‘Friends,’ the Sitcom That’s Still a Hit in Major League Baseball

I can see how Friends would be a great tool to learn English. l am curious whether any English-speaking baseball players try to learn Spanish to speak with their teammates. Any shows out there in Spanish that can provide a similar learning experience?

I teach at a college with many international students. One amazed me by the rapid increase of his fluency in speaking and listening to English. He attributed it to nonstop watching of Friends. In a similar vein, the English reading and writing ability of another international student improved markedly over from spring to fall semester. The student told me she read every Harry Potter novel in English over the summer.

The author of the article (who happens to be my son) probably doesn't know this but when I was a high school exchange student in Japan, I polished my Japanese by watching dubbed reruns of Bewitched. Using TV sitcoms to learn a language works in reverse, too, for the same reasons. And, I also enjoyed the article!

I love this article, the perfect way to learn English.

My 9 year-old daughter and I just started on Season 1 of Friends. I had forgotten about all the sexual innuendo and thought maybe she shouldn't be watch the show. However, as it turns out the adult jokes (which I monitor) pretty much go over her head, but she laughs really, really, really hard at the other stuff. There's nothing better than cracking up until your sides hurt with your kid. So fun the players are into it. Everyone needs moments of levity in their day and I had forgotten how truly funny the show is.

North Korean defectors apparently also prefer Friends to learn English. http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/10/01/five-facts-about-n... Must gain something when a second language.

It's not just a baseball phenomenon either. A few years ago, a waitress at an Indian restaurant in London proudly explained to me that she had learned English in her home country by watching Friends. I admire all who study a foreign language but it takes great dedication and discipline to teach yourself.

This a probably better , and more natural, method of learning a language than is the rote method taught in most U.S. public schools, though I would watch a different program than "Friends", which I did not care for myself.

But Joey doesn't get how air quotes work. Imagine a world in which everybody understands English and the American idiom like Joey understands English and the American idiom.

Another terrific, only-in-the-Times, story, made possible by the author's fluency in Spanish. As a Nationals fan, I miss the coverage he provided at the Post, but am glad I still get to read him here (and thank him for the Strasburg piece on Sunday, too.)

I think they should learn English by watching Veep. That would really expand their vocabulary!

This article seems to go against the NYT's push for America to be a bilingual (Spanish and English) country. One of the things that ties our country together is that we all speak English as our common language. My spouse and her siblings came from Mexico in the 1960's. They were immediately immersed in English in the NYC Public Schools system and quickly learned the language. They still have their native tongue and culture, but they became fully integrated into America by learning our common language.

"Friends" is also a friend to insomniacs, myself included. Like Mr. Peralta, I often watch it on Nick at Nite between 1pm and 1am, when I can't sleep. The series has held up very well and still makes me laugh. It's also kind of clever about the English language and mistakes about the English Language. One of my very favorite bits was when Joey mistook "Omnipotent" for "I'm impotent." I was thrilled when they played a clip of this on the James L. Brooks tribute.

At this risk of sounding like the cranky old man I'm becoming--thanks in no small part to my pessimism over the state of our nation's collective democratic decision-making (especially last November)--I must ask what is the newsworthiness of the TV viewing habits of overpaid professional baseball players from Latin America? I yield to no man when it comes to love of the sport of baseball. Ever since I became a Little League pitcher at age ten 56 years ago (and before then a Giants' fan), baseball has has been part of my life. I even started and operated an apolitical charity in the 1980s that promoted goodwill in Central America through the sport of baseball. So if anyone should welcome a story like this one on the "front page", so to speak, of the NYT, it should be me. Unfortunately, however, I see nothing in it that merits such coverage or my favorable response. In fact, if anything it makes certain Latin American ballplayers seem unsophisticated, to say the least. I'm sure there is much more to their personas than an obsessive fondness for "Friends".

Great story. On a cloudy day, perhaps these players sing to each other the "Friends" theme by The Rembrandts: "I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall."

I've been telling people forever that TV is great way to learn a language, but no one wants to believe that a "screen" and "learning" can be in the same sentence. Also, it's just funny to think of all these young people trapped in the 90s.

Years ago, "I Love Lucy" served the same function, perhaps for more obvious reasons since it had a Latino character.

This is a new version of an old story, Children in Europe, Central and South America, and Asia have been learning English by watching American and British TV for decades. The link below regards just one abstract, but there are countless articles about it. And now "Friends"? Well, I suppose it could be worse. But not much. English in Europe - Page 104 - Google Books Result https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0191580694

One of those shows which becomes a part of your life. I myself have watched it countless times and it's still fresh.

This is a wonderful feel-good story. I'm wondering what particular phrases they picked up from Friends that they use in their daily lives. Are there a bunch of players saying, "Could I BE any more excited to be at bat?"

This was a hilarious read. I never knew that one of my favorite shows had such an impact on my favorite sports.

I think it was in Spain that I met some teenagers who told name they learned English by watching American television.

The article isn't answering the question I hoped it would answer. Is Friends a better language teacher than other English-language TV shows? Why?

Remember filling in once for a friend (no pun intended), who taught ESL. When I asked what the students watched on TV, half a dozen raised their hands. To a person, they replied "Golden Girls." This was the 1990s. I was stumped. They loved the characters. Good piece.

Becoming more fluent in another language by watching items of popular culture such as a TV show or a movie is an underappreciated technique that can be used by anyone these days. It is helpful to get the basics of any language by more formal methods, but language training can be very stuffy and correct in emphasizing the proper rules of a language, which can leave one adrift when you try to use it on the street. This method can help the language student overcome that problem. BTW, have any of these baseball players tried 'Seinfeld'?

On a trip to Yangshuo, China I met a young man who learned to speak excellent English from watching Friends. He was in his early 20s and had started a small business giving tours and running an Airbnb guest house in his parents' home.