Hi Jack! You're right that tv can show you American culture, but please realize that the behavior is often exaggerated to be funny or shocking. It's entertainment. Some of my students enjoy the American tv show Big Bang Theory. If you want to learn history, I suggest listening to the podcasts on www.manythings.org Also, anything produced by our Public Broadcasting System is good. Check out www.pbs.org Did you know that you can find the transcripts of tv shows online? Here's a link to read the scripts from Friends: http://www.oocities.org/friends_greatestsitcom/script.htm Voice of American is a good resource. They have the Special English programs in which the commentator speaks slowly for those still studying English: http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/ A good way to improve your pronunciation (aside from my accent reduction workshops :-) is to get a movie on dvd with your favorite English speaking actor. Pause the movie after his lines and imitate what you've heard. For British news and culture, the BBC is the best source. I enjoy BBC comedies and movies. The BBC website also offers free English lessons. http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/ If you like new ideas and cutting edge technologies, I recommend watching the presentations on www.ted.com You can find transcripts and translations on the website too. In my classes, I offer a lot of tips like these and many audio files and videos, depending on the needs of my students. I have many conversation podcasts to share. Remember, most tv shows and movies are just stories, not real life. So called "reality shows" like Jersey Shore or the Housewives of Atlanta show the most outrageous and ridiculous people. If I were to judge the U.S. according to what's on tv, I'd think that we all carry guns, women are killed everyday by their husbands, young people spend all their time at parties and things blow up all the time! Of course, none of this is true. I hope I've been helpful. Enjoy..

The suggestions from 'AmericanEnglishCoach' are all great ideas, may I add that there are great British soaps and dramas that will also teach you English from a British point of view and show our way of life, try shows like 'Coronation Street' which is always current and dramas like 'Scott & Bailey' , 'Lewis' and 'Midsommer Murders' all very British but you will notice the difference in our slang words. I like to think its good to take all aspects of a language even though there is much common ground. Have fun.

Two classics of American television are The Simpsons and Seinfeld. Both are comedies about every-day people.