DVDs are great for learning foreign languages

Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 13:28:28 +0000 (UTC)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang,misc.education,talk.origins
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 DVDs are great for learning foreign languages. DVDs give popular
movies dubbing or subtitling in foreign languages, all on one disk.
"Blazing Saddles" or "The Three Stooges" gain new hilarity in Spanish or
French. There are single DVDs that have English, Spanish, Portugese,
Chinese, Korean, and Thai language selections. DVD is superior to videotape to study foreign languages. You can pause
a DVD to alter dubbing and subtitling while a movie plays. You can
listen to spoken English while reading subtitles in Spanish or French;
You can listen to a dubbed foreign language while reading subtitles in
English; You can listen to a foreign language and read it as subtitles; Or you can listen in a foreign language without subtitles. DVD versatility allows easy pausing to read subtitles or to decipher a
phrase spoken in a foreign language. DVD provides easy repeating of
phrases and scenes. The spoken language and the subtitles can be easily
switched back and forth to confirm the conversation in English. Foreign subtitles and foreign languages often do not correspond
word-for-word to the English counterparts on DVDs, but that is rarely
the case with any translation. Foreign subtitles often do not
correspond word-for-word to the foreign dubbed language on the same DVD. But in either circumstance the options are always close enough to aid
in interpretation. Comedy movies make foreign languages more fun to learn. For reasons that are not clear, many English DVD titles provide the
added choice of only dubbed French, and only Spanish subtitles.
Apparently, its easy to obtain French dubbing and Spanish subtitling,
but not the other way around. DVD labels must be read carefully to discern which foreign languages
are available and which are spoken only, subtitled only, or both. These DVD are good examples of common titles: Blazing Saddles (spoken
language choices: English, Spanish, and French; Subtitles: English,
Spanish, and French); The Three Stooges Curly Classics (spoken language
choices: English, Spanish, Portugese; Subtitles: English, Spanish,
Portugese and French); National Lampoon's Animal House Collector's
Edition (spoken language choices: English, Spanish, and French;
Subtitles: English, Spanish, and French); About Last Night from TriStar
(spoken language choices: English, Spanish, and French; Subtitles:
English, Spanish, and French); So I Married an Axe Murderer (spoken
language choices: English, Spanish, Portugese; Subtitles: English,
Spanish, Portugese, Chinese, Korean, Thai); Shine (spoken language
choices: English and French; Subtitles: English, French and Spanish);
Grosse Pointe Blank (spoken language choices: English and French;
Subtitles: English and Spanish); American Pie (spoken language choices:
English and French; Subtitles: English and Spanish); There is also a DVD music video of the Buena Vista Social Club
featuring Cuban singers in the Spanish language with English subtitles. The same songs are available on music CD, which can then be played in
the car and elsewhere to reinforce the Spanish learned from the DVD.
Copyright (c) 2000 by Rex Curry
for more ideas on language, see the word chart of etymology at
http://members.ij.net/rex/ And http://rexcurry.net
Rex Curry
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http://members.ij.net/rex/
http://rexcurry.net