Reading .ass subtitle files from Kitsunekko line-by-line BEFORE the audio on the drama/anime etc... anyone tried it?
Let me explain, whenever I watch a subtitled drama/anime I usually find that I miss half of what was said because I'm reading the English subs and by the time I've finished reading the plot has moved on, and I'd end up having to rewind to listen to it again. It's like my brain struggles to process the english sub and Japanese audio at the same time. So, I put some sub files on my ipad to read whilst/before watching drama/anime, rather than relying on the subs on-screen. It's fantastic! I can control exactly when I read the english sub (which means I can easily scan ahead - especially when there is a break in speech, or you can pause before a long piece of dialogue etc). This way I find that I am picking up about twice as much Japanese as I was earlier.
Is this a common method? With exception of "don't use subs", or "use subs2srs", does anyone have any advice, or other methods they use?

That's interesting. There's something called the "Listening-Reading method" where the core step is listening to an audiobook while reading the translation. And there's been a lot of discussion on why this seems to work better than video with English subtitles. Perhaps the most important difference is the timing (having control over when you read each sentence; being able to read ahead rather than at the same time or afterwards).

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=5965

wildweathel Wrote:If Step 3 is the heart of L/R and there isn't some massively fundamental difference between text and subtitled TV then L/R is strikingly similar to watching anime with English subtitles. A lot of people do that and don't learn Japanese at all, so...

http://www.how-to-learn-any-language.com...?TID=14297

aYa Wrote:You should read BEFORE you hear to have time to attach the meaning to what is being said. The subtitles appear on the screen at the same time or after, so it's not possible. And what's more, they usually disappear too quickly, so you can't check by reading once more.

This may not be the answer you're looking for, but have you tried watching anime or dramas with Japanese subtitles? It may not really help you that much if you're still a complete beginner, but if you have some Japanese experience, they really help your understanding.

Watch without subs

Don't rely on English or Japanese subs.

Get the Raws, or just get subs of another language so you can't understand it.

Early on in my studies, I found it was more entertaining and fun if I watched it first with English subs then after that with Japanese subs. Not knowing what's going on is a big turn-off for me.

Go with what works though. If you're not the type to re-watch something, reading the English subs ahead of time to know what's going on is ok.

If you're studying Japanese, I'd recommend using the Japanese subtitles.
If you don't know many kanji, use RTK and RevTK.

Anyway, good luck.

NOTE: Has anyone seen "Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo"? It was a manga, and then they had a Japanese drama. It's about a substitute teacher that teaches Japanese for foreign students. Really funny show. Anyone who studied Japanese will like it.....and yes, there are Japanese subtitles for it, too.

Yeah, I'm not a beginner at all. Well, at least I can read NHK pretty much seamlessly without a dictionary, but my listening absolutely tanks. If I get JP subs that'll be worse because I'll just be reading them, and that defeats the object.
I did try subs2srs a while ago, but I'm not at all technically minded, and I couldn't get it to work. Plus having a pretty low monthly Internet limit means downloading raw drama is really expensive.
Maybe I should mix it up a bit, and watch some stuff without subs too. Just really frustrating when you know you're not a beginner, but you still can't understand jack lol.

If you can read NHK pretty much seamlessly, watching stuff with English subtitles sounds pretty silly to me. Just watch with the Japanese subtitles on and pay attention to the audio, then rewatch without the subtitles. That should do the job.

squarezebra Wrote:Yeah, I'm not a beginner at all. Well, at least I can read NHK pretty much seamlessly without a dictionary, but my listening absolutely tanks. If I get JP subs that'll be worse because I'll just be reading them, and that defeats the object.
lol.

Focus on listening most of the time now, once you're listening skills go up.....everything else becomes so easy.


Go to youtube and watch random Japanese videos....most of them have no subs at all.

Listening comprehension is also a matter of vocabulary.
If you've hear words that you know, it's easy to listen.

When you hear something you've never heard, sometimes it's hard to know what someone is saying. There's a lot of words in drama that I would've never figured out without the japanese subtitles. Japanese often talking with a muddled, speedy, unclear tone.

Build you Japanese vocabulary and listen becomes really easy.
That's another reason I'd recommend watching Japanese drama with Japanese subtitles.

If you can't read kanji, learn RTK and use RevTK (this website).
Anyway, good luck.

chamcham Wrote:Listening comprehension is also a matter of vocabulary.
If you've hear words that you know, it's easy to listen.

It's true. Today I heard the word パイオニア and I couldn't catch it at all. It actually is PIONEER. I asked someone on chiebukuro asking them what the hell did the announcer say and that's why i know.

chamcham Wrote:Listening comprehension is also a matter of vocabulary.
If you've hear words that you know, it's easy to listen.

When you hear something you've never heard, sometimes it's hard to know what someone is saying. There's a lot of words in drama that I would've never figured out without the japanese subtitles. Japanese often talking with a muddled, speedy, unclear tone.


If you can't read kanji, learn RTK and use RevTK (this website).
Anyway, good luck.

Sometimes even if you know the word you still won't understand what the person is saying, because they're pronouncing the word in a way that's completely different from how you think the word is pronounced.

Like somone will say 　ちゅうおはろう, what the hell does that mean?

It's actually 注意を払う, spoken real fast

So listening is more extremely important, with or without subs.