It's movie night.
You grab some snacks, choose a film, and start watching.
But then this happens.
So in this video we're going to see why this happens and, more importantly, how to fix it, why you can't understand movies.
There are five reasons why this happens.
One of the most important reasons why you can't understand English movies is because of connected speech. native speakers never pronounce words separately instead they connect everything together for example instead of did you eat you may hear did you eat did you eat or i'm going to becomes i'm gonna but i'm gonna what are you doing becomes what are you doing are you doing with all this stuff i don't know becomes i don't know now that's where you get confused everything is linked together and they speak fast that's the real challenge the second reason is usually idioms movies and tv series are packed with expressions that mean something literally but in reality have another meaning these are usually idioms for example instead of hearing i can't decide a character might say i'm on the fence i'm on the fence Instead of saying he is very angry, the character may say he blew a fuse.
He blew a fuse.
Instead of saying this is very complicated, someone might say it's a can of worms.
It's a can of worms.
So idioms are very confusing.
Reason number three is obsessing over every single word.
This one is huge.
You hear a word and you don't know the meaning.
So you start thinking about uh, this is familiar, this sounds familiar, but what does it mean?
And as you are thinking, the movie is going on.
So you lose track of the film.
As you are thinking about a word that you may not remember, and then you start focusing again on the movie, but you don't know what happened.
So you have to rewind and you get all confused.
Reason four is usually speed and rhythm.
Native speakers speak fast.
You know movies and TV series are not specifically made for language learning.
So the pace is fast.
The rhythm is natural.
People talk over each other.
They mumble.
They whisper.
They say something very fast.
They use informal language or contractions.
Your ear hasn't been trained for this as a language learner.
And reason number five is subtitles in your mother tongue.
That's a very, very bad thing to do.
Do you know why?
Because you're watching the movie in english with subtitles in your mother tongue, let's say italian, chinese or japanese.
So what are you focusing on?
Are you focusing on what you hear or are you focusing on what you see and what you read?
Essentially, a listening activity is turning into a reading and translating activity.
You are just training your brain to translate and that's a big no-no.
So we discussed five reasons, but more important than the reasons are the solutions.
How can we fix the issue so we can understand movies when we watch them without subtitles?
Part two the solutions.
Solution number one that i have for you is start with tv series, not movies.
Why?
Here's the thing about movies.
Every time you play a new movie, you're starting from zero.
New characters, new story and new plot, new setting, new environment, new cast.
Your brain is focusing a lot to understand what the story is, who the people are, what is happening in the movie, and then part of your brain is trying to focus on the language.
So you're basically dividing your brain into two parts One part trying to understand the characters, the story, the plot, the setting.
The other part trying to understand the language.
So what happens is, after two or three minutes of struggling, you decide to turn on subtitles and enjoy the film.
But it's totally different with TV series.
Why?
Because after a few episodes you get to know the plot, the storyline, the cast, the characters and what's going on and what's happening and the setting and the environment.
You will become familiar with the context.
So that part of your brain that was obsessed with trying to understand what's going on becomes smaller, so there is more capacity available to focus on the language.
In other words, instead of trying to understand who this person is, your brain will now focus on what this person is saying, because you already know who the person is.
More importantly, your ears will get used to the accents and pronunciations of the characters, So it will sound familiar.
Therefore, step one, choose a TV series to watch, not a movie.
But even with the TV series, it may be very hard to understand 100% of what's going on.
So a very important technique is to be able to understand only 60 of what's going on and then guess the rest of it.
But how can you guess?
Based on the context, because you know the characters, because you know what's going on, because you know the plot of the show, it's easier for you to guess what might be going on.
So stop focusing on understanding 100 of what they are saying.
Every single word.
Stop focusing on that and focus on understanding 50 to 60 of what they're saying and then try to guess.
The rest of it, a 50 to 60% understanding is a big win.
Now, another problem is that they usually speak very fast, right?
