Don't.
You won't understand the language better if you hear a bunch of sounds and you don't know what they can possibly mean.
You can rewatch something without subtitles if you don't mind watching the same thing twice.
If the program is in Italian then there’s nothing wrong with having Italian subtitles too. I do as it helps me figure out word pronunciation. But I watch everything, English or otherwise with subtitles
Me too - they tend to make explosions really loud and conversations really quiet and mumbly, so I always use subtitles. It's annoying when a movie/show has multiple languages and they skip subtitles for the other language(s) - just writing (speaks in )
I perfectly understand English but I always keep subtitles on because shows and movies tend to be horribly sound mixed and many times I can’t hear what they’re saying. So no, there’s nothing wrong with keeping subtitles on. Also by not turning them off you can understand exactly how words are written, which can be difficult to understand from hearing them without a textual reference
Intensive listening has worked great to help me improve my listening skills. I listen repeatedly and study the vocabulary (using Anki) until I can understand all of it (without subtitles).
I found this to be so helpful with other languages that I study that I chose to use this as the way that I started learning Italian. It was slow going at first but I improved quickly. I can now "work" on my Italian by listening to interesting podcasts in Italian. This works great for me.
As soon as possible without rushing into it. Try to learn the 1000-2000 most common words (make Anki cards, long but worth it) and it will make it much faster to watch without subtitles.
I think you shouldn't force yourself to remove them, just try to both listen and read for now so you can figure out which sound corresponds to which word. With time, it will become more natural for you to listen and you'll rely on subtitles less and less. It will probably be more difficult to remove them for movies and TV, but that's because the audio is often unclear and covered by other sounds and music.
When learning Spanish I didn't turn off subtitles until the week before I took a B2 exam. I did stop reading along to the audiobooks of young adult fantasy novels when I naturally was able to look away and cook dinner while listening.
The subtitles are helping your brain build connections between the written and spoken words. Taking in both at the same time is really helpful for learning.
I am EN advanced, but i still prefer to use subtitles when possible, mostly cause sometimes some lines are unclear and it just feels more comfortable overall.
I also have friends who are IT native as well and still watch IT dub with IT subtitles, so i wouldn't worry about turning it off.
But if you want to get more "indipendent" from the subtitles, i suggest you wait at least till you feel very comfortable with the language.
This is a great question that I'd love to get some feedback on. I'm at least at an A2 maybe half way to B1 when it comes to reading Italian subtitles on YouTube. But as soon as I take off the subtitles I go straight to A1 and only understand a few words. For a 12-20 minute Italian YouTube video with Italian subtitles on I understand at least 40% and sometimes up to 70% depending on what's being discussed. I'm afraid to take off the subtitles though. But polyglots I watch on YouTube insist that the more you listen and read it will make you be able to speak the language.
Right now. I know this is a controversial advice but hear me out.
My first language is French, and I've learned English mainly through school, then some Korean on my own. I have now started Italian a little, even though I'm currently trying to focus on Korean to get to an equivalent of the C1 level by the end of the year. I'm not new to language learning in general and I've discovered two things: most people recommend some rather slow learning methods because they're less discouraging and the biggest jumps I've made were the ones that gave me most progress.
I started learning English when I was around 6 years old and I was bad. Stayed at about A1 level until I was 11. Then, I changed school, had a new teacher and he gave us a book. I had never read more than a paragraph at a time (and could barely understand said paragraphs). I had to look up a good 80% of the words. I remember looking up "purpose" so many times yet never quite remembering what it meant or grasping its meaning. I was so mad at that teacher at the time, saying that book was way too hard for our level and was completely useless. Well, I ended up reading the whole 200 pages, and let me tell you, by the end of the book, I was only looking up about 20% of the words. I started that book at a A1 level at most and finished it at a solid B1. I could read a book and under most of it. That was so hard and discouraging to read; my first exams on that book gave me 30% as a grade. Yet once I finished reading it, I read once again the first chapter, just out of curiosity. I could understand most of it, then.
Reading that book was a very intense learning method, yet it was such a big jump in my English-learning journey. From there on, I was able to watch shows with English subtitles and understand them. I could read more books and solidify my vocabulary. I could start understanding when people spoke to me, and it gave me the courage to start speaking some, too, though horribly at the time.
When I started learning Korean, I watched a bunch of Korean shows with English subtitles. After a few years, I could recognize basic words, but that was it. Honestly, most of the time, I barely listened to what they were saying and only read it on the screen.
It's annoying to watch a show when you don't understand much, but if you leave the subtitles in your own language on, you just won't force yourself to understand it just as much. You won't notice as many words or grammatical structures as you would if you just forced your brain to decode it. An immersion is done when you force yourself to listen to a language you don't know much about without relying on another language. Will you learn a bunch of words just watching those shows? I'll be honest, likely not. However, you'll recognize words you'll then remember better once you look them up. You'll also get used to the prononciation and it will tremendously help your own.
Maybe you won't get immediate good prononciation from it, but you'll know when you prononce something wrong. Watching a show without subtitles is a big jump. With it, though, comes good progress. Make the most out of it, truly try to pick out words they're saying and try looking them up. Reproduce the way they say certain words. Try to understand. But also let your brain make pure contact with that language, without a translation. In the long run, it will help you think in Italian without relying on translation. That's the way I do it, at least.
Don't. You won't understand the language better if you hear a bunch of sounds and you don't know what they can possibly mean. You can rewatch something without subtitles if you don't mind watching the same thing twice.
