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Subtitles - do you resist the temptation? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| nonneb Pentaglot Groupie SpainRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4751 days ago 80 posts - 173 votes  Speaks: English*, Ancient Greek, Latin, German, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, Hungarian, French | Message 17 of 38 10 December 2012 at 3:02am | IP Logged | ||
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I try not to use English subtitles when watching a movie to practice another language.
If I have the option for target language subtitles, I turn them on. I don't actually read them for most of the movie, but they're there in case I don't catch something in the movie's audio. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4622 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 18 of 38 10 December 2012 at 11:58am | IP Logged | ||
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In my opionion, watching subtitled films is a great way to improve your passive listening comprehension. It's also feels great when you reach the stage where you can finally turn them off.
In the UK, dubbing in cinemas is unheard of and all foreign-language films are shown with subtitles (a few DVD releases have a dubbed option). As a result, these movies rarely get screen oustside small specialist picture houses and this is very much a minority pursuit. Occasionally a foreign film breaks into mainstream cinema, such as Amelie or Crouching Tiger, but they are few and far between. Edited by beano on 10 December 2012 at 11:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5207 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 19 of 38 10 December 2012 at 12:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I tend to always use TL subtitles if I can find them, which in practice is about half of
the time, otherwise no subs. So I guess I get the best of both worlds. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tsopivo Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4471 days ago 258 posts - 411 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Esperanto | Message 20 of 38 10 December 2012 at 4:49pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree that watching subtitled VO is an acquired skill (and taste) but I don't think that people who watch them a lot are necessarily able to ignore them. I am more like Tenebrarum : if the subtitles are there, I can't help but read them. I don't pay any attention to the fact that I am reading them though, it's more a second nature inconscious thing so may be that's what you meant by ignoring them. Whenever possible, I also choose TL subtitles rather than NL; the only thing is that it's often the subtitles for the hearing impaired so you also get to read the "suspenseful music" and "muffled footsteps" once in a while. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 21 of 38 10 December 2012 at 9:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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Judging by the discussions and input from the Scandinavians&Dutchmen, yes I'd say after a lot of movies you learn to ignore them.
I love reading descriptions like that in my target languages, btw. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4444 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 22 of 38 13 December 2012 at 9:36am | IP Logged | ||
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In most Chinese videos you see subtitles. Simply because Chinese speaks different dialects from 1
province to another and half-dozen local accents. Whether you like to read or not the Chinese are used to seeing subtitles in their own language and don't find it a problem. Recently watched 1 Chinese movie: "Ocean Heaven" where the actors speak with a Beijing accent but with English subtitles for Western audiences. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6703 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 23 of 38 13 December 2012 at 9:51am | IP Logged | ||
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If most of your TV and film input has subtitles then you will almost certainly learn to ignore them if you don't need them. But they were not invented for those who understand the original language (which in most cases turn ut to be English), and judging frem my own experience with those languages where I understand part, but not all of the original speech it is possible to combine listening with reading. Maybe this is an acquired skill, but then it is a skill which is worth acquiring.
And for those languages which I simply can't understand I'm happy to have subtitles instead of dubbing - especially the ghastly kind where the original language and the voice-over are at the same level (those who invented that should be ashamed of themselves!). And yes, there are people who can't read the subtitles, but there are probably just as many people with hearing problems who rely on them. I wouldn't want to choose between blind/illiterate and deaf people - in these electronic times it must be possible to construct systems that make it possible for both groups to understand TV programs through special sound channels or subtitles that can be switched off. Edited by Iversen on 13 December 2012 at 10:00am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6272 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 24 of 38 13 December 2012 at 11:59am | IP Logged | ||
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I have sometimes watched Polish-language TV with the subtitles (in Polish) switched on. I can follow it quite well that way, whereas I struggle to understand it when relying on hearing the dialogue alone.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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