Learning languages by watching films

[Joanna]

I think that learning english from movies is a great idea! I preffer watching series like: "Sex and the city", "Gossip Girl", "Vampire Diaries" or "Suits". I deffinitly wouldn't advise "House" without subtitles, becąuse it would be so hard to underestand

What do you think about it?

[Gelsemium]

I think it's really good and that most of us does that. I am not so certain about having the subtitles or not; if we don't there are some parts we might not understand, if we do, we might just get lazy and forget the whole purpose of it.

[Emmanuel]

I know somebody who claims movies and television helped more than anything when learning french. If you have the option to watch with subtitles it can be a great study tool.

On the other hand, be aware that movie dialogue is often unrealistic.

[Cookiesandcream]

I used to watch a lot of spanish movies and listen to spanish music as well while I was learning the language. I agree they help a lot. I'm also watching bollywood movies with subtitles these days cause i'm learning Hindi. It's entertaining and educational at the same time!

[Lithium]

You should firstly watch a movie in a foreign language with the subtitles on. It will help you a lot to understand the expressions and the accents.

Once you've watched a few films with subtitles, try to disable them. See if you can understand what the actors are saying. Just don't struggle too much with it. It won't help you at all.

[sidney]

Yeah, it is actually a good way to learn a new language, since the translation is already written on the subtitles, but sometimes the subtitles are not accurate, because I was watching a Tagalog film that had an English subtitle, and I saw some mistakes.

[Baburra]

Yes, I think it helps to some extent. If you don't have many English speakers around and thus can't really immerse yourself that much in the spoken language. At least, this way, you'd have an experience near to it since the characters onscreen do still converse and you as a viewer can probably learn a lot from it, especially if you are an avid viewer and watch a lot of them.

[Gelsemium]

There is a clear example of how watching movies help. Spanish see their movies in Spanish and therefore they have more difficulties with English, it's like their tongue doesn't bend correctly!  :nerd:

[wander_n_wonder]

I think it depends on the movie that you watch.  If there's a lot of slang in it, it may not be a good idea because you will not learn the proper words.  I would go for more wholesome movies because then again, those are guaranteed to use proper words and sentences. 

[greggreggerson]

Watching films is a good way to practice your listening comprehension. Some films may require subtitles; others may not. Adapt according to the situation and you'll be fine.

[fredkawig]

I've been learning the English language through cartoons and other television programs by the U.S. so I definitely agree, you can pick up a lot by listening and watching shows that are in the language of the one you are trying to learn.

[jfab]

I learned a lot of Japanese words by watching Anime a LOT! Haha It was fun and my brain has easily absorbed the language because of that. It is indeed a good avenue to learn a new language.

[Trellum]

TV shows and movies in English never helped me to learn English, not even one bit.  In my opinion they are great support resources, but only good for learning new words and that's it, because this ''method'' is way too passive.  Of course it might have worked great for some, like my boyfriend who learn most of his English thanks to the subtitled movies and TV shows he watched as a kid.  He swears that helped him a lot and I believe him, but his spelling is really bad!

[whnuien]

When I was still learning English a few years ago, this is exactly what I did. I'd watch English movies (only those with high quality one and not pirated with made up subtitles) with the subtitles on. Even though I was usually more focused into reading the subtitles and not the movie itself but it did help so much.

Nowadays I'm so happy that I do not need the subtitles anymore unless I was watching a Korean or a Japanese drama

[Lasonax]

Being exposed to the language you are learnign is always great, and movies/TV-series is no exception.

One could probably argue that there are far better ways of learning, but entertainment media is always a great way to learn more. It does of course require that you already know some, and/or that you are currently learning it, as it doesn't really work only to watch movies/tv-series... But yeah, it's a great tool to learn more.

[trenchant]

I'm going to join the "watched anime so much I started learning Japanese" train, here.

In general, watching one or two films in a different language you aren't familiar isn't going to help you a whole lot; in my experience, you only really begin to pick up words and understand the language if you watch a lot of films or TV shows. Repetition is always nice, as well.

I would say that watching films is a great supplement to learning a language, though. It's nice being able to listen and realize you can actually understand what people are saying.

[Rosyrain]

Watching movies is a great way to help learn the language, because you have to figure out what is going on in the movie, and your brain kind of craves this.  Another good way is to read children's books in the given language that you are trying to learn.  They are simple and have pictures to help you follow what you are reading.

[003]

It is definitely going to be a good supplement to watch movies in the language you are learning. You will not just get familiarity of the words, but you will also get acquaintance with their culture which is important to bring the language you are learning into your heart. Furthermore, it's not boring; you are really going to have fun while watching.

I also watch French films to supplement my study materials.