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Watchin American series with L2 subtitles

  Tags: Subtitles
 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies Post Reply
23 messages over 3 pages: 1 2
shk00design
Triglot
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Canada
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Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin
Studies: French

 
 Message 17 of 23
31 October 2013 at 11:37pm | IP Logged 
Personally I do find it helpful to be watching TV with subtitles. In English it is usually Close Caption for the
Hearing Impaired. Text on the screen is helpful because sometimes somebody said something too quickly or there
is too much loud music or distraction in the background.

In Chinese especially I go by subtitles because there are all sorts of terms that are shortened such as: 奥运会
instead of 奥林匹克运动会 for the Olympic games. It is good to be able to read a few main characters to figure out
what a term used on TV was. At the same time there may be a number of other Chinese characters that sound the
same or similar.

I go to an exercise room regularly. On the wall there is a TV with Close Caption (CC) on permanently. You get so
used to reading it no longer bothers you. At the same time living in a high-rise building I can turn the volume off
late at night without disturbing tenants nearby.

Edited by shk00design on 31 October 2013 at 11:38pm

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i_forget
Triglot
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United Kingdom
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Speaks: Greek*, English, Spanish

 
 Message 18 of 23
01 November 2013 at 12:22am | IP Logged 
I just finished the first two episodes of Prison Break in English, with Spanish subtitles. It's certainly difficult, especially since i do this at the end of the day when I'm already tired.

I can't read the whole sentence before it goes away yet, and If I do manage I sometimes don't listen to the English of the actors, so I end up missing the point of the scene.

However it's certainly better than watching it in English with no subtitles. I still get to practice the language. Often times, the speakers talk slowly, so you have plenty of time to read and understand the subtitles.

At the moment I keep up with the plot, so I would like to continue, and hopefully I will reach the point where I can read the subtitles comfortably before they go away. Of course when you already know the words that's very easy, so if you don't know words it's gonna be harder.
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osoymar
Tetraglot
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United States
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 Message 19 of 23
04 November 2013 at 10:56pm | IP Logged 
i_forget wrote:

However it's certainly better than watching it in English with no subtitles. I still get
to practice the language.


I can agree with this, although I would say that if you replaced 1 hour of watching
Prison Break with 30 minutes of GLOSS you would make more progress.

Nonetheless, if you find this to be the more agreeable method I would suggest you
continue, at least until you find it too easy.
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i_forget
Triglot
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United Kingdom
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 Message 20 of 23
06 November 2013 at 12:02am | IP Logged 
I've reached episode 15 in the first season and I have to say it's a lot harder than it might seem. Especially with prison break, which is an outstanding series, it really is difficult to concentrate on the subtitles with all the suspense. There's no chance I'm gonna watch the second season in Spanish, I will not understand anything.

I don't really plan to continue this method as watching a series takes too much of your time. I'm planning to buy the Kindle paperwhite, and read a Spanish book from there as well (already found the first one http://www.amazon.com/AMANECER-SUDESTE-ASI%C3%81TICO-Spanish -Edition-ebook/dp/B007SLD4EI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=13836924 97&sr=8-1&keywords=sudeste+asiatico ), as reading newspapers can be really tiring at times.

Once I reach an advanced level, I'll then switch to dubbed series, but it's way too early for that ( despite the fact that what they say in the movies can quite often be very simple ).

>with 30 minutes of GLOSS you would make more progress.
What is this GLOSS? Do you have a link?

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Bao
Diglot
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Germany
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 Message 21 of 23
06 November 2013 at 6:29am | IP Logged 
I told you so :P
But I'm quite amazed that you watched 15 episodes that way.

GLOSS

I don't really see why it would be too early to start watching a series with target language audio and source language subtitles; as I said it should produce less strain on your brain to process new information. But then again, I can't stand dubbing, because I look at the actors' faces and especially their mouths while they talk.
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i_forget
Triglot
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United Kingdom
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 Message 22 of 23
06 November 2013 at 8:55am | IP Logged 
>I don't really see why it would be too early to start watching a series with target language audio and source language subtitles;

Yeah I could only do it if the series are good. From my experience the top series are American, and they don't come with English subtitles when they are dubbed. I don't fancy watching something just to watch.
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Bao
Diglot
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Germany
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 Message 23 of 23
06 November 2013 at 4:29pm | IP Logged 
The German version Blu-Ray for prision break, first season, has audio in German, English, Spanish and French, plus subtitles in the same languages and another couple, the DvDs I've seen have German, English and Spanish dubbing and subtitles. The subtitles and dubbing might not match, but if you don't use both of them in the target language at the same time, it doesn't make a difference.

I don't know where you usually get your series from and how you watch them - it could even be possible to find CC as external subtitles somewhere on the internet. But I personally think, if you're the kind of person who feels watching films helps them learn a language, it wouldn't be a bad idea if you could decide on a series you really like and could watch repeatedly, and then see if you can find a version that has dubbing and subtitles, and Germany isn't a bad place to start. (Who would have guessed? But that explains why I didn't realize it might be difficult to find them.)


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