I had been toying with the idea of reviewing and learning more French, for the fun of it and to exercise my brain. But a Columbian telenova on Netflix changed my mind. I could occasionally recognize a word from my high school Spanish years ago, and it motivated me to learn more. Not for any useful purpose, just for the joy of it.
As I said, I’m not spending much time on Duolingo every day, but I’m exposing myself to Spanish elsewhere. Lately that’s been watching movies with Spanish subtitles. It turns out a lot of Amazon Prime movies and TV series have the option of up to 37 different languages for subtitles. That makes a lot of sense if they want to expand their audience. So why not take advantage of it?
One program I would never have watched without the subtitles was about three English guys in three cars playing pranks on one another and generally causing mayhem. In this episode they drove from Norway to Finland, all above the Arctic Circle. The scenery was beautiful and it didn’t matter that I didn’t understand all of the words, it was often clear what what happening. For instance, when they needed to hurry to get to the finish in time they were afraid to drive too fast on the roads… the Finns are very strict about speeding and the size of the fine depends on how much money the culprit has. But there was a frozen lake there, with no speed limit, so off they went.
Guess what happened.
It’s hard to believe that parts of the episode weren’t rigged, but it was fun, and I did learn a few new words.
July 10, 2023
oh wow
of course, besides possibly some laughter – there was probably “blame on someone else” “who’s foolish idea was this” 🙂
in some ways this is similar to me learning to use some new “art ways” – either technique or materials or tools….
It was entertainment so it was fairly certain it would end up all right. 🙂
Learning a new language is really supposed to be good for our brains. But I’m having enough trouble holding on to English. I admire you for your effort, though.
Thanks. 🙂
Boys, boys, boys!
That’s interesting about the customized subtitles. Love Amazon Prime!
I was impressed that they are offering a choice on some programs. I wish they would do it on all. 🙂
This show really tickles me. You got it on Amazon Prime? I do think it would be more fun to watch if you knew the language, but it is fun to suppose what they are saying. Mon Du!!
The program is in English. I only asked for Spanish subtitles because I was to learn more Spanish.
Oh, that’s funny. Did they get the car out of the drink?
Oh, yes. They sawed and chopped down some trees and made a winch. Then they raced on the highway to make their plane. It was good entertainment.
what a great idea to get familar with the words, i have seen the sub title thing but never bother with it becuase i find it hard to watch a movie and read english. we have watched a few, but i find reading i can’t focus on the movie. a movie like this, it would not matter because I would be trying to learn words not watch.
I’m pleased about Amazon letting me do this. 🙂
That’s a fun way to expose yourself to the language. I have no idea what those subtitles say but just seeing the pictures I can imagine…lol
🙂