Learn Japanese by watch J-Drama with Japanese subtitles

[watermen]

I found this a wonderful way to learn Japanese, esp for those who are at the intermediate level like me.

I found this site which collect a lot of J-drama Japanese subtitles, all you need to do is to go and find that drama and download the subtitle from this website.

http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/subtitles.php

I found this very useful, because that is real Japanese, and a lot of phrases are repeated so frequently, by hearing and seeing it and watching the story, it is hard not to remember.

Anyway just want to share this good stuff, let me know what you guys think.

P/S: You should find a J-drama with English Hard Subs, then download the Japanese subs and use Quicktime to watch it, so you can have both subtitles appear at the same time.

[mslozada]

If I were you, I would try avoiding subtitles. For me, it only slows everything down. Especially intermediate students they should do well without any subtitles.

My goal is to watch Japanese TV with no subtitles. And the best way to achieve this is to start watching Japanese TV / movie, etc. with no subtitles at all.

PS: I'll be aiming for the JLPT lvl 2 next year, so the above response is based on my experience.

Good luck and have fun watching TV's / movies, etc. with the subtitles

[valeriec09]

This is what I've been doing. I hear familiar phrases throughout the show and it doesn't feel like the words are running together. It has helped me to notice the difference between men and women speech patterns. I started with Gokusen, it was pretty funny.

[Psy]

Plain Japanese: For it the first time.
Japanese Subtitles: For it the second time.
English Subtitles: Against it all the time.

I don't see anything wrong with keeping subtitles around as long as they're in the target language. For most students there is a considerable gap between what one catch on-the-fly and what one can understand through reading. Granted, giving it a go without any aid is a good idea the first time through, but after that having a few hints can really lead to those wonderful "aha!" moments you'll get as a language learner. Since all the thinking remains in Japanese, it isn't exactly the lazy route (*cough* English *ahem*) in terms of listening practice.

Thanks for the link, watermen.

[Jessi]

Great link - I have been using this site for awhile now (it was a big help especially when I was living back in the States) - I love the wide range of shows they have. And not only dramas- check out some of the variety shows they put up there for a lot of authentic, unscripted Japanese.

[jazzbeans]

I watch everything I regularly watch without subtitles.

However, I watch Mainichi Kaasan (a cartoon) and I've watched the episodes I have a couple of times (oh, there are no subtitles 'part from Japanese ones during the opening theme). Enough times to now fully hear what they are saying. But, I was really curious as to whether I was correct in what I thought they were saying.

So, I looked up the English subtitled version of one of them. I WAS OVERJOYED at how well I understood it. I learnt from it too though, most definitely my vocab increased because of this show and others. But you know, wanted to make sure I was on the right lines.

I'm a beginner though, I'd say. Not good at all. In any case, I'm a lot more confident that I understand things and I haven't looked up English subtitles since. I only watch things with subtitles when I'm with other people (who are not Japanese speakers or learners).

[watermen]

If I were you, I would try avoiding subtitles. For me, it only slows everything down. Especially intermediate students they should do well without any subtitles.

My goal is to watch Japanese TV with no subtitles. And the best way to achieve this is to start watching Japanese TV / movie, etc. with no subtitles at all.

PS: I'll be aiming for the JLPT lvl 2 next year, so the above response is based on my experience.

Good luck and have fun watching TV's / movies, etc. with the subtitles

I am watching the drama Last Friend now.

WIthout any subtitle, I can only understand like 30% of the conversation. Then I start to get bored, because I can't follow the story.

With English subtitle, I understand 100%, but I am spending time reading the English subtitle and not really concentrating on listening.

With Japanese and English subtitle, I understand 100% too, but I am also learning the Japanese, sometime they speak too fast, Japanese subtitle really helps a lot, and if I don't understand a particular word or grammar, I can pause it and check Jpod101 lesson notes, grammar book or a dictionary. It helps you to learn.

I have been watching Japanese anime with english subtitle for many years, but my Japanese never really improved, therefore watching with English subtitle alone clearly doesn't help at all.

If you are able to watch a J-drama and understand it 100% without subtitle, your Japanese is near native level. I am still far from that.

[shimewaza]

Having the Japanese subtitles available to use when you were not able to catch what was said is extremely valuable IMHO. If you are able to watch typical Japanese dramas and catch EVERYTHING that is said, I don't know why you are spending time on JapanesePod101 because your Japanese is at a level where this site won't have much to offer. Although I passed JLPT1 several years ago, I still learn new words every time I watch a JDrama or any Japanese show for that matter. IMHO, when you reach around intermediate level, watching raw movies, TV shows, and news programs is the best method for progressing toward the ultimate goal of native-level fluency.

[watermen]

Great link - I have been using this site for awhile now (it was a big help especially when I was living back in the States) - I love the wide range of shows they have. And not only dramas- check out some of the variety shows they put up there for a lot of authentic, unscripted Japanese.

Do they put up variety shows too? Mind to let me know where to find it? Thanks.

[jazzbeans]

Um. I'd like to know too! I love Variety shows due to their constant subtitling. I have a few Matthew's Best Hits, etc. It helps so much to have them write things down. Although, it's frustrating when I can't hear a word and can't read the kanji for it either. =(

[Jessi]

If you go to the torrents page, there is a drop down menu that says "type". There you can select the genre of torrents you want to see, and then click Go. One of the genres is J-TV, and there you will find all of the non-drama Japanese TV shows.

http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/torrents ... +all&sort=

You'll find game shows, idol shows, talk shows, etc. You might want to put the name of a show into youtube to find out what it's like before downloading an entire episode.... or you could just download a little of everything and see what you like! I recommend Sekai no hatemade Itte Q (celebrities visit different parts of the world and have adventures) and SMAPxSMAP (skits, cooking segments, and song performances with the group SMAP). If you want to know about any of the other show titles, just let me know (I watch a lot of TV here )

[mslozada]

If you are able to watch typical Japanese dramas and catch EVERYTHING that is said, I don't know why you are spending time on JapanesePod101 because your Japanese is at a level where this site won't have much to offer.

Advanced Japanese: " Topic " (Japanesepod101.com Blog) and Audio Blog helps me a lot in furthering my Japanese. For the rest (of the Japanesepod101.com features), I rarely use them because most of the lessons (especially grammar and Kanji's) are in a random order. I use Kanzen Master.

Yes, I know. All the lessons are general. They are/ were not made specifically for the JLPT tests.

I always set my goals. No goal = No motivation
No motivation = pointless

Japanesepod101.com offers lessons in a relaxing and fun way. That is why I highly recommend this site as long as the student doesn't target the JLPT

[billyshears]

I tried both the above links but my AVG anti-virus protection warned me off the site with the following message:

Danger: AVG Search-Shield has detected active threats on this page and has blocked access for your protection.