One Saturday afternoon I walked into my living room to see my sister watching the Disney show  Jesse. This was a normal occurrence in my house so I thought nothing of it, until I started getting the weird feeling that something was off. I looked for a second and realized that the show was playing in Spanish. My sister had accidentally turned it onto Spanish and couldn’t figure out how to turn it back on to English. However, what I didn’t know was that this seemingly silly incident would turn into a major studying hack. 

As a student, I already do so much homework that when I’m done I don’t have any more motivation to spend time on apps like Duolingo and study for my Spanish class; It just feels like more studying.  However, watching a Disney channel show doesn’t feel like extra work, in fact, it feels like a reward. 

Apps such as Duolingo put pressure to drill words and phrases into your head when you study, and for me that always made me more hesitant to do it. However, I look forward to putting on a Spanish dubbed version of Liv and Maddie when I’m done with school. 

Disney channel shows such as Jesse, or Liv and Maddie, have simple plot lines, ergo, simple dialogue. Seldom does one hear words in shows like this that are above the understanding of about a 4th grade level. 

When studying for a language class, this makes it easy to pick up context clues and words that have already been learned in class.

When I started watching my favorite shows in Spanish, I realized I was getting better at catching common phrases or words, so not only did my memory of these words strengthen, but I found I was doing better on my listening quizzes in class. 

For students who need to study for a foreign language class but need an alternative, watching a simple show (such as one on Disney channel) can be a fun way to get better in real life language skills, and every teen taking a foreign language should try it at least once.