It’s interesting that you mention to write down subtitles and decipher them. I’ve been working on Spanish for 1.5 years and did this once before seeing this video for no known reason and it gave me such a feeling of accomplishment that I decided I would continue doing it. I appreciate you validating this method. Good information coming from your channel. Thank you.
Appreciate your comment. I agree it gives me a feeling of accomplishment. In my case it also helps memories to stay in my brain because I come across same words over and over again.
I've watched a lot of videos about language learning and I think this is one of the best so far, clear explanations and showing us exactly the way you do it. I'm not very fan of writing down but it made sense when you said that instead of translating the whole sentence we should try to figure out the meaning by looking up the words so I'll try it
I really appreciate your comment! It’s hard to describe everything in the video but I basically keep doing what is shown there. Translating the whole sentence may help at the very beginning, but eventually we won’t be, so my focus is always on understanding what it means as it is in the target language! In my case handwriting also helps memories to stay in my brain.
I learned english in one year by just watching videos with no subtitles at all. Since my natlanguage already uses the latin alphabet, i just learned to write in english over time
lol the english classes we had in school were garbage. I got the basics through them and then started to learn english mostly by myself playing minecraft, watching videos on it and browsing the web about it. English videos on youtube also contributed to my english skills. Was so good the english teacher made me their assistant in ninth grade lmao.
I’m a English learner from Taiwan and I just started almost 1 weeks ago, sometimes I really think that is a long journey, thank you to told me how long you spent on English learning and how to learn, it’s really useful. BTW I think’醉後決定愛上你’ is really wonderful drama in Taiwan, maybe I watched it more than 3 times, is really cool to see you use it to learning Chinese, keep going!👍💗
Thanks for watching my videos and leaving a comment. It did take me quite a while. English is a difficult language for native Chinese/Korean/Japanese speakers. My next video will be about how I keep my motivation for a long time. I hope my channel can be helpful for your learning. 醉後決定愛上你 is definitely fun to learn and it's really amazing to see 張孝全 and 許瑋甯 acting together again in 誰是被害者 10 years later!
@@natenoto Oh god, I think I will really need tips on how to keep motivation, I will be waiting for your video!! Also I want to mention a book called 我在100天內自學英文翻轉人生, it’s by a Korean author who talks about how to learn English, even though that only have Korean and Chinese versions , but most important thing is he use exactly same way to learn English! The only difference is he will keep watching the same episode over and over until 100 times, then he moves on to the next episode and repeat that. It’s really wild to watching the same episode 100 times, that will definitely need motivation to keep going.
Great tips man, Friends is my best tv show I'm currently learning with it now, But some jokes it's hard to get it sometimes I feel down when I don't understand
Keep it up! Don't worry about the jokes because there are ones we can't understand unless we have experience living in the U.S. Thanks for leaving a comment.
i have a similar notetaking-style with russian. i mark stress, write other inflections of the word, give collocations (sometimes if it's very new/interesting i write an example or two in context), and sometimes i show related words with a similar meaning. im not great at the "coming back and studying part", but we have very a very similar breakdown of priorities. i like to ask native speakers about something im unsure about, but if i dont understand something after multiple dictionaries and messageboards, it's okay. eventually it'll make sense
I love watching anime but Im learning ENGLISH so i started to watch it in English dubbed, it's really fun. some people will say ENG dub is bad and not good as Japanese voices ( i used to say that as well :p) its not bad at all really. so Im learning English from ANIME not just from anime but yeah when it comes to TV shows I only watch anime so this is the only way to watch anime without feeling guilty.
Hi Nate. Thanks for the very detailed method. I like it! I find I get bored as soon as it seems like work. Well, not as soon as, but after a few weeks of a "routine". Anyway, when you say at the end you don't translate, I'm assuming you mean you don't translate the whole subtitle blocks you don't understand. Because you do translate the parts you don't understand and you piece the meaning together yourself. Is that right? Also: Do you watch an episode once without stopping to write the subtitles? It sounds to me like you wouldn't really be immersed in the audio if you keep doing that.
Thanks for the comment. What I wanted to mean was, I don't "write down" the translation of a whole sentence. I take notes on the words/grammar I don't get, and I kinda do translate the whole sentences, but that's just only in my mind. My focus is always to understand the message of the sentence as it is in the target language. I showed the translation process in the video only because I was just hoping it would be easier for the viewers to understand the way I think in my mind. But I got a similar comment from other viewers, so I think the way I described/spoke was kinda confusing and not clear. Apologies for that. I currently don't watch through an episode without stopping. I usually write down about 30 seconds of subtitles and then decipher them. And I repeat it til the end. The biggest reason is because my Chinese level is not really high, and I know I wouldn't understand most of what is spoken. When I don't understand, I don't feel like I'm acquiring the language. So, instead of just listening to the audio that I don't understand, I just start writing down from the very first round. After I get to understand the whole episode, I do watch/listen to the same episode and try to improve my listening comprehension. If there is only one meaning for me in listening without understanding, that would be getting used to the audio elements (not meaning) like their rhythm or pitch tones, etc. It IS important, but in my case I can cover that in the 2nd/3rd/4th.. round of watching the same episode.
Some time ago I started doing some of what you suggest here - writing down sentences in the language I am trying to learn (Spanish). I did try to translate though. I don't get why you say not to translate. You have some really helpful ideas here, and you motived me to get back to watching the show and writing. Thanks.
Thanks for the comment. To be more precise, I don't "write down" the translation of a whole sentence. The reason is because I want to focus on understanding in the target language. I kinda do translate in my mind by looking up the words I don't know, but still, my focus is always to get the meaning as it is in the target language because the fluency I think is not about translating fast, it's more about becoming able to think and speak in the target language like I don't translate from Japanese to English in most cases. However, IF you are at the very beginning stage and writing down a whole translated sentence does help your learning, I really don't stop you from doing that because I think having fun and motivating ourselves is another important element in language learning. Hope this helps and thanks for pointing that out.
Thank you for the great content. What do you think about memorizing words? Do you try to memorize the words, expressions from the content you use to learn languages? Whenever I encounter unfamiliar words, I feel pressured to memorize them. I'm curious about your thoughts!
