie, everything else is Dutch or French with Dutch subtitles. Many of the locals I’ve met said they learned English through TV and movies but I just don’t understand how. I’ve watched a couple Dutch shows – even kids shows – and I can’t follow enough to keep my interest.
What shows would you miss if you didn’t have a TV? I’ll admit that I miss Jon and Kate Plus 8 and have to follow the drama through websites now.
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We don’t have a tv, but we download shows from the American iTunes store. We go to Kinopolis for the movies, and hope that the entire movie is spoken in English. As for learning French, I have a CD of children’s songs and I eavesdrop on my colleagues.
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Dallas – you have to come over and catch up on Jon and Kate. It is like watching a train wreck. I need someone to help me mourn their marriage!
There is decent programming here on VT4, VTM, VijfTV and occasionally Vitaya. I mean that as far as pop culture go. Een and Canvass do more educational tv.
We only have the basic channels here and don’t plan on upgrading any time soon.
I realy didn’t watch daytime tv here until the one computer broke and I was effectively banned from the new one until it is fixed (or until Hans decides to work from his office) but I’ve been liking ER, Judging Amy, Charmed, Malcolm in the Middle and occasionally the Nanny (it overlaps with the other stuff so I forget about it).
And if you do know some Dutch watching the subtitles and matching it to the English words does help make a connection. I’ve learned some new words/ expressions that way.
We are TV free home, but we do have an actual TV and watch DVDs.
(just got hooked on Netflix) Few years back we had a TV for about two months and got totally hooked on Sex in the City and Bachelor. :) I don’t miss them now. The only time I really miss TV is during the Olympics.
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Have you tried http://www.hulu.com? You can download a lot of American tv and movies for no cost.
Being a finnish girl, I totally get that “learning english from tv-shows”. I don’t think it’s possible to learn entirely from just watching tv, but it sure helps A LOT. Almost everyone in Finland learns english in school and it makes the learning easier when you hear the language all the time AND at the same time read the translations (subtitles).
When I go overseas, I have been using a service from a company called NationPhone&TV called USATVAbroad. http://www.usatvabroad.com I get a 200 channel US Cable subscription with all major networks plus HBO and Showtime streamed live via internet and use their set top box to watch on my TV.