A semi-regular feature in which I answer student questions.
Hey Nick, should I be watching English-language media with the subtitles on?
Well, first off, get out of my house! Who let you in, anyway? Well, as long as you’re here, I’ll try and help.
The short story is that opinions on your question are split. Whether to use subtitles, i.e. closed captions or legends, is ultimately a matter of personal preference. Seriously, Google it. On second thought, don’t. I wasted about an hour reading conflicting opinions while writing this and decided to cut all the snippets of articles, studies, and links. (You’re welcome.) There are experts and armchair philosophers espousing both approaches. And both camps make convincing arguments, too. (Incidentally, there’s a small usage issue here. “Closed captions” are intended for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers and include text about the sound and soundtrack. Meanwhile “subtitles” and “legends” only transcribe the audible language. It’s a vanishingly small point, but I’m too pedantic to leave it unaddressed.)
As you already know, you’ve got two options:
1. Watch with subtitles. On the plus side, you’ll understand the content better and perhaps pick up additional vocabulary you might’ve otherwise glossed over.
2. Watch without subtitles. There’s a brutal, frontend-loaded learning curve, but you’ll develop better listening skills and natural phrase chunking that’ll serve you better in real-world situations.
Here’s my take: Do whatever you like best. Up those contact hours. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.
I want to tell you to do the hard thing — to watch without subtitles — but I’d be a hypocrite.
Basically, I’m lazy. At the end of the day, if I’m going to watch something in a foreign language, I’m not willing to strain my ears. I simply won’t watch as much unsubtitled media as I will subtitled media. I challenge myself with a little unsubtitled media everyday, but when it comes to passive, relaxing time, I take the path of least resistance.
Look, without subtitles, how else would you be able to understand the great speakers of our age? To wit:
I always liked reading better anyway.
Moreover, if you’ll indulge me a few moments of old man fist shaking, I’d like to suggest you do neither. Don’t watch English-language media. Listen to English-language podcasts or the radio instead.
Audio-only media forces you to listen and, unlike visual media, you can’t lean on body language or cinematography to cue you in to tone. As someone who’s lived more years with tinnitus than without it, I understand your hesitation. My ears need a break, too. Still, most days I’ve had more screen time than headphone time, so if I’m going to increase one of the two, I’d rather even the score than increase the gap.
To each their own, though. Just do whatever ensures you spend more time doing it. How you stomach those laugh tracks and overwrought soundtracks is beyond me, though.
Oh, and please close the door on your way out.