Thanks for the comment. It's more like I get familiar with the words by watching the same episode again and again, and that way I understand not just what it means but also how to use it along the context. It kinda takes time but when I push myself to memorize, that pressure is demotivating and things don't work good to me.
難得 in colloquial English translates to something like "(It's) not every day you (get to) ...verb" or " a (adjective noun's) hard to find" "you rarely come across (adjective noun) these days. I would translate it as "It's on me. I insist. It's not every day I get to have lunch with a Taiwanese person."
Just found your channel. Its refreshing to have someone present things without hyper-sensationalizing their content or results. Im just crossing that Beginner-> Intermediate boundry in Japanese where Im starting to immerse in native Japanese content. Do you have any recommendations for fun Japanese situational comedies for beginner to intermediate comprehensible input? Any TV, Anime, Movies etc. I've mostly been watching a lot of ガキ. Its very funny, but not very comprehensible. 🤣
@@natenoto No worries. Thanks for the reply! I've been watching a bit of しろくまカフェ which seems like it was made for language learners, because the dialog is simple, slow, clear, and combines both polite and casual speech in every day life. But other than that, I haven't found much which is suitable for beginners/intermediate and also interesting and enjoyable to watch.
Thanks for the comment. Yeah I used to learn simplified Chinese characters a while ago. Right now I'm just having fun with the difficult version. If you meant you wanted me to use simplified ones in my videos, I will think about it from the next one on.
Hello, Nate! I'm Brazilian and I'm trying to learn English and Japanese on my own. Can you recommend any series, movies or TV shows to learn Japanese? I'm a beginner. Thank you very much for your help!
Thanks for the comment. Yeah it kinda looks old fashioned and may not be motivational enough for some people. Language-wise, I'm not sure how English has changed in the last one/two decades, but if you are worried about it, it's no problem to look for latest series that you think you would have fun with.
What should I do if i couldn't understand a specific word even after translating it , or don't know how to use it or the difference between it and the other synonyms that are close in meaning to it ??
I'm trying to learn Japanese what to watch I'm preparing for an exam and I'm studying by myself only without any guidance if you suggest me good books to for beginner levels reading and writing I've no problem in listening Japanese i can't translate or speak
Hi Nate, I believe you when you said you learnt English by watching videos but I do not think this method is for me. Watching videos should be fun, but your method requires a lot of writing input which is not fun for me. Different people use self-discipline in different ways when learning a language and I prefer to learn grammar by doing exercises, having lessons with a teacher online, and reading very simple books and then, when I know a bit of the language, watch videos to listen out for familiar words and learn everyday phrases. I like your suggestion of subtitles in the target language - this makes a big difference. Thank you for posting and good luck with Chinese.
I really appreciate your honest opinion! If you have ways that fit you better, that's OK. I suggested my way of learning but I also understand it doesn't apply to everyone because people have different personalities and preferences. I will watch the way I speak in the video. Wish you a good luck to you, too!
In my Chinese learning right now, I just start writing down the subtitles and taking notes right away because I know I wouldn't understand most what is spoken. But when I start feeling a bit more confident in the future, there would be a case that I watch first to test myself and clarify what I do understand and don't understand, and then start taking notes in the 2nd round. I would just try to keep a good balance of both.
The idea of this sound great but I have some problems. I spent an hour doing this yesterday and I only got through about 5 minutes of the actual show I was watching. I don’t know if it’s better to write down all subtitles during the show and decipher them later or doing it all while watching. I also found it quite draining afterwards, it feels similar to when I study. I know studying isn’t how you’re supposed to truely learn a language but I’m kind of stuck in this situation. This all sounds great and seems like it works but just having some issues with it.
Thanks for the comment. Going through 5 mins in one hour sounds pretty fast. I just love how much I learn from that even if it may seem to be a small amount. It was and is draining to me, too, but it also gives me a feeling of accomplishment, and a feeling of progress when I decipher less over time. However, if it is too painful for you , you don't necessarily need to stick to this way of learning, and it would be better to look for another way that makes you feel good and makes you wanna keep learning. >I don’t know if it’s better to write down all subtitles during the show and decipher them later or doing it all while watching. It is all up to you (makes no difference in the end), but I write down and decipher little by little.
I'm learning Japanese. But the other way. Japanese shows with English subtitles. I don't think writing down Japanese for an English speaker makes sense. Japanese writing is too difficult and will just slow down the process. I also completed the Japanese course on Duolingo for basic Japanese vocabulary.
I wanted to ask, if you’re writing the subtitles for a whole episode doesn’t that take up a lot of pages after a few days of this routine? In the notebooks you showed in the video how long did it take you to fill them up?
I use A4/letter size notebooks, and a 40-50mins episode takes about 30 pages (15 sheets of paper front and back). It may vary depending on what language we write down. It takes me about several hours to finish one episode.
Do you ever get bored from such extreme repetition? After watching many many many videos on language learning methods, i feel that the most successful people have just an insane tolerance for going the same thing over and over again. I wonder about the psychology. When we play a game or sport we love we can play it over and over and over and never get bored. But, giving so much of my attention to a TV show, i can only stick with it a few weeks (so far) before i want to stop because of yhe repetition but also how long it's taking. I thonk i have an issue with impatience and need to switch my mindset. The mindset is "enjoy the process" but I'm also aware that part of thay process has to be TONS of repetition. I wonder what the psychology is and how to solve this for me (and many others) because the biggest reason people quit is because it gets boring and repetitive.
Thanks for the comment here as well. I actually have also been wondering the same thing, like why I can enjoy repeating the same thing. I hope I don't sound arrogant, but this is just out of pure curiosity, because if I can put this into actual words, I just thought it could be valuable for others. That being said, I always try not to make myself bored. The first thing I should mention would be that I like learning new things, and in that sense, every single new sentence is always a new learning of grammar and vocabulary, which is always fun for me. Aside from that, I always choose the episode/series that I am interested to learn. When I find the series super fun, sometimes I keep learning til, say, the episode 4, 5 or 6. When I get enough of it, I just go ahead and look for another series. Sometimes I just finish the first episode, and look for another series. Reviewing the episodes that I already watched is painful for me, so what I enjoy more is always learning from new episodes and it takes about 70%, I think, of my learning. I always try to keep a comfortable balance. It does take time, but just in my opinion, any methods take time in language learning. Maybe there is one that takes less time and another that takes more, but perhaps it's a small difference. So, if that's the case, I just dare to choose the one that I can have fun with the most so I can keep learning. And it just happened to be my way of learning from TV series. I also have a long term goal that I wanna impress native speakers. I feel this has something to do with my introverted nature, but right now it's difficult to articulate. I intuitively do all of these, and haven't been able to put them into words. I'm hoping that I can make a video about this. I don't think you are just being impatient. I think your/my "enjoy the process" mindset is an important element in language learning.