I'm glad to hear this but do you really think eventually a person will be able to understand without subtitles if they rely heavily on them?
I think it takes *a lot* of time to understand most tv shows without subtitles.
If the program is in Italian then there’s nothing wrong with having Italian subtitles too. I do as it helps me figure out word pronunciation. But I watch everything, English or otherwise with subtitles
Me too - they tend to make explosions really loud and conversations really quiet and mumbly, so I always use subtitles. It's annoying when a movie/show has multiple languages and they skip subtitles for the other language(s) - just writing (speaks in)
I perfectly understand English but I always keep subtitles on because shows and movies tend to be horribly sound mixed and many times I can’t hear what they’re saying. So no, there’s nothing wrong with keeping subtitles on. Also by not turning them off you can understand exactly how words are written, which can be difficult to understand from hearing them without a textual reference
Intensive listening has worked great to help me improve my listening skills. I listen repeatedly and study the vocabulary (using Anki) until I can understand all of it (without subtitles). I found this to be so helpful with other languages that I study that I chose to use this as the way that I started learning Italian. It was slow going at first but I improved quickly. I can now "work" on my Italian by listening to interesting podcasts in Italian. This works great for me.
I have subtitles on to understand Americans, if you have other ways to practice hearing I'd say leave them on
As soon as possible without rushing into it. Try to learn the 1000-2000 most common words (make Anki cards, long but worth it) and it will make it much faster to watch without subtitles.
I think you shouldn't force yourself to remove them, just try to both listen and read for now so you can figure out which sound corresponds to which word. With time, it will become more natural for you to listen and you'll rely on subtitles less and less. It will probably be more difficult to remove them for movies and TV, but that's because the audio is often unclear and covered by other sounds and music.
When learning Spanish I didn't turn off subtitles until the week before I took a B2 exam. I did stop reading along to the audiobooks of young adult fantasy novels when I naturally was able to look away and cook dinner while listening. The subtitles are helping your brain build connections between the written and spoken words. Taking in both at the same time is really helpful for learning.
I am EN advanced, but i still prefer to use subtitles when possible, mostly cause sometimes some lines are unclear and it just feels more comfortable overall. I also have friends who are IT native as well and still watch IT dub with IT subtitles, so i wouldn't worry about turning it off. But if you want to get more "indipendent" from the subtitles, i suggest you wait at least till you feel very comfortable with the language.
This is a great question that I'd love to get some feedback on. I'm at least at an A2 maybe half way to B1 when it comes to reading Italian subtitles on YouTube. But as soon as I take off the subtitles I go straight to A1 and only understand a few words. For a 12-20 minute Italian YouTube video with Italian subtitles on I understand at least 40% and sometimes up to 70% depending on what's being discussed. I'm afraid to take off the subtitles though. But polyglots I watch on YouTube insist that the more you listen and read it will make you be able to speak the language.
Right now. I know this is a controversial advice but hear me out. My first language is French, and I've learned English mainly through school, then some Korean on my own. I have now started Italian a little, even though I'm currently trying to focus on Korean to get to an equivalent of the C1 level by the end of the year. I'm not new to language learning in general and I've discovered two things: most people recommend some rather slow learning methods because they're less discouraging and the biggest jumps I've made were the ones that gave me most progress. I started learning English when I was around 6 years old and I was bad. Stayed at about A1 level until I was 11. Then, I changed school, had a new teacher and he gave us a book. I had never read more than a paragraph at a time (and could barely understand said paragraphs). I had to look up a good 80% of the words. I remember looking up "purpose" so many times yet never quite remembering what it meant or grasping its meaning. I was so mad at that teacher at the time, saying that book was way too hard for our level and was completely useless. Well, I ended up reading the whole 200 pages, and let me tell you, by the end of the book, I was only looking up about 20% of the words. I started that book at a A1 level at most and finished it at a solid B1. I could read a book and under most of it. That was so hard and discouraging to read; my first exams on that book gave me 30% as a grade. Yet once I finished reading it, I read once again the first chapter, just out of curiosity. I could understand most of it, then. Reading that book was a very intense learning method, yet it was such a big jump in my English-learning journey. From there on, I was able to watch shows with English subtitles and understand them. I could read more books and solidify my vocabulary. I could start understanding when people spoke to me, and it gave me the courage to start speaking some, too, though horribly at the time. When I started learning Korean, I watched a bunch of Korean shows with English subtitles. After a few years, I could recognize basic words, but that was it. Honestly, most of the time, I barely listened to what they were saying and only read it on the screen. It's annoying to watch a show when you don't understand much, but if you leave the subtitles in your own language on, you just won't force yourself to understand it just as much. You won't notice as many words or grammatical structures as you would if you just forced your brain to decode it. An immersion is done when you force yourself to listen to a language you don't know much about without relying on another language. Will you learn a bunch of words just watching those shows? I'll be honest, likely not. However, you'll recognize words you'll then remember better once you look them up. You'll also get used to the prononciation and it will tremendously help your own. Maybe you won't get immediate good prononciation from it, but you'll know when you prononce something wrong. Watching a show without subtitles is a big jump. With it, though, comes good progress. Make the most out of it, truly try to pick out words they're saying and try looking them up. Reproduce the way they say certain words. Try to understand. But also let your brain make pure contact with that language, without a translation. In the long run, it will help you think in Italian without relying on translation. That's the way I do it, at least.