As you see, language is used not only for writing and reading but for speaking and listening. Think how you use Japanese every day. You can't find a day without Japanese. What is more, most of people spend more time talking with someone or watching TV (this involves speaking and listening) rather than reading books or writing something. And that's why you speak Japanese so fluently: because you use it everyday for talking and listening. To speak any foreign languages, this rule is the same: listening to a natural conversation continuously and talking spontaneously. In this sense, films are very good for practicing your language skill because they give us many opportunities not only to listen to a natural conversation but also to learn spoken language, which doesn't so much vocabulary as written language that it is easier to study. What is better is films are so interesting that you can keep working on it if you can find a film which you really like. The details are as follows.
When you see a film for the first time, don't be so nervous about understand ing what the actors are saying. Just relax and enjoy it. Pay more attention to the visual images and the story rather than the meanings of each word and phrase. Look at subtitles, while you listen to a conversation. You don't have to listen carefully. Just hear and enjoy the rhythm and melody.
After seeing some films, choose one film that interests you and attracts you so that you won't get bored easily. This is quite important because if you study any language with films, you have to see them at least twice to understand the native conversations in them as well as to enjoy them. If a film is not fascinating to you, you won't be able to continue studying or you will have to force yourself to do it. This is quite bad. Choose what you are really interested in and throw the boring ones away.
After choosing one film, buy the script of it. You can find scripts in large bookstores like Kinokuniya, Maruzen, Biblo,etc. If you can't find what you want, ask a clerk whether this store deals with foreign books. If he says yes, ask him to see whether the script you want is in publish or not. If he says yes, make an order for your script.
Then, read the script of your favorite film.
At first, you don't have to use a dictionary. Just remind yourself of the images you saw and the rough story while reading the script. Even if you find something you don't understand at all, don't stop. Continue reading, and the images you saw will come into your mind so that you can understand it at least slightly.
When you finish reading the first chapter of the script, stop reading and go back to the start. Then use a dictionary and check the meanings of words and phrases. However, you don't have to memorize all the words you look up words in the dictionary. It is painful and hard. Each time you finish a paragraph, stop and reread it again, taking notice of the meanings and imagining the scenes at the same time. It would be preferable to read in a loud voice like an actor to get used to the natural speed and pronunciation of a native conversation.
After understanding the meaning of the words, you see the film again. This time, you pay attention to meaning and pronunciation. Listen attentively to what people are talking about and try to understand what kinds of situations you see on the screen. It would be best if you could understand everything without subtitles, but if that's not possible, it is OK, too. Read the subtitles while listening to the conversations. This improvised translation system helps you how to understand native languages in a moment. When you find a phrase you can't understand, draw a line under it.
After seeing the whole film, go back to the scene where you drew a line. Check the pronunciation and listen to the phrase five times. Even if you don't still get it, that's OK. Finish this film. You aren't obliged to see the same film many times. That's a sure way to get bored.
Try to find another film in the same genre. It may seem a little bit boring, but it will contain much vocabulary similar to what was in the last film you saw ,so that watching this film will help you to memorize the vocabulary naturally through repetition. In this way, you should continue by seeing two or three films on a similar theme, and then change genres.
Note from Victoria Muehleisen: there is an on-line source for movie scripts, Drew's Script-0-Rama at http://www.script-o-rama.com
Back to the Index of Suggestions.