@@natenoto so much of "why" we do what we do is hard to explain because it's triggered by a deeper need in us to impress, to prove ourselves, or something similar. I love that you mentioned that. Your comment doesn't come across as arrogant at all. At least not to me. Keep making your videos :)
What do you think about cartoons for all ages ¿Too easy? I mean, I enjoy cartoons like SpongeBob or Phineas and Ferb, but I don't know if it could be too low efectiveness
@@natenoto Yeah, I know, but I'm asking because I sometimes feel that my English skills are not going better fast enough because this media is... too much comprehensible? I mean, sometimes I understand all they saying. I don't know if it's obvious or not, but I'm not an english native speaker (I'm from Spain)
I see, then I suggest you choose the ones a bit difficult for you. When I understand most of what is spoken, that gives me a feeling of confidence, but it also means that I'm not learning much from that.
@@natenoto Well, the thing is too that I don't know if the vocab is too easy or in fact I'm better in the language that I think. I don't know if de-activate english Subtitles, because maybe if I should recognise words without subtitles I understand less. Idk
We would come across same words/grammar as we move forward anyway. But I also wanna make the most of what I already learned, so I dare to review from time to time. When I do so, sometimes I get to understand what I didn't previously, which gives me a feeling of progress. I try to keep a comfortable balance of moving forward and reviewing.
Hello のと I'm a beginner in Japanese and would love to keep watching your videos but I would like to give you a tip for future videos if I may, would it be possible for you turn down the bass level on your microphone? I have a bit of trouble understanding some of the "s" and "t" I think you would sound clearer for your audience, sorry if this looks rude.
Thanks for pointing it out. This is not rude at all, in fact, the audio quality is the highest priority in my production even though I still figuring out the best way. The first thing I do in my editing process is to remove the uncomfortable mouth noises and popping noises like the sound "p" makes. Will try different settings next time on and also test the audio with multiple equipment.
Please ask me, I am at the A2 level... in German. What would happen if I completely immersed myself in German... such as spending 10 hours a day only watching films and series in German... What do you think would happen?
@dianabeaa Thanks for the comment. Theoretically speaking, you will only very slightly improve your German, because humans acquire a language when we understand the message of the communication, and A2 is not a level high enough to understand films and series by just watching or immersing yourself with (unless they are made for kids or beginner learners). If there are subtitles in German and your native language that may help but I'm not sure how much they would. From a practical perspective, it is important to form a habit of learning the target language almost everyday because language acquisition takes time. And to do so, I believe we should choose the learning style in which we can have fun because it requires the least willpower and is the easiest way to form a habit. So, if you can enjoy immersing yourself in German for long hours, that would work good for you in terms of forming a learning habit, but the concerns are that 1) it is difficult to understand films and series at an A2 level by just watching 2) 12 hours a day is too much time. What I can suggest is to give yourself a good vibe by watching or immersing yourself with German films or series, but separately spend some time actively trying to understand them. That way I think you can combine the second language acquisition science into your practical learning preference. Hope I am answering your question.
@@natenoto I have a C1 level in English and I got a score of 7 in IELTS. Believe me... I never learned English. I was addicted to English series and movies. Over the years, I magically began to speak English and understand 90% of everything in English. Now I am learning German... I understand reading texts, but I find new difficulty in understanding listening and speaking
@dianabeaa Wow, that's a phenomenal way to acquire a language. I am also experiencing new challenges in my third language (Chinese), which I never did in English. Some of the grammar rules are similar to English, but others to my native language, which is pretty confusing for me. But what I do is...still the same, like I stick to my favorite learning style (learning from TV series) and try to get myself used to the target language, and I feel it's working pretty good except that it's taking more time than I expected it would, but you know, we never know how long it will take to acquire a new language. German is obviously more complicated than English, so I guess what you are feeling is pretty natural. You've already built up your learning style that you know works for you, and that's already a huge advantage. Maybe sometimes you can try new style like deliberate learning or whatever, but you can also always go back to your style any time.
Once I'm done with the basic grammar I jump onto this. When I look at sentences, it's a green light for me if I can tell which one is conjunction, verbs, nouns, etc. even if I need to look up each word.
From what it sounds like from this video I’m assuming you need to have a pretty good understanding of the language first. Am I correct in saying this? The reason I say this is you were writing what the words mean then only after did you look up words in the dictionary that you didn’t know. If this is the case, what is the best way to get a basic understanding of the language I want to learn before doing this?
I think your best bet would be to start with a textbook or an app like Duolingo just to build an understanding of the basic words in your target language. That way you have a starting amount of vocabulary that you can then expand on using the strategy from the video. Depending on how challenging your target language is, that first phase of building the basic vocabulary could take anywhere from 2-3 weeks to 2-3 months, especially if you have to learn a new alphabet too.
@@danielceballos2678 my language that I’m starting to learn as of yesterday is Spanish. I’ve tried this language and other languages before but never went through with it completely. I’m not a big fan of Duolingo due to how mind numbingly slow it is. Plus I hear it doesn’t get you even conversational. Do you have any recommendations? My goal is to be able to watch shows and read things in Spanish and talk with Spanish friends/coworkers. Maybe someday goto Mexico. I have never used a textbook and don’t know where to start with those. I have a few apps I’ve tried but all are super expensive. Busuu seems okay out of the ones I have. Sorry this is kind of all over the place but I really want this to happen and want to have some kind of structure with it.
Did you write down and translate EVERY SINGLE sentence. Ot just try the ones you couldn't understand? I'd imagine that you would have to write everything at the beginning,vit maybe around season seven you can understand a lot so your only writing lets say 30% of the sentences, the ones with unclear meanings? Or was it consistently everythiny?
