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Will I learn faster by watching movies with Spanish subtitles, or Spanish language?

I am looking to teach myself Spanish. I have instructional tapes and a workbook.

I learned quite a bit of my Spanish from films (and then with speaking to native speakers and living in Spain…but still…)

I think the best way to start off with is to watch a film you pretty much know inside out. Switch it to Spanish dubbing and put Spanish subtitles up. Now, as with any subtitles they won’t put up every single word they say, instead paraphrasing, but you’ll get most of it. This way you don’t have to worry about following the storyline, and also you’ll remember some of your favourite lines when they come up and you’ll get how they translated it (sometimes it’s not entirely the right phrase and it can be disappointing…) It might be a good idea to note down some of the words you particularly like or find useful, too.

Then I’d watch it again at a later date without subtitles and just follow as much as you can.

Once you’ve exhausted your collection, I’d look into actual Spanish OV films. Some good ones that are relatively easy to get hold of are (I’ll put the international title just in case your DVD store has only the titles in English):

“El laberinto del fauno” (Pan’s laberynth), “El orphanato” (The orphanage), “La lengua de las mariposas” (The Butterfly’s Tongue), “Mar adentro” (The Sea Inside), “Y tu mamá también” (And your mother, too – quite a tough one to understand this one!) “Diarios de motocicleta” (The Motorcycle Diaries) “Volver” (same in the international title)

When you buy them, make sure you can put Spanish subtitles on, because sometimes they only come with English subtitles that you can’t even remove! Maybe the first time, watch with English subs, then Spanish ones, then none.

The most important thing though is to not think it’s possible to just learn through the “osmosis” – you aren’t going to just learn it by listening. Sure, your understanding will improve immensely, but you’ll have to actually learn to use the words/expressions etc for yourself when you speak or write. One way I did it was to note down the words as I went along, jump back to a couple of lines just before it and say it along with the character. I then tried to see if I could use it in a sentence about myself and my life, or include it in my next msn chat with a Spanish friend.

This is really how you can use films to make your language learning go faster, and be enjoyable too!

Trailer ‘Spanish Movie’

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