So my recommendation is to put the playback speed on 08 x, that is, 80 of the original speed, and i think every media player devices can now offer you um the adjustment settings for the playback speed.
And by putting it from 100 to 80 of the original speed you are giving your brain enough time more than enough time analyze and to keep up, and you're making those connected speech sentences and the fast rhythm and the fast pace of the native speakers much simpler for your brain to digest.
So start with 80 percent and once you feel comfortable and confident, Go back to 100.
And solution number four, should we turn on subtitles or not?
And if we turn on subtitles, should they be in my mother tongue or in English?
Before I answer this, I want to tell you that if you want to have the summary of this lesson and all other lessons of mine on youtube in a single pdf file for free, you can download my ultimate english book with more than 500 pages of lesson summaries.
Go ahead, download it now for free.
Also, don't forget to give this video a thumbs up and if you are new to my channel and don't want to miss the other videos of mine, click subscribe.
Let's talk about subtitles now.
So the common suggestion is to have a ladder approach.
That is, first you start with subtitles in your mother tongue, then you go to subtitles in English, and then you go to watching it without subtitles.
But I think this is absolutely wrong.
I disagree.
Why?
Because if your first step is watching a movie with subtitles in your mother tongue, you are telling your brain to shut down the ears and only turn on the eyes and the translation machine.
Essentially, you are turning a listening activity to a translation activity.
And translation is the worst thing you can do.
I have a full video about why you shouldn't translate and how to think directly in English.
Go ahead and watch it after this one.
So forget about subtitles in your mother tongue.
Even if you are a beginner learner, you do not need subtitles in your mother tongue.
So what should I do?
Watch with English subtitles, even if I don't understand?
Here's my suggestion to make it easy.
Start by watching a show you have watched in the past.
So you've watched something in the past with subtitles in your mother tongue or with dubbing in your language.
Go ahead and give it another chance.
Watch it again, this time in english.
But why does this work?
Think about it.
You already know what is going to happen.
You know the cast, you know the characters, you know the setting, you know the ending, so there will be no surprises.
Now, when you watch it again with English subtitles, what is your brain going to do?
Only focus on understanding what the characters are saying because you've seen the movie before.
You've seen the TV series before.
It's all simple.
Your entire brain's capacity is being used to understand the language.
So watch the same movies or series that you watched in the past in your mother tongue, this time with English audio and English subtitles.
Now, if it is too hard for you, I have another recommendation.
Instead of watching TV series, watch animated series.
But why?
They are not for adults.
They are for the younger audience, right?
Exactly.
And because they are for the younger audience, they usually have simpler language.
It's easier to understand what they say.
It's not as fast as TV series.
It's easier to understand.
So go for animated series.
And my top recommendations.
My all-time favorite TV series are Kung Fu Panda, Legends of Awesomeness avatar, the last airbender or spongebob.
Yeah, i'm 32, but i don't care.
I love animated series.
So, to wrap it up, do not watch with subtitles in your mother tongue.
Start watching something you have seen before, so that the next time you're watching it in English, you're only focusing on what they're saying and not on what is happening.
And if it is still difficult for you, go with animated series.
All right, time for a bonus tip.
Apart from those solutions, I highly recommend having a notebook specifically for movie vocabulary.
This is something I really love and this is something I used to do as a child.
And that's how I learned English in the first place.
While you're watching a movie or a TV series or an animated series, whenever you hear something new, a new word, a new phrase, a new idiom, write down the name of the movie and, under that list, all the new things you have learned from that movie.
If it is too difficult and you don't know what they mean, use ChatGPT, use Gemini, use AI or use dictionaries.
Make a list of the movie vocabulary in your notebook.
And trust me, after doing this for more than 20 times, you have a personal dictionary.
And that is the most valuable thing you can have.
You can review it, and it's gonna help you by a lot.
You're going to understand movies and TV series much more easily.
I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.
Now go to the comments section and let me know what you think about the strategies and whether or not you also have these problems.
See you soon.
Bye.