In the case of my Chinese learning right now, I have been writing down every single sentence. I initially needed to look up almost every single word (and I did) and took notes on that. I don't make an exact translation of the whole sentence, because my focus is to understand the message (not a translation) of the sentence AS IT IS in Chinese. I skip the parts that I don't understand even though I look up in the dictionary I've done about 10 episodes of Netflix drama (about 45 mins each episode), and grammar wise, I look up and take notes less and less over time. Vocabulary wise, I still need to look up many. In general, I look up and take notes less over time because I skip what I'm confident that I know. When I don't need to look up a lot, it means I became able to understand more than before and give me a feeling of accomplishment and confidence, but it also means that I'm not learning a lot from that. So, in that case, I look for a different type of series so I can learn more. Hope this helps.
I really enjoyed your video, but I'm not sure exactly the method you're using. Do you stop the video every time there is a new line of subtitle and copy it? That seems the only way to capture the subtitles. If that is the case, it must take quite a long time to get through a 20 minute episode. Also, your notebooks don't look like the pages you show when you're demonstrating the method. Your notebooks mostly just show the subtitles with just a very few notes on the right side of the page for the occasional subtitle. I don't see anything showing the vocabulary, the grammar analysis, etc. for each subtitle.
Thanks for the comment. I pause the video every time a new line appears. It does take some time, so I usually write down for one or two minutes of the video and try to understand it, and then move onto the next one or two minutes..and repeat that through the end. Apologies to the confusion on my notebooks. I'm used to this way of learning, so I don't always write down the analysis. But when I look at the sentences, I do think in the same way as I showed in the video. I just wanted to visualize it, hoping it is easier to understand. So, I do write down all the subtitles, analyze in my mind in many cases or analyze more explicitly when the sentence is complicated/difficult, and take notes on the right side about the vocabulary and grammar. I skip taking notes on what I already know. Thanks for pointing that out once again. I will try to make videos with less confusion.
@@natenoto thanks for the thorough reply. I will definitely give this a try. One of my great frustrations is how long it has taken me to even begin to understand movies and TV series. This is the best suggestion that I have seen of the many, but I have come across the addresses of this common problem.
Thanks for pointing that out. It's just for the explanation of the way I think in my mind. As you can find around 06:20-06:25 I don't make exact translations of the whole passages. I only take notes on some of the words, grammar, and pronunciation.
I can't get past step one - don't make it too difficult It's all too difficult. It's always too difficult. Even a second grader is enormously skilled at their language compared to a language learner
@@cw8790 If you started out with Friends, that's not easy at all. Trying to follow what you showed with Chinese, either you're going through a slow decoding process of looking up half the words in every sentence, or you got to upper intermediate before starting this style of learning. (Just realized you probably aren't the video creator. Don't know why i plunged in like that.)
@@muskyoxesif you're at 2000+ words beforehand i don't think it would be too bad. And you could always just move to something easier like cartoons for 6 months while you learn another 1500 words or so
@@Matt-jc2ml Yeah, you and the other person are probably giving the right answers, but it seems contrary to this video. (And i'm amazed at how good children are with their language - children's material still requires a beginner to go a long way to catch up.)
@muskyoxes First of all, I really appreciate your comments. I apologize if my video misled you. Your point made me realize that I said "easy", but in fact the standard of "easy" actually varies. The process I showed in Chinese is the actual process that I go through for sure. My Chinese level was that I knew the basic grammar from the the classes I took in college about 10 years ago. So, I initially look up many/most of words in every sentence and try to decode/decipher them. One of the reasons why I take this way is because, even after I studied English for about 4 years (from 12 to 15 years old) at school, I couldn't understand most of what was spoken in Friends when I first watched it and needed look up most of the words in every single sentence. 4 years of study at school wasn't a waste, but at the same time, I think, feeling difficult to understand the real communication (like in Friends or any others) is something I need to get over sooner or later. So, as Friends extremely increased my English proficiency, in my Chinese learning I just jumped onto learning from TV series once I felt I was done with the basic grammar, even though I need to look up a lot. It takes time but it is the effective way for me. I tried to learn Chinese fast once, but failed. (I will mention this in the next video) Aside from that, I personally recommend learning from TV series but I also understand it doesn't apply to everyone because people have different personalities and preferences. When there is a way that fit you, that is more than great.
It’s interesting that you mention to write down subtitles and decipher them. I’ve been working on Spanish for 1.5 years and did this once before seeing this video for no known reason and it gave me such a feeling of accomplishment that I decided I would continue doing it. I appreciate you validating this method. Good information coming from your channel. Thank you.
Appreciate your comment. I agree it gives me a feeling of accomplishment. In my case it also helps memories to stay in my brain because I come across same words over and over again.
There’s something about writing with your hand that really helps memorization
Nate: Don't watch boring children's cartoons
Me *watching Pepa Pig in slowmotion*: ...
No problem if that's the way that fits you!
😂😂
I've watched a lot of videos about language learning and I think this is one of the best so far, clear explanations and showing us exactly the way you do it. I'm not very fan of writing down but it made sense when you said that instead of translating the whole sentence we should try to figure out the meaning by looking up the words so I'll try it
I really appreciate your comment! It’s hard to describe everything in the video but I basically keep doing what is shown there. Translating the whole sentence may help at the very beginning, but eventually we won’t be, so my focus is always on understanding what it means as it is in the target language! In my case handwriting also helps memories to stay in my brain.
I learned english in one year by just watching videos with no subtitles at all. Since my natlanguage already uses the latin alphabet, i just learned to write in english over time
I envy you so much. The Japanese language so isolated...
lol the english classes we had in school were garbage. I got the basics through them and then started to learn english mostly by myself playing minecraft, watching videos on it and browsing the web about it. English videos on youtube also contributed to my english skills. Was so good the english teacher made me their assistant in ninth grade lmao.
I’m a English learner from Taiwan and I just started almost 1 weeks ago, sometimes I really think that is a long journey, thank you to told me how long you spent on English learning and how to learn, it’s really useful.
