We all agree that the best way to learn to speak and understand a language is definitely to hear native speakers speaking it. If going abroad and doing it in real life is not an option for you, then one of the next best ways to pick up a language is to watch films and TV shows in that language.

In those countries where movies are not subtitled but dubbed, such as Spain, people don’t get  used to hearing movies in their original languages, and this makes understanding the language much more difficult when starting to learn a language later on, since it takes longer just to train your ear for it. That’s why it is quite common for language students who have reached an advanced level of studies in a foreign language to find it difficult to carry out a simple conversation.

Movies are one of the most effective and amusing ways to attune your ear to the sounds of the language. You will be able to hear real conversations and learn how native speakers interact and communicate in real life, including that country’s slang and colloquialisms; you often don’t find this stuff in textbooks and language manuals.

For students of languages, whether their course is in language translation or interpreting, or even people interested in learning a language for fun, here are some simple tips that may help you improve your language skills through movies:

• Pick a movie that you really like and have already watched in your native language. Why is that? It’s because you must be able to watch the movie over and over again. Repetition is very important in learning a language.
• Play the film or series in its original version, with subtitles in original language. Start by watching just 15 minutes of film, and gradually increase the time, so you don’t saturate your mind with too much new vocabulary and expressions.
• Always have a good dictionary on hand, so you can look for any unknown vocabulary and expressions, and write them down in a notebook.
• Play, pause, rewind and repeat sections as many times as you need to, until you get the meaning of the general dialogue and a feel for what’s going on.
• Don’t worry if you don’t understand every single word. This is totally normal. Guide yourself by the context and pick up as much as you can each time.
• After having watched the subtitled movie a few times, challenge yourself and try turning the subtitles off.

After some time practising, you will be amazed by how you gradually pick up more and more new vocabulary and grammar, and more and more things will stick without you even realising.

What do you think? Give it a shot and enjoy the movie!

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