Everyone has their own method, and depending on who you ask, you will get one answer or another. The person you really need to ask, though, is yourself: how much can you understand? How much do you want to learn? Do you want to learn while watching films?
I am a beginner:
The most important thing is to know what your level is in English, French, German and so on, and from there the choice becomes much easier. Why do we say this? Because if you are at beginner level, however much you would like a film in the original version with no subtitles, you will find it very hard to follow. At that same level, though, to get started you can watch cartoons for children and you will not only understand them better, you will also learn plenty of new things, pronunciation included.
My level is intermediate or upper intermediate:
If that is your case, we have good news for you: you are ready to watch a film in the original version. Yes! No subtitles, no dubbing, nothing at all. That said, at that level it may suit you better to turn the subtitles on (careful, though: not subtitles in your own language, you cheeky thing!) Why? Because when you have that visual support, as well as following far more of the film, it will help you learn more vocabulary and structures typical of the language (remember the post on slang?)
My level is advanced:
Congratulations. At that level you are probably not even asking yourself these questions. In fact, when your level is high, you almost certainly prefer to enjoy a film in the original version with no reinterpretation and no loss of magic. The jokes will be funnier, you will engage more with the characters and the sound will be more authentic. Who wants to watch a dubbed film if they understand the original language perfectly?
Learning by watching films:
One of the best things about new technology is the reach we now have to watch television or films in other languages. We can watch channels we could not even have imagined before and, thanks to that, we can learn a little more every day.
Stop and think for a moment: How do children learn? We say they are like sponges that soak everything up, but if you look closely, a child’s first years of life are based on repetition and music. We repeat the word mummy fifty thousand times, we sing songs about everything, and from there they gradually learn more and more vocabulary. When we set out to learn a language, or improve it, we often make the mistake of wanting to go too fast. We want it and we want it now. And of course, it never crosses our minds to sit down and watch children’s cartoons. And yet… Have you noticed that in children’s cartoons they speak more slowly, articulate more clearly and repeat words a lot? If they are talking about a nest (a little bird’s nest), they will probably say that word 15 or 20 times in the same episode. By the end of the episode you will have internalised it and, without realising, you will also have trained your ear considerably. So do not let yourself be rushed, and enjoy the child within you!
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