How To Watch Videos For Language Learning - Most Effective Method

I'm James, a native English speaker and I also speak Italian and Spanish. I have 11 years of experience with language learning. I help people reach a conversational level in another language.
In this video I talk about how to watch TV series and movies to learn another language most efficiently. They key is, don't look up every word that you don't know. This will disrupt your flow and take you out of the zone. It adds effort and distracts you. You'll pick up new words naturally over time with repeat exposure.
You need to be emotionally invested 'in the zone' of what you're watching - add repeat exposure to this, where you continue watching something over weeks and months and your brain will naturally understand the language.
00:00 - Introduction
00:07 - Get into the flow of what you're watching
01:08 - We learn using contexts
01:24 - How we learn as babies
02:42 - How we learn from exposure over time
03:09 - Accept that you won't know every word
05:45 - Using body language to help work out what's happening
06:16 - Having an emotional connection helps
07:00 - How the brain works out what it needs to learn
07:45 - What makes someone fluent?
🔗 LINKS
- 📺 Watch Movies and TV shows in your target language on Amazon Prime, use this link for a 30 day free trial: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/prim...
- My course "Learn Any Language From Scratch In Less Time": www.udemy.com/course/learn-an....
Use this code for a 71% discount: 0A51A27F3B679CA6A46D (Discount expires on 30th April 2024).
- My language learning newsletter: learnwithlingoers.substack.com/.
Every Friday at 4pm UK time, I'll be posting new language learning tips and advice, as well as sharing my thoughts about my own language journey with Spanish and Italian. I'll be posting short, to-the-point posts that you'll receive by email every Friday. This is in addition to this KZbin channel.
- 1:1 Language coaching sessions with myself. If you're struggling to learn a language and need help to speed up the process, this is for you. View more information and book your first 30 minute introductory call with myself for free, using the following link:
calendly.com/jameshutchinson9....
- The online platform that I use to practice with native speakers is called Preply. It offers 1:1 video call lessons with a native speaker, from as little as $2/hour depending on the teacher and the language. If you want to give it a try, you can use my referral link to get a 70% discount off your trial lesson with a native teacher. I'm not sponsored by Preply, but I will receive commission if you sign up using this link: preply.com/en/?pref=NDY3MzU2N....
- My FREE eBook: How To Find Time For Language Learning: payhip.com/b/Kv8Ey.
The biggest struggle for most language learners seems to be finding the time to practice. This eBook is designed to solve that.
🍿 WATCH NEXT:
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How to think in another language and the benefits this brings: • How To Think In Anothe...
My 5 language learning principles to help make you fluent: • 5 Language Learning Pr...
#languagespecialist #languages #italian #spanish #languageskills #languagelearning #languagecommunity #languagepsychology #psychology #content

[@engespress]

I think watching a video with the two methods - looking up words and not looking up words - is the most useful way to learn a language. First, watch a video right through without stopping it, with subs or without subs. Then watch the video to word-mine it, which increases your vocabulary. Watching right through helps you pick up expressions and grammar as well as good pronunciation and intonation; and looking up words helps you expand your vocabulary. You need both things to acquire a new language. I find listening without interruption to something I've studied previously is quite enjoyable and helps my subconscious mind absorb the language. Using one method exclusively - word-mining everything you watch, or alternatively, spending years watching videos you don't understand a word of - is counterproductive. Using a balanced approach is the best in my opinion.

[@learnwithlingoers]

Interesting ideas! Of course, you can have a mix of both - the idea is to try not to disrupt the flow of what you're watching. As you say if you watch it for the first time without stopping it but with subtitles, this is great as you don't know what to expect. It's exciting and you're in the zone because you haven't seen it before. You will have a lot of emotional investment into it for this reason. Then, if you'd like to watch it again but you already know what happens, this could be a good opportunity to allow yourself to look up a few words. Maybe limit yourself to commonly spoken words that you don't know as these will likely be most useful for you in real life. However I agree with your point, there's multiple ways to approach it :)

[@engespress]

@@learnwithlingoers I agree with you that watching material uninterrupted is very important for learning. Watching the same material over and over again, without breaks, is also helpful. I think a balance of word-mining to free-flow listening of about 1 hour : 4 hours is helpful. I tend to do the free-flow listening during my sleep. I don't have enough time during the day, and besides, the language might be absorbed into the subconscious better this way. Funnily enough I don't get tired in the morning doing this. Good video for generating discussion on language-learning. 😃

[@learnwithlingoers]

Spot on :). If there's any other topics or areas you'd like me to do a video on, let me know!@@engespress

[@engespress]

​@@learnwithlingoers Actually I change my mind, and I think you are 100% right. I have been doing word mining and now realize it's of zero help. Learning by just watching - WITHOUT WORD LOOK UP - is the best method. I plan to watch around 2,000 episodes of around 10 minutes each, using this method. I will keep rewatching this material until I understand most of it. Then I will see if I am closer to fluency or not. Kids learn their native language this way, by watching TV and videos, and even though they don't understand a lot at the beginning, with time, they understand all of what they watch after a few years.

[@kahea2018]

I'd love an update.

[@Alesti5]

My rule as a beginner is to only look up a word if not knowing it prevents me from understanding the video/book (or if I've seen it a bunch of time and still don't know it). Once I get to B2/C1 I look up every single word/phrase I don't fully understand since they're hard to come by at this point.

[@learnwithlingoers]

Good points, yes sometimes if you miss an important word, then you can miss the whole context of what the conversation/topic is about. On the other hand if you have subtitles in your native language this can help, so at least you're listening in your target language but still understand what's happening. As you say, once you reach a certain level you can challenge yourself more :)

[@pfikurum]

So, from what I could understand from the video, we, the learners, should be learning like "living in the moment while learning a new meaning with the new words we encounter, and incorporate them as much as we interpret what really means upon context". I don't know if I am not mistaken with this, but, in my own words, this is what I get.

