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Subtitles or no subtitles? (1 Viewer)

username9182

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Oct 31, 2011
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Hi everyone,

I'm doing french continuers and I really need to improve on my listening but I'm not sure about using english subtitles when watching french movies. Will the subtitles help or disadvantage me?

Thanks
 

Kittikhun

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The English subtitles will help you somewhat if you can connect the French words spoken to the English translation in the text, however a much better way to improve your listening skills would be to find a movie dubbed in French with French subtitles included as well. And, just in case you are wondering, as far as I know, there are unfortunately no French movies with French subtitles available in Australia, be them on DVD or Blu-Ray; there are only movies dubbed in French, however the 2 disc special edition DVD for 'A Very Long Engagement (Un Long Dimanche De Fiançailles)' does provide French subtitles in the deleted scenes and the making of documentary found in the Special Features disc (which I must say is pretty weird. They could have done the same thing for the movie!). Some good films and mini-series on DVD that I know are dubbed in French with French subtitles provided therein that are pretty faithful to the French spoken are Toy Story, Atonement, Full Metal Jacket, and Band of Brothers (there are more, but my memory isn't working for me right now). For Blu-Ray, there is Fight Club (however the French subtitles in this film stick to the literal translation of the original English spoken and not to the adapted French spoken), Generation Kill, and The Pacific (once again, there is a hell of a lot more of films on Blu-Ray that have a French soundtrack and French subtitles).

In my opinion and my own experience, the best way for you to improve your listening skills is to go to the following website that my French teacher provided me-

http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/enseigner-apprendre-francais/accueil_apprendre.php

and to watch the short 2 to 3 minute videos on there while at the same time also following the 400 to 500 word French text in the respected transcript provided for the video. It would be best to read the transcript first a couple of times and to understand the meaning of all the words and the gist of the text before watching the video and following the text. Repeat this process until all or most of the French sinks in, if you have the time. If time isn't on your side, I reckon you should repeat this process for at least five times for one video for you to get some benefit out of it, which equates to 20-30 minutes of your time. There should be something on there that you like as there are sets of videos dedicated to a wide range of topics such as French culture, language, literature, and world events and affairs. There is also stuff on science and world history, if I recall correctly. If you are confused about how to use it, I typed more thoroughly about it in a thread here in the French board titled 'How to pick up French quickly'.
 
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