I have Problems understanding English dvd movies

Question

Hi friends
I have been watching some 2 English movies per day for the past 3 days to improve my English.My problem is i could"nt understand the dialogues properly without the sub-title turned on.I have been trying really hard to understand them without the sub-titles but i really could"nt do it.Its a bit dis-heartening at times.Do you think i should make any small changes in my approach so that i can really learn to understand those dialogues.Or will it be o.k. as time passes.Any suggestions from you would be great.
My thanks to you all in advance.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi David,

My only advice is to be patient, and to realize that such impovements take time. Don't be impatient with yourself.

Two movies a day seems like a lot. Even one would be quite a lot. Be careful that you don't make yourself sick of English!

Let's see if perhaps someone else will be able to offer you more practical advice.

Best wishes, Clive

David Little · Answer

Thank you very much Clive.

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi David,
2 x 3 = 6 movies in 2 days! LOL, that's a lot!
Anyway...

David LittleMy problem is i could"nt understand the dialogues properly without the sub-title turned on.

...hmm, ok, let's try this. Try to answer this question.
When you don't understand, you turn the subtitles on. After you have read the subtitle, do you say something more similar to #1 or more similar to #2?
1) Oh, yeah, they really said that. I could have figured it out if I had listened more carefully.
2) ****, this is difficult. I would have never guessed a single word. They talk too fast.

If you answered #1, your problem might be vocabulary and common expressions. You just need to get used to common expressions and learn vocabulary. This is my problem, for example. This takes time, an awful lot of time, but you'll notice you improve little by little.
If you answered #2, your problem might be pronunciation. You don't understand because you can't hear the words.

Note 1: there are movies that are difficult. There are movies (or animated cartoons) where I can understand 90% of what it's said, and movies where I hardly understand a single word. I'm not kidding! Many characters have regional accents too.
So, don't always watch movies. Try sitcoms or something else, until you find something that sounds easier to you.
Also, using headphones will help you hear the words better.
Note 2: you don't have to understand everything. Try to understand as much as possible, but don't worry if you don't understand a whole sentence or joke. I never use subtitles, because I find them distracting and I noticed they are often wrong, therefore they could be misleading. If I don't understand... who cares. I don't need to understand everything to follow the story and enjoy it. If I don't understand a joke... who cares. I always think "one day I'll understand almost everything, when I'm better at English". And believe me, I don't understand a lot of things.

David Little · Answer

Thanks Kooyeen once again.Thats a really clear,elaborate answer.Thanks for your valuable time spent on the answer(Big one).

IvonneViovy · Answer

Hi!

I teach Spanish in Germany and I have unfortunately realized that neither Spanish nor Latin people talk clearly in films..They use often their slangs, speak very unclearly and very fast!!! I always get headache and my students get disappointed, because they believe they can`t speak a word Spanish...I think the same happens with English spoken films

For that reason I advice my students to listen to the news or watch some reports...

Almaling · Answer

I always use a tool for translating the word which I can't understand,,  I feel very sad, what shall I do if i have no tool to translate?

Annvan · Answer

My advice would simply be to leave the subtitles on and ENJOY the movies. (Let the learning happen at a subconscious level.)

Feebs11 · Answer

It would also be sensible to watch films more than once. You will find you hear more each time.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi,

It is not clear from your post whether you are referring to English subtitles or subtitles in some other language. I think watching films with English subtitles can be a good approach to begin with. Later on, you will realise that you hardly ever read them, but on the other hand you could end up developing a bad habit that will eventually be very difficult to get rid of. You could also train your ear to recognise the different sounds of English as well as what different colloquial pronunciations sound like. The latter might be particularly helpful in helping you undersand dialogues spoken at fast native-speaker speed. I do not know which accent of English you are most familiar with; you do need to gain familiarity with as many of them as you can. I would probably start with mainstream RP, South London (or Estuary English), and General American. Later on, I would move on to work with regional British and American varietes (such as Northern English English and Southern American English). It tends to be fairly easy to make sense of most Canadian, South African, Australian, and New Zealand English accents once the British and American ones are mastered.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi

I'm Damian from Poland I have excaly the same problem with understnading spoken english I mean real everyday spokenenglish just like DVD movies for example coronation street brithish soap opera movie...Why?I think there are lots of reasons one of them is that I used to get listining american english movies and I also used to learn english at school with teacher from Canada they frist of all have different accent and pronauncition and they teach the lenaguage the easy wasy as it spossible that everyone can undestedn it..That's the point..In most of the english school the teachers speak very slowly using in my opinon not real spoken english so when I get to Uk or Australia I hear totally different kind of englsish thta I can undestensn practically notnomng of it..I think thta whole the problem with this issue..And there is something else in school we are not taught everyday english connverastions we don't use for example slang, idioms etc. only we read stupid books offical english..

Damian

I have Problems understanding English dvd movies

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