It’s necessary for every foreign language learner to learn foreign culture. The most common way is to read foreign culture book. But it’s a tough job, and sometimes even very boring for us. Are there any relaxing and effective ways to learn? Here I’ll give you some tips.

The first one is to watch foreign movies or TV series. This offers us a good way to learn foreign people’s daily life. People always say, “Art comes from life and goes beyond it.” Theoretically, both of them are art works. They can reflect our life to some extend. For example, we may often hear of some news saying that some Japanese offical commit suicide. Chinese people may look down upon this kind of action, thinking it’s a reflection of weak and useless. However, a person who have watched many Japanese movies may not think so. Because in their films, we can see that committing suicide is a very common phenomenon in Japan. For Japanese, this kind of action equals to going another home. It’s also means washing off one’s all guilts.

The second one is to pay more attention to international news. This is a good way to learn foreign politic and economy, which is the most difficult part for Chinese students. By watching news we can learn these knowledge in a more relaxing way. For instance, many students do not know much about foreign countries’ political power organised structures. Actually, our TV stations provide us a good chance to learn them. Because whenever a county is electing their new government, the TV station will report as much knowledge as we need. By watching the U.K. government election, we got to know what is House of Commons and House of Lords. And it’s the same goes for America, Japan, France, etc.

And the last one is to read some celebrities’ biographies or fictions based on history. By reading Napoleon, we can know more about French Revolution. From “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, we acquire some knowledge about American War of Independence. And meanwhile, this is also a very effective way to improve our secound language skill.

These ways above are all summarized by myself. And I have tried all of them. I think I have benefited a lot from them. So instead of being dismissed about your shortage of foreign culture before a pile of boring culture books, why not free yourself from them and try my ways?