Tips to Navigate Foreign Films/Series
Hello Everyone!
With learning a new language, proper immersion is the key to being able to understand authentically. Watching movies and bingeing your favorite series on Netflix or any streaming service for that matter can help you broaden your vocabulary, get comfortable listening at its natural pace, and recognize certain dialects. Before you press play, I want to give you a few tips to navigating foreign entertainment so that you’re actively learning.
Don’t rely too much on subtitles
The goal here is not to get too comfortable reading. The purpose of subtitles in this scenario is to help you out if you didn’t catch something right away, but you shouldn’t be reading all the way through. When you’re reading, you’re not paying attention to what’s going on to visually associate what’s being said to what’s happening on screen in real time.
Start with something you already know
This is the best place to start. One of my favorite sitcoms is That ‘70s Show, and I kid you not, I could quote that entire show if I wanted to and they have subtitles and audio dubbing available in a variety of languages when it was on Netflix. Since I already know the plotline of every episode, I’m just picking up new words as I go in relation to what I’m watching. So if you’ve seen The Little Mermaid a thousand times, then watch the French version La Petite Serène. If you have the French subtitles on you can even sing along and work on your pronunciation at the same time!
Don’t read lips (that’s cheating!)
When you’re watching something that’s dubbed over from English to another language, you’re not learning anything by reading the actors’ lips in English. The key is to pay as much attention as you can to what’s going on while hearing what they’re saying in the target language. This does take some time to get used to because it’s something you have to learn without thinking, but don’t cheat yourself out of a good learning experience!
Pay attention to body language, tone of voice, and all nonverbals as much as possible
This is how babies learn, you have to forget what you know about English, and go with the flow. I want you to put your critical thinking skills to use right here. If you notice someone has an angry tone of voice towards someone else and storms out…logically that could indicate that character is upset at something the other character said or did. The goal here is for you to be aware of what’s going on and be able to understand the overall plotline by the time you reach the end of the movie. So make sure you’re paying attention to all the nonverbals to make up what you’re missing.
Avoid English subtitles if you can
Again, the goal here is to learn by association to avoid the mental translation that often slows me down in many circumstances. While watching a foreign film, I suggest you keep your subtitles in the target language. This also helps to associate what they’re saying to the written words as I mentioned with learning by association. This is also great for pronunciation so you know what certain words sound like when they’re spoken. The objective is to immerse yourself to the point where English feels foreign to you.
don’t spend too much time on words you don’t know
One of the things that prevents me from comprehending what I’m watching is when I’m listening to something and I get stuck on one word I don’t know. AVOID THIS! Just skip it. The goal is to be able to understand the overall thought as someone is speaking and if you’re spending too much time trying figure out what one word means, you’re going to miss what the person said as a whole. Don’t focus on words, focus on what you DO know and whether or not you can understand the full message.
It’s okay to be uncomfortable
I know it can feel strange at first. Learning a new language is almost like being a baby again and you don’t really understand what anyone is saying, but that’s the point. You have to get used to being uncomfortable because that means there’s nothing else to do, but improve! I believe the greatest accomplishments we can all make is when we get out of our comfort zones and make things happen.
I hope these tips helps you in the process figuring out how to use subtitles or audio dubbing to your advantage and actively learn while watching foreign entertainment. Hopefully in the process you find some good ones to watch, if you’re not sure check my recommendations in the Films and Series section under the Resources tab.