BTW I think’醉後決定愛上你’ is really wonderful drama in Taiwan, maybe I watched it more than 3 times, is really cool to see you use it to learning Chinese, keep going!👍💗
Thanks for watching my videos and leaving a comment. It did take me quite a while. English is a difficult language for native Chinese/Korean/Japanese speakers. My next video will be about how I keep my motivation for a long time. I hope my channel can be helpful for your learning.
醉後決定愛上你 is definitely fun to learn and it's really amazing to see 張孝全 and 許瑋甯 acting together again in 誰是被害者 10 years later!
@@natenoto
Oh god, I think I will really need tips on how to keep motivation, I will be waiting for your video!!
Also I want to mention a book called 我在100天內自學英文翻轉人生, it’s by a Korean author who talks about how to learn English, even though that only have Korean and Chinese versions , but most important thing is he use exactly same way to learn English!
The only difference is he will keep watching the same episode over and over until 100 times, then he moves on to the next episode and repeat that.
It’s really wild to watching the same episode 100 times, that will definitely need motivation to keep going.
this idea of acting out the script and feeling the concept is really good. thanks
Bravo! Your English is excellent, as is your pronunciation.
Great tips man, Friends is my best tv show I'm currently learning with it now, But some jokes it's hard to get it sometimes I feel down when I don't understand
Keep it up! Don't worry about the jokes because there are ones we can't understand unless we have experience living in the U.S. Thanks for leaving a comment.
I'm a native English speaker and there are some Friends jokes I don't get! Usually the ones that are to do with living in America
@@tsom549 where are you from?
i have a similar notetaking-style with russian. i mark stress, write other inflections of the word, give collocations (sometimes if it's very new/interesting i write an example or two in context), and sometimes i show related words with a similar meaning. im not great at the "coming back and studying part", but we have very a very similar breakdown of priorities. i like to ask native speakers about something im unsure about, but if i dont understand something after multiple dictionaries and messageboards, it's okay. eventually it'll make sense
I thought this comment was written by me haha. I guess we do pretty much in the same way. Thanks for leaving a comment. It really means a lot.
Amazing video Gime Energy to continue my Language Learning Journey ❤
Super vid. Just been through it twice.Great ideas.
I love watching anime but Im learning ENGLISH so i started to watch it in English dubbed, it's really fun. some people will say ENG dub is bad and not good as Japanese voices ( i used to say that as well :p) its not bad at all really. so Im learning English from ANIME not just from anime but yeah when it comes to TV shows I only watch anime so this is the only way to watch anime without feeling guilty.
ありがとうございます
Hi Nate. Thanks for the very detailed method. I like it!
I find I get bored as soon as it seems like work. Well, not as soon as, but after a few weeks of a "routine".
Anyway, when you say at the end you don't translate, I'm assuming you mean you don't translate the whole subtitle blocks you don't understand. Because you do translate the parts you don't understand and you piece the meaning together yourself. Is that right?
Also: Do you watch an episode once without stopping to write the subtitles? It sounds to me like you wouldn't really be immersed in the audio if you keep doing that.
Thanks for the comment. What I wanted to mean was, I don't "write down" the translation of a whole sentence. I take notes on the words/grammar I don't get, and I kinda do translate the whole sentences, but that's just only in my mind. My focus is always to understand the message of the sentence as it is in the target language. I showed the translation process in the video only because I was just hoping it would be easier for the viewers to understand the way I think in my mind. But I got a similar comment from other viewers, so I think the way I described/spoke was kinda confusing and not clear. Apologies for that.
I currently don't watch through an episode without stopping. I usually write down about 30 seconds of subtitles and then decipher them. And I repeat it til the end. The biggest reason is because my Chinese level is not really high, and I know I wouldn't understand most of what is spoken. When I don't understand, I don't feel like I'm acquiring the language. So, instead of just listening to the audio that I don't understand, I just start writing down from the very first round. After I get to understand the whole episode, I do watch/listen to the same episode and try to improve my listening comprehension.
If there is only one meaning for me in listening without understanding, that would be getting used to the audio elements (not meaning) like their rhythm or pitch tones, etc. It IS important, but in my case I can cover that in the 2nd/3rd/4th.. round of watching the same episode.
Some time ago I started doing some of what you suggest here - writing down sentences in the language I am trying to learn (Spanish). I did try to translate though. I don't get why you say not to translate. You have some really helpful ideas here, and you motived me to get back to watching the show and writing. Thanks.
Thanks for the comment. To be more precise, I don't "write down" the translation of a whole sentence. The reason is because I want to focus on understanding in the target language. I kinda do translate in my mind by looking up the words I don't know, but still, my focus is always to get the meaning as it is in the target language because the fluency I think is not about translating fast, it's more about becoming able to think and speak in the target language like I don't translate from Japanese to English in most cases.
However, IF you are at the very beginning stage and writing down a whole translated sentence does help your learning, I really don't stop you from doing that because I think having fun and motivating ourselves is another important element in language learning.
Hope this helps and thanks for pointing that out.
@@natenoto Yes, very helpful. Thank you for the good explanation.
Thank you for the great content. What do you think about memorizing words? Do you try to memorize the words, expressions from the content you use to learn languages? Whenever I encounter unfamiliar words, I feel pressured to memorize them. I'm curious about your thoughts!
Thanks for the comment. It's more like I get familiar with the words by watching the same episode again and again, and that way I understand not just what it means but also how to use it along the context. It kinda takes time but when I push myself to memorize, that pressure is demotivating and things don't work good to me.
難得 in colloquial English translates to something like "(It's) not every day you (get to) ...verb" or " a (adjective noun's) hard to find" "you rarely come across (adjective noun) these days. I would translate it as "It's on me. I insist. It's not every day I get to have lunch with a Taiwanese person."
Amazing glad i found you today
Great tips! Thanks
I will try this out with Thai! Great video
Thank you!
Just found your channel. Its refreshing to have someone present things without hyper-sensationalizing their content or results.
Im just crossing that Beginner-> Intermediate boundry in Japanese where Im starting to immerse in native Japanese content.
Do you have any recommendations for fun Japanese situational comedies for beginner to intermediate comprehensible input? Any TV, Anime, Movies etc.
I've mostly been watching a lot of ガキ. Its very funny, but not very comprehensible. 🤣
Thanks for the comment. Let me give it a thought as I don't generally watch Japanese things from a learning perspective.