[@learnwithlingoers]

Exactly. That's spot on :)

[@ihatekillerclowns]

I am starting my Netflix watching journey now in Spanish after years of grammar and watching podcasts with the odd italki lesson. Very hard to resist to look up words , but I think after a few months of watching these shows , my slow brain will slowly understand the process and things will eventually come together.

[@learnwithlingoers]

Good luck! And yes it's vary hard to resist the urge to look words up that you don't understand :)

[@ImMrAdam]

Good stuff James! I'm learning Chinese (not only from) youtube videos and it's frustrating when a 10min video takes you over 30mins to finish because I'm constantly pausing it to look up words.

[@learnwithlingoers]

That's it. It can become annoying having to pause the video as it takes much longer to finish it. Thanks for sharing and good luck with your Chinese!

[@grunntalll]

im doing the same in japanese but i think taking your time is actually very rewarding (so far at least) . theres no point in trying to rushing through learning.

[@user-iu8oy3ql6u]

I agree with u!!! Even tho i do, I've been contemplating that whether it is effective to increase vocabulary or not. I'm a Japanese who have been learning English. I'll continue watching KZbin videos without subtitles and not looking up!! Thank u for making this great video🎉

[@learnwithlingoers]

Glad you find it useful! No worries :)

[@TahaKhanali-py4ij]

I liked your content 👍

[@learnwithlingoers]

Thanks!

[@learnwithlingoers]

Thanks for the comments everyone! My goal is to make more useful, practical videos on language learning. Let me know any struggles you have, what you'd like to improve and what you'd like to see more of from this channel! Every suggestion helps :)

[@MsTranthihai71]

Thanks

[@learnwithlingoers]

No problem. Glad you liked it :)

[@learnwithlingoers]

If there's any other topics you feel you'd like me to cover, please let me know! Thanks

[@leenasipponen8958]

I recently watched a movie in Russian language. It was subtitled in English, but English is not my mother tongue. I only had time to read some of the texts. I have only studied Russian for a short time and only knew a small part of the words. However, I understood the movie very well and was able to enjoy it. Even though I didn't understand most of the words, I still understood what was being said. Weird!

[@learnwithlingoers]

Ah interesting - thanks for sharing!

[@llewlloyd3832]

I'm going through the Spanish LanguageTransfer course. What would you recommend I do after finishing that?

[@learnwithlingoers]

That's cool - once you're able to say a few basic phrases, enough to have a simple conversation then look for a native speaker to practice with. You have two options with this; find a language exchange partner which is free (trading your time for their time) or you can pay for online lessons (it can be as little as $5 per hour though so it's not too expensive). I use Preply for this. It means you can build confidence and actually put to use what you've learnt. For Preply, you can use my referral link if you want to have 70% off your first lesson:preply.com/en/?pref=NDY3MzU2NQ==&id=1712666886.780919. No worries either way though, that's my advice! Good luck whatever option you choose :)

[@thesifuchannel6906]

Is this the same advice for reading as well?

[@learnwithlingoers]

Very good question! I'd say if you're wanting to real for entertainment/pleasure then you'll be more in the flow if you're able to keep reading without interruption. Without stopping to look up words. If you understand the jist of what you're reading but there's a few words you don't understand, just keep reading. This is because if you stop reading, pause, look up the word etc, this will add friction to the process of reading. It may feel more like 'a chore' or 'homework' rather than entertainment. If that makes sense. Alternatively, if you don't understand what you're reading at all, then it makes sense to look up the words because you couldn't progress without knowing what you're reading about. Hope that makes sense :)

[@IHateEveryone]

I agree and disagree. The german words and phrases i know the best are ones ive never looked up. Like “du bist dicht“ or „was laberst du“ or „lass mich endlich in Ruhe mann“. I know those and a lot of other stuff as if it’s english, because i never looked them up and because of the emotional weight of the scenes i learned them from. But, on the other hand, i wouldn’t have had enough context to understand those phrases had i not looked up some words in the sentences before and after. So good principle, but in practice, i think it should be a mix, and you could get the same effect. For example, at first i only knew “fertig” because i looked it up, but now ive heard it so many times that i dont have to translate it to “finished” anymore, fertig is just fertig. Something that interesting that supports his point though is that there are no direct translations between languages. “Fertig” doesn’t mean exactly “fertig” and if you are leaning on translation, you’re less likely to pick up on the subtle differences between the words that seem to be equivalent on the surface. Learning words and phrases his way is ideal for getting that kind of nuance.

[@learnwithlingoers]

True! Depends how much exposure you think you'll have to the language. You need exposure to be able to hear new words and phrases enough times to understand what they mean. That comes as part of the journey of learning a new language though - you need lots of exposure :). Good points!

[@captainpugwash2317]

I am currently learning Italian ,well trying because I just can’t find the right resources and structure any suggestions

[@learnwithlingoers]

Hey, yes so "Italy made Easy" is a great podcast for people new to Italian. They speak slowly so it's easier to understand them. They're on Spotify and KZbin :)

[@captainpugwash2317]

@@learnwithlingoers much appreciated, thanks for that.

[@ELGENTILHOMBRE-df3gy]

Chispas...Pensé que eras alemán

[@learnwithlingoers]

Haha, nah. Soy ingles de Manchester :)

[@ELGENTILHOMBRE-df3gy]

@@learnwithlingoers Glad to meet your channel

[@MrWackydoodles]

this japanese learning shit is making me more fluent in english because all i watch is how to acquire language in english. smh

[@learnwithlingoers]

haha fair enough!