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Movies in foreign language


clod

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Hi everybody! I'd like to ask a few questions :)

1) Do you need a lot of years before to see a movie in foreign language without subtitles?

2) Do you think it is important to reach that level?

3) is it possible without living in the country which you are studying the language?

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Hi everybody! I'd like to ask a few questions :)

1) Do you need a lot of years before to see a movie in foreign language without subtitles?

2) Do you think it is important to reach that level?

3) is it possible without living in the country which you are studying the language?

1. It depends. I think if I focus on learning the language.. it would take less than a year and also watching foreign movies helps a lot with pronunciation

2. It is.. if it's that necessary like if I'm going to move abroad or teach the language

3. Definitely but requires a lot of hard work. It's easier when you have someone to talk to who speaks the language or better yet a native speaker of the language.

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I think it depends on the individual, really. Take for instance this girl in my French class at uni; she learnt to read, write and speak French fluently in a matter of months! She had a fantastic accent, too. Some of us were lagging way behind :cry:

Personally, I'd want to go and live among the native speakers who ideally barely speak English so as to be forced into practicing all the time. I feel that if I did this, I'd be able to watch a whole movie in whatever language in about 8 month to a year. I say this because I could speak passable Italy after living in Italy for 3 months. I was surrounded by non-English speaking Italians.

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I think the answer to these questions will vary because it does depend on how important it is for the person to learn the language, the person's ability to learn and also the setting under which the person is learning. However, I do think it is quite possible to reach that level in which you no longer need to use subtitle if a lot of time and effort is put into learning.

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I have been watching Spanish movies without subtitles long before I actually started learning the language. As a matter of fact, I acquired a lot of basic Spanish in that way. It was like a game for me, trying to guess what the movie was about and what they were saying. Later, when I developed a good command of the language, it was even more interesting for me to follow movies, documentaries and news broadcasts in Spanish while I was till living in a country where they didn't speak Spanish. For me it was all about my personal interest in Spanish and my high motivation to learn it as quickly as possible.

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It will have to depend on a lot of factors. Foremost of which is the target language itself. There are languages that are just so difficult to learn I think. (That's French for me!). But if you wish to study our language (Filipino), I think it's highly possible. Many foreigners find our language very easy to learn.

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I think it's possible to learn languages without being immersed in the environment. I've seen a lot of anime fans take on learning Japanese and succeeding at it without ever going to Japan. It probably takes a while to learn though, I'm guessing at least a year or toe, but if you are very dedicated then you might learn a lot earlier than that.

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1) I think that depends on the learning ability of the person. A person might be a slow learner, so it might take him several years to learn a new language, but for some who are fast learners, it might take them only several months.

2) Yes, if you want to be very fluent in the language that you are trying to learn. But if you are just a casual learner like me, then I think that it's not really important to reach that level.

3) Yes, as long as you are committed to learning the language that you are trying to learn, then it is not important if you are not being immersed in the language that you want to learn in another country.

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It will have to depend on a lot of factors. Foremost of which is the target language itself. There are languages that are just so difficult to learn I think. (That's French for me!). But if you wish to study our language (Filipino), I think it's highly possible. Many foreigners find our language very easy to learn.

Wow, takibari, it very interesting you should say that! I love languages, and I'm actually curious about Filipino if you say it's easy for foreigners to learn! I'll have to check it out and see how I fare lol

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1. This depends on the person, how much effort and time they put into learning the language, if the system they're using works for them, etc. Lots of factors here. I would say maybe a few years with lots of practice, it's definitely possible

2. It's 100% possible to reach that level. Even if the language is something like icelandic, I've seen people learn it in adulthood and mastered it

3. It's still possible, but it might take a bit more effort on your part. You'd have to motivate yourself to find people to practice the language with. Nowadays, there's skype and forums like this so it shouldn't be TOO hard :grin:

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Wow, takibari, it very interesting you should say that! I love languages, and I'm actually curious about Filipino if you say it's easy for foreigners to learn! I'll have to check it out and see how I fare lol

You should check it out! Although I'm a Filipino - our national language (of the same name) - is also NOT my first language. Where I come from, we only used and studied Filipino in school, but outside of it, we don't. I found this free website, you can  start here http://mylanguages.org/filipino_alphabet.php.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I recently tried watching a video for an online class I am taking in Spanish to see if I could understand it. By about 15 minutes into the video I had to switch it back to English because I was very confused. It can be hard listening to someone who is fluent because they speak so fast. If I am going to process it in my mind, the words need to come out and be spoken slowly.

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I have never been in any English or German speaking country, and I can watch movies and TV shows in those languages with no problem. Maybe It's easy for me because I've learned them from a very young age, but for a very long time I didn't have anyone to talk in those languages. I think being able to watch movies is a sign that you have mastered a language.

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Hi everybody! I'd like to ask a few questions :)

1) Do you need a lot of years before to see a movie in foreign language without subtitles?

2) Do you think it is important to reach that level?

3) is it possible without living in the country which you are studying the language?

1. I start doing it right away, even though I can't understand, because it helps me to pick up the accent and flow of speech. Plus, if you happen to understand a word or phrase at an early level of study, it's really encouraging! But as far as how long it takes to reach the level where you can understand most of what is being said without subtitles, well.... It depends on how much you study, how quickly you learn, and what language you are learning.

2. It depends on your goals. For me it's important, because I love watching movies, and in subtitles you tend to lose a lot of what is actually being said, and that bothers me.

3. Yes! I studied Mandarin, never have I been to a country where it is spoken as the main language. But I can watch movies and tv shows without subtitles, no problem ^_^

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You should check it out! Although I'm a Filipino - our national language (of the same name) - is also NOT my first language. Where I come from, we only used and studied Filipino in school, but outside of it, we don't. I found this free website, you can  start here http://mylanguages.org/filipino_alphabet.php.

Fantastic stuff! Thanks so much for sending me that link, I'll go have a look and see how I get on. Wow, we really do learn something everyday, so Filipino is not even your first language!? I know you started learning it in school from a young age, do you remember how hard or easy you found it?

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