@@natenoto No worries. Thanks for the reply!
I've been watching a bit of しろくまカフェ which seems like it was made for language learners, because the dialog is simple, slow, clear, and combines both polite and casual speech in every day life. But other than that, I haven't found much which is suitable for beginners/intermediate and also interesting and enjoyable to watch.
Hi Nate. May I suggest that you also learn the simplified Chinese characters? It’s the version used in China.
Thanks for the comment. Yeah I used to learn simplified Chinese characters a while ago. Right now I'm just having fun with the difficult version. If you meant you wanted me to use simplified ones in my videos, I will think about it from the next one on.
Hello, Nate!
I'm Brazilian and I'm trying to learn English and Japanese on my own.
Can you recommend any series, movies or TV shows to learn Japanese? I'm a beginner.
Thank you very much for your help!
Thank you for the request. I will consider making a video about it!
@@natenoto 楽しみにしているよ。ありがとうございました！
Thank you for your contents
Last question
Don’t you think Friends is old fashioned and we will be learning old expressions,idioms expressions etc?
Thanks for the comment.
Yeah it kinda looks old fashioned and may not be motivational enough for some people. Language-wise, I'm not sure how English has changed in the last one/two decades, but if you are worried about it, it's no problem to look for latest series that you think you would have fun with.
What should I do if i couldn't understand a specific word even after translating it , or don't know how to use it or the difference between it and the other synonyms that are close in meaning to it ??
Bro, Chat GPT always gives me an explanation about a specific word I'm getting hard to understand how to use or what it means
He did his work.
I'm trying to learn Japanese what to watch I'm preparing for an exam and I'm studying by myself only without any guidance if you suggest me good books to for beginner levels reading and writing I've no problem in listening Japanese i can't translate or speak
Hi Nate, I believe you when you said you learnt English by watching videos but I do not think this method is for me. Watching videos should be fun, but your method requires a lot of writing input which is not fun for me. Different people use self-discipline in different ways when learning a language and I prefer to learn grammar by doing exercises, having lessons with a teacher online, and reading very simple books and then, when I know a bit of the language, watch videos to listen out for familiar words and learn everyday phrases. I like your suggestion of subtitles in the target language - this makes a big difference. Thank you for posting and good luck with Chinese.
I really appreciate your honest opinion! If you have ways that fit you better, that's OK. I suggested my way of learning but I also understand it doesn't apply to everyone because people have different personalities and preferences. I will watch the way I speak in the video. Wish you a good luck to you, too!
Thank you for your video. I'm a foreigner and I'm in Japan, can you recommend some movies that are useful for Japanese learners?
Thanks for share so useful and practical bro 😊
Thank you!
what are the name of the chinese series you mention in the video?😊
醉後決定愛上你：Love You／While We Were Drunk
就是要你愛上我：Just You
此時此刻：At the Moment
比悲傷更悲傷的故事：More Than Blue
When you watch a new episode, do you start taking notes right away, or watch one time without notes then rewatch?
In my Chinese learning right now, I just start writing down the subtitles and taking notes right away because I know I wouldn't understand most what is spoken. But when I start feeling a bit more confident in the future, there would be a case that I watch first to test myself and clarify what I do understand and don't understand, and then start taking notes in the 2nd round. I would just try to keep a good balance of both.
The idea of this sound great but I have some problems. I spent an hour doing this yesterday and I only got through about 5 minutes of the actual show I was watching. I don’t know if it’s better to write down all subtitles during the show and decipher them later or doing it all while watching. I also found it quite draining afterwards, it feels similar to when I study. I know studying isn’t how you’re supposed to truely learn a language but I’m kind of stuck in this situation. This all sounds great and seems like it works but just having some issues with it.
Thanks for the comment. Going through 5 mins in one hour sounds pretty fast. I just love how much I learn from that even if it may seem to be a small amount. It was and is draining to me, too, but it also gives me a feeling of accomplishment, and a feeling of progress when I decipher less over time.
However, if it is too painful for you , you don't necessarily need to stick to this way of learning, and it would be better to look for another way that makes you feel good and makes you wanna keep learning.
>I don’t know if it’s better to write down all subtitles during the show and decipher them later or doing it all while watching.
It is all up to you (makes no difference in the end), but I write down and decipher little by little.
Amazing video bro thank you
Thank you!
I'm learning Japanese. But the other way. Japanese shows with English subtitles. I don't think writing down Japanese for an English speaker makes sense. Japanese writing is too difficult and will just slow down the process. I also completed the Japanese course on Duolingo for basic Japanese vocabulary.
I wanted to ask, if you’re writing the subtitles for a whole episode doesn’t that take up a lot of pages after a few days of this routine? In the notebooks you showed in the video how long did it take you to fill them up?
I use A4/letter size notebooks, and a 40-50mins episode takes about 30 pages (15 sheets of paper front and back). It may vary depending on what language we write down. It takes me about several hours to finish one episode.
Do you ever get bored from such extreme repetition?
After watching many many many videos on language learning methods, i feel that the most successful people have just an insane tolerance for going the same thing over and over again.
I wonder about the psychology.
When we play a game or sport we love we can play it over and over and over and never get bored.
But, giving so much of my attention to a TV show, i can only stick with it a few weeks (so far) before i want to stop because of yhe repetition but also how long it's taking.
I thonk i have an issue with impatience and need to switch my mindset.
The mindset is "enjoy the process" but I'm also aware that part of thay process has to be TONS of repetition.
I wonder what the psychology is and how to solve this for me (and many others) because the biggest reason people quit is because it gets boring and repetitive.
Thanks for the comment here as well. I actually have also been wondering the same thing, like why I can enjoy repeating the same thing. I hope I don't sound arrogant, but this is just out of pure curiosity, because if I can put this into actual words, I just thought it could be valuable for others.
That being said, I always try not to make myself bored. The first thing I should mention would be that I like learning new things, and in that sense, every single new sentence is always a new learning of grammar and vocabulary, which is always fun for me. Aside from that, I always choose the episode/series that I am interested to learn. When I find the series super fun, sometimes I keep learning til, say, the episode 4, 5 or 6. When I get enough of it, I just go ahead and look for another series. Sometimes I just finish the first episode, and look for another series.
