Skip to main content

Should I Watch with Subtitles?

Many people feel uncomfortable with watching their favorite movies or TV shows without subtitles, afraid that they won't understand what's going on. However, they're also afraid that they won't be practicing listening if the subtitles are on. So, when you're learning Japanese, do you or don't you watch with the subtitles on.

My answer might not be very popular on this one, but I think it's okay to go ahead and watch with subtitles if you're really not far into the language. Now, once you're getting better, I'd rather you watch with the Japanese closed captions if you can find them, or at least try watching a bit without subtitles.

Here's how I first did it when I decided to wean myself off of subs:

a.) Watch an episode of Tenchi Universe (I already knew the whole series inside and out, so following it wasn't a problem) and try to understand it.

b.) Find scenes I had trouble with and turn the subs on.

c.) Rewatch episode with subs if it really threw me for a loop.

It's an easy process and shouldn't discourage you from giving it a go. It can actually really jump-start things, too, depending on the kind of show you're watching. For example, you might get more out of an episode of Azumanga Daioh than an episode from any of the Tenchi series, but oh well.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think of this.

Oh, and I got a new review up, but on my other blog. I might consider adding it to this blog, though, since it involves Japanese stuff. Basically, I found a way to mod the Wii for relatively cheap, without risking your system, and without that pesky mod chip.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review for Rosetta Stone

I told you I wasn’t gone for good! Today I’m going to be mostly bashing Rosetta Stone’s language learning software. This review goes for Rosetta Stone whether you’re learning Japanese or any other language that this software purports to teach. It purports to teach because Rosetta Stone is particularly bad at teaching anything, except how to look at pictures and repeat words. It’s aimed mostly for travelers, but doesn’t really get you conversing, and it’s expensive to boot. Really, there’s only a couple things it does well, but this isn’t enough to make up for all the failing this software does. If anyone from Rosetta Stone actually reads this, please use the criticism to improve your software! You probably already know that Rosetta Stone teaches you language easily, right? I mean, that’s what the advertisements always tell us! What Rosetta Stone tells us and what it actually does are like night and day, but if you really don’t know much about Rosetta Stone, here’s what allegedl...
3 comments
Read more

Review for LingQ - Redone!

I really wanted to do a review for LingQ , and I wound up doing a long and crazy post about things that didn't have much to do with LingQ. As such, I am redoing this post in hopes of better clarifying what LingQ is and how well it works. For starters, anyone even remotely familiar with Steve Kauffman will know that he's a huge supporter of what is normally called the input method. That basically means that you learn a language simply through exposure to it. No grammar drills, just listening, reading, and anything else you can think of that will expose you to the language. As such, that is exactly what LingQ strives to do. The most frustrating thing about learning an Asian language through the input method, in my opinion, is that if you're reading a book or a non-editable pdf, if you come across a kanji you're not sure how to read, you can't just type it into a dictionary. That frustrates me a lot! That's why LingQ is so good about that. You just hover your mou...
3 comments
Read more

TextFugu: A Second Look

Disclaimer: I still stand by what I said in my post about TextFugu vs. AJATT, that these two things cannot be compared, and this second look doesn't change that. TextFugu is a product of the academic method; namely, it is more step-by-step and focused than anything from the other methods. That said, if you're doing things the AJATT way and are looking for a good textbook to supplement or solidify your learnings, please look elsewhere are TextFugu is too large a commitment financially speaking to use as a suppliment for AJATT or any other input or output method. So, some time has gone by and TextFugu has grown bigger and better, and I think it warrants a second look. Last time I reviewed it , TextFugu was a smaller site with infrequent and, seemingly, inconsistent updates; now it is a sprawling site full of good information and I can fully endorse it. Anyone who wishes to learn primarily by textbook ( input and output people , this is probably not for you), TextFugu is a great...
Post a Comment
Read more