Which is more difficult in a foreign language? Understanding a person speaking (with gesture, body language, facial expression, background pictures) or understanding a telephone conversation? Listening is a vital skill, but students are doing it blindfolded without the visual information we get in real life. Students can follow a video story via the pictures, and are motivated to watch again to try to get more meaning from the material.

They understand because so much of communication is non-verbal. Above all, classroom video gets students talking. It inspires more conversation than any other method. Surveys of students consistently reveal that it is the most popular stimulus. That is, as long as it is designed for a purpose, short, and interesting. Seven or eight minutes of video is enough for a 90 minute lesson