Reviewing the episodes that I already watched is painful for me, so what I enjoy more is always learning from new episodes and it takes about 70%, I think, of my learning. I always try to keep a comfortable balance.
It does take time, but just in my opinion, any methods take time in language learning. Maybe there is one that takes less time and another that takes more, but perhaps it's a small difference. So, if that's the case, I just dare to choose the one that I can have fun with the most so I can keep learning. And it just happened to be my way of learning from TV series.
I also have a long term goal that I wanna impress native speakers. I feel this has something to do with my introverted nature, but right now it's difficult to articulate.
I intuitively do all of these, and haven't been able to put them into words.
I'm hoping that I can make a video about this.
I don't think you are just being impatient. I think your/my "enjoy the process" mindset is an important element in language learning.
@@natenoto so much of "why" we do what we do is hard to explain because it's triggered by a deeper need in us to impress, to prove ourselves, or something similar.
I love that you mentioned that.
Your comment doesn't come across as arrogant at all. At least not to me.
Keep making your videos :)
I really enjoy watching my favorite shows over and over again (even in my native language) lol
中文的语法是最容易的，加油！而且日语者已经知道汉字了，不难！
its called LingQ
I'm glad my experience resonates with the service from the authentic polyglot.
Searching a word on Google images can help also for context
I also do that!
What do you think about cartoons for all ages ¿Too easy?
I mean, I enjoy cartoons like SpongeBob or Phineas and Ferb, but I don't know if it could be too low efectiveness
No problem if you are having fun and learning from them!
@@natenoto Yeah, I know, but I'm asking because I sometimes feel that my English skills are not going better fast enough because this media is... too much comprehensible? I mean, sometimes I understand all they saying.
I don't know if it's obvious or not, but I'm not an english native speaker (I'm from Spain)
I see, then I suggest you choose the ones a bit difficult for you. When I understand most of what is spoken, that gives me a feeling of confidence, but it also means that I'm not learning much from that.
@@natenoto Well, the thing is too that I don't know if the vocab is too easy or in fact I'm better in the language that I think. I don't know if de-activate english Subtitles, because maybe if I should recognise words without subtitles I understand less. Idk
lol the latam dub of phineas and ferb is helping me learn spanish
I don’t really like to review too but do you think if we don’t do it ,won’t they be sticking in our mind ?
We would come across same words/grammar as we move forward anyway. But I also wanna make the most of what I already learned, so I dare to review from time to time. When I do so, sometimes I get to understand what I didn't previously, which gives me a feeling of progress. I try to keep a comfortable balance of moving forward and reviewing.
Hello のと I'm a beginner in Japanese and would love to keep watching your videos but I would like to give you a tip for future videos if I may, would it be possible for you turn down the bass level on your microphone? I have a bit of trouble understanding some of the "s" and "t" I think you would sound clearer for your audience, sorry if this looks rude.
Thanks for pointing it out. This is not rude at all, in fact, the audio quality is the highest priority in my production even though I still figuring out the best way. The first thing I do in my editing process is to remove the uncomfortable mouth noises and popping noises like the sound "p" makes. Will try different settings next time on and also test the audio with multiple equipment.
Please ask me, I am at the A2 level... in German. What would happen if I completely immersed myself in German... such as spending 10 hours a day only watching films and series in German... What do you think would happen?
@dianabeaa Thanks for the comment.
Theoretically speaking, you will only very slightly improve your German, because humans acquire a language when we understand the message of the communication, and A2 is not a level high enough to understand films and series by just watching or immersing yourself with (unless they are made for kids or beginner learners). If there are subtitles in German and your native language that may help but I'm not sure how much they would.
From a practical perspective, it is important to form a habit of learning the target language almost everyday because language acquisition takes time. And to do so, I believe we should choose the learning style in which we can have fun because it requires the least willpower and is the easiest way to form a habit. So, if you can enjoy immersing yourself in German for long hours, that would work good for you in terms of forming a learning habit, but the concerns are that 1) it is difficult to understand films and series at an A2 level by just watching 2) 12 hours a day is too much time. What I can suggest is to give yourself a good vibe by watching or immersing yourself with German films or series, but separately spend some time actively trying to understand them.
That way I think you can combine the second language acquisition science into your practical learning preference.
Hope I am answering your question.
@@natenoto I have a C1 level in English and I got a score of 7 in IELTS. Believe me... I never learned English. I was addicted to English series and movies. Over the years, I magically began to speak English and understand 90% of everything in English. Now I am learning German... I understand reading texts, but I find new difficulty in understanding listening and speaking
@dianabeaa Wow, that's a phenomenal way to acquire a language.
I am also experiencing new challenges in my third language (Chinese), which I never did in English. Some of the grammar rules are similar to English, but others to my native language, which is pretty confusing for me. But what I do is...still the same, like I stick to my favorite learning style (learning from TV series) and try to get myself used to the target language, and I feel it's working pretty good except that it's taking more time than I expected it would, but you know, we never know how long it will take to acquire a new language.
German is obviously more complicated than English, so I guess what you are feeling is pretty natural. You've already built up your learning style that you know works for you, and that's already a huge advantage. Maybe sometimes you can try new style like deliberate learning or whatever, but you can also always go back to your style any time.
When in your learning do you start doing this? Surely not when you are a total beginner.
Once I'm done with the basic grammar I jump onto this. When I look at sentences, it's a green light for me if I can tell which one is conjunction, verbs, nouns, etc. even if I need to look up each word.
If you are writing every single sentence down in an episode let’s say 20 mins long, how long will it take you to complete the episode ?
A few hours, I think.
@@natenotoWell, it is kind of boring. Watching a sitcom should be fun. But I think, what you are doing deserves praise 🙂
Can you create for us a community to help each other to learn english ...
Will give it a thought. Thanks for the comment!
From what it sounds like from this video I’m assuming you need to have a pretty good understanding of the language first. Am I correct in saying this? The reason I say this is you were writing what the words mean then only after did you look up words in the dictionary that you didn’t know. If this is the case, what is the best way to get a basic understanding of the language I want to learn before doing this?
