Hi guys! It's good to see you again! So i know you are here because you have
a few questions. I'm Arnel from Arnel's Everyday
English, let's get started. Subtitles or no
subtitles? which one is better? Subtitles
in my language? Or subtitles in English?
Which one will help me improve my English faster?
Which one is more effective? These are questions
most English students will ask at some point
along their English learning journey. In this video
I'll tell you which one is right for you. You know, I'm curious. I love
movies so I'm curious what your favourite English movie is.
Let me know in the comments below, movie or tv show.
First, what are subtitles for? The answer might seem really obvious but
it's something not a lot of people think about.
Subtitles are there to help you understand the movie.
Why? So you can enjoy the movie! Right, don't forget movies are a source
of entertainment. You watch them so you can
enjoy yourself, so you can do something nice in your
free time. If you're looking to do some hardcore
studying or exam preparation, movies are not the right resource. So,
if you're going to use english movies or tv shows
to improve your English, the first thing you need to do is
relax. If you use subtitles don't criticize yourself for being lazy.
If you turn off the subtitles and you feel a bit
lost, don't criticize yourself for failing.
You don't want to burn out. What does burn out mean?
If someone burns out, they do too much, feel tired and cannot continue.
Ivan decides to watch movies and tv shows to improve his English.
He pauses the movie every two minutes , he writes down
all of the new vocabulary. He turns off the subtitles because he wants a
challenge. Ivan gets frustrated and bored because
he doesn't understand everything. He turns the movie off. Ivan burned
out. Now he doesn't want to watch another English
movie ever again.
Use subtitles in your own language if you're a lower level student,
and depend on them to understand the movie. Don't worry,
having subtitles in your own language still means you're listening to English.
Use subtitles in English if you feel you need them to
understand the movie or to enjoy the movie.
Even if you're a high level student you might still need subtitles. Don't
forget, the gap between advanced and
native speaker can still be quite big. You know, there are plenty of native
English speakers who do use subtitles. Maybe there's an
English accent that's hard for them to understand.
Or, maybe they're watching a movie or tv show
that's set in the past and the english is a bit
old, it's a bit different. It's like listening to a song in your
own language. You might love the song but you have no
idea what they're singing about. But Arnel, if I have subtitles
I'm reading not listening. Movies are already visual,
if you want to isolate the listening
movies, again, are not the best resource. In that case, podcasts or radio
are the better choices. And there is nothing wrong with
reading. Let's look at something i said earlier in this lesson: You know, there
are plenty of native English speakers who do use
subtitles. With subtitles you can see and hear the English.
Let's take a look at the sentence here: You know,
an informal way to introduce an idea. Plenty of, plenty of, plenty of. That's an
important pair! It means a lot. Do.
What is this do doing there? Who put that do
there? Why do i need that do? I could remove it!
That do there is called the emphatic do.
We add it in English to give a little bit of a surprise,
or, to emphasize our point. Native English speakers do use subtitles.
So you can see in one little sentence there is so much
information. When you have subtitles you can see this,
it's great. The more you see, the more you remember things.
Turn off subtitles if you feel comfortable without them.
Or if you want a challenge and you can still
enjoy the movie. Don't forget, different movies have different levels
of difficulty. So, you might go through a period where
you don't need any subtitles, and then one day you need subtitles
again, because the movie is quite difficult.
Trust yourself, you know which one is best for you.
The more exposure you have to the English language
the better. So the answer isn't yes subtitles, no subtitles. The answer is
English movies and tv shows as often as possible. Thank you so
much for watching today's video! Don't forget to leave a recommendation
for me in the comments below. And of course,
subscribe to my channel so you never miss a video.
I can't wait to see you soon, bye!!!