Hi
Dear learners of English, a question:
"How often have you been frustrated by your complete
inability to understand American movies?
Well, I mean, understand what the actors are saying in the movies,
of course :-)
I believe, to understand the whole movies not difficult: there are
four parts in most of them: first a happy living of the heroes, the second-a
problem, third a fight against the problem and the final part-happy ending.
But what the characters say is another pair of shoes, sorry for
the cliche.
Why does it happen that learners of English do not follow script
of the movies and should we be frustrated because of that.I receive this
question from my students almost every Monday.
Here are my observations why it happens and seven ways to relieve
you from suffering while and after watching American movies.
- Observation
#1.The genre of the movies. If you follow the street-oriented
conversations in the movies, you should learn English slang, about 25-30
words and expressions. I am afraid,teachers of English won't help you much
with that: native are ashamed of their compatriots, non-native may
just not know If, on the contrary, you chose the movie of learned
native speakers of English, these films will bring you more pleasant
moments and less head aches.
- Observation
#2.Seeing/watching movies with subtitles. Helpful? Not
much, really. Translators feel free to turn English words and phrases
into acceptable for the local audiences sentences. That's why bilingual
speakers react very critically when they see the translations under the
screen: sometimes the heard and written phrases are very different.
- Observation #3 Dubbing
(when the movie actors speak in one language and the voice behind the
screen translates into another language). This method is
more beneficial: a student-spectator catches more from a language she
learns while following the development of the plot of the movie.
Now, my recommendations to improve your
understanding of what American movie actors say.
On your own:
-Chose the movies that were screened based on the novels of
well-known writes of the past.The genre? Melodrama, autobiographies, and the
best-documentary films.The language there pleasant for hearing, slow, solid and
clear.
-Watch the films that were made in the
sixties-seventies.They were more mindfully prepared and produced.
-Repeat watching DVD-versions as often as you can and in
small portions. In no time you will feel more confident with the replicas of
the actors and even learn by heart the phrases you liked.
With a teacher. A
native speaker of English and preferably, a film fan.
-Ask her to select the movie she loves, the one she can
offer you to watch.Preferably something close to your life or career
orientation. In English all have their professional jargon.
-Require her to write the script of the segments of the
movie and use along with the watching movie.
-Offer her to watch the movie in
short sequences of no more than two phrases, stop the film and go
thru all that the actors had said.
-Ask as many questions as you can to understand each and every word of what had been said.
-Repeat the phrases heard and ask for corrections.
-Imitate intonations, emotions of the actors, remember the
background when and where the performers were playing: whenever you find
yourself in a similar situation in life you may use the same phrases.
-Avoid watching chunks of the movie longer than 5-15min at a
session of 45min. Quality here is more essential than anything else.
-Try to learn the phrases you learned and liked by heart and
imagine situations in your life wherever you can possibly use them too.
OK, these are the methods that work for my students and will
work for you as soon as you start using them. I wish you all to understand the
modern movies much better with my ideas:-)
Sincerely
George
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