I think your best bet would be to start with a textbook or an app like Duolingo just to build an understanding of the basic words in your target language. That way you have a starting amount of vocabulary that you can then expand on using the strategy from the video. Depending on how challenging your target language is, that first phase of building the basic vocabulary could take anywhere from 2-3 weeks to 2-3 months, especially if you have to learn a new alphabet too.
@@danielceballos2678 my language that I’m starting to learn as of yesterday is Spanish. I’ve tried this language and other languages before but never went through with it completely. I’m not a big fan of Duolingo due to how mind numbingly slow it is. Plus I hear it doesn’t get you even conversational. Do you have any recommendations? My goal is to be able to watch shows and read things in Spanish and talk with Spanish friends/coworkers. Maybe someday goto Mexico. I have never used a textbook and don’t know where to start with those. I have a few apps I’ve tried but all are super expensive. Busuu seems okay out of the ones I have. Sorry this is kind of all over the place but I really want this to happen and want to have some kind of structure with it.
Did you write down and translate EVERY SINGLE sentence. Ot just try the ones you couldn't understand? I'd imagine that you would have to write everything at the beginning,vit maybe around season seven you can understand a lot so your only writing lets say 30% of the sentences, the ones with unclear meanings? Or was it consistently everythiny?
In the case of my Chinese learning right now, I have been writing down every single sentence. I initially needed to look up almost every single word (and I did) and took notes on that. I don't make an exact translation of the whole sentence, because my focus is to understand the message (not a translation) of the sentence AS IT IS in Chinese. I skip the parts that I don't understand even though I look up in the dictionary
I've done about 10 episodes of Netflix drama (about 45 mins each episode), and grammar wise, I look up and take notes less and less over time. Vocabulary wise, I still need to look up many. In general, I look up and take notes less over time because I skip what I'm confident that I know.
When I don't need to look up a lot, it means I became able to understand more than before and give me a feeling of accomplishment and confidence, but it also means that I'm not learning a lot from that. So, in that case, I look for a different type of series so I can learn more.
Hope this helps.
Do you use anki?
Nope
I really enjoyed your video, but I'm not sure exactly the method you're using. Do you stop the video every time there is a new line of subtitle and copy it? That seems the only way to capture the subtitles. If that is the case, it must take quite a long time to get through a 20 minute episode.
Also, your notebooks don't look like the pages you show when you're demonstrating the method. Your notebooks mostly just show the subtitles with just a very few notes on the right side of the page for the occasional subtitle. I don't see anything showing the vocabulary, the grammar analysis, etc. for each subtitle.
Thanks for the comment. I pause the video every time a new line appears. It does take some time, so I usually write down for one or two minutes of the video and try to understand it, and then move onto the next one or two minutes..and repeat that through the end.
Apologies to the confusion on my notebooks.
I'm used to this way of learning, so I don't always write down the analysis. But when I look at the sentences, I do think in the same way as I showed in the video. I just wanted to visualize it, hoping it is easier to understand.
So, I do write down all the subtitles, analyze in my mind in many cases or analyze more explicitly when the sentence is complicated/difficult, and take notes on the right side about the vocabulary and grammar. I skip taking notes on what I already know.
Thanks for pointing that out once again. I will try to make videos with less confusion.
@@natenoto thanks for the thorough reply. I will definitely give this a try. One of my great frustrations is how long it has taken me to even begin to understand movies and TV series. This is the best suggestion that I have seen of the many, but I have come across the addresses of this common problem.
@@frankjspencejrmaybe try something like lingopie or linq that directly provides info on words from media content
The part you say you never translate I’m confused cause you do that already don’t you earlier ? When you’re doing the subtitles
Thanks for pointing that out. It's just for the explanation of the way I think in my mind. As you can find around 06:20-06:25 I don't make exact translations of the whole passages. I only take notes on some of the words, grammar, and pronunciation.
I can't get past step one - don't make it too difficult It's all too difficult. It's always too difficult. Even a second grader is enormously skilled at their language compared to a language learner
Which language are trying to learn search for easy videos in the language or maybe you need to learn more vocab before you’re ready
@@cw8790 If you started out with Friends, that's not easy at all. Trying to follow what you showed with Chinese, either you're going through a slow decoding process of looking up half the words in every sentence, or you got to upper intermediate before starting this style of learning.
(Just realized you probably aren't the video creator. Don't know why i plunged in like that.)
@@muskyoxesif you're at 2000+ words beforehand i don't think it would be too bad. And you could always just move to something easier like cartoons for 6 months while you learn another 1500 words or so
@@Matt-jc2ml Yeah, you and the other person are probably giving the right answers, but it seems contrary to this video. (And i'm amazed at how good children are with their language - children's material still requires a beginner to go a long way to catch up.)
@muskyoxes First of all, I really appreciate your comments.
I apologize if my video misled you. Your point made me realize that I said "easy", but in fact the standard of "easy" actually varies.
The process I showed in Chinese is the actual process that I go through for sure. My Chinese level was that I knew the basic grammar from the the classes I took in college about 10 years ago. So, I initially look up many/most of words in every sentence and try to decode/decipher them. One of the reasons why I take this way is because, even after I studied English for about 4 years (from 12 to 15 years old) at school, I couldn't understand most of what was spoken in Friends when I first watched it and needed look up most of the words in every single sentence. 4 years of study at school wasn't a waste, but at the same time, I think, feeling difficult to understand the real communication (like in Friends or any others) is something I need to get over sooner or later. So, as Friends extremely increased my English proficiency, in my Chinese learning I just jumped onto learning from TV series once I felt I was done with the basic grammar, even though I need to look up a lot. It takes time but it is the effective way for me. I tried to learn Chinese fast once, but failed. (I will mention this in the next video)
Aside from that, I personally recommend learning from TV series but I also understand it doesn't apply to everyone because people have different personalities and preferences. When there is a way that fit you, that is more than great.
中文母语者觉得中文好难哈哈，不过多听真的是硬道理！
好意外耶. 我继续好好努力啊. 谢谢你留下评论.
Your way isn't good by any means.. why did you choose to write subtitles for the whole Episode that's so stressful and wasting time
Boring… I’m falling asleep here
Thanks for the honest opinion.
@natenoto good job. This sort of reply is humbling
People who make such rude comments have bigger issues.
This isn't constructive criticism.
Don't worry about them Nate. Thanks for the hard work.