I tried to learn Japanese by watching Netflix with Japanese subtitles, but I failed. Let me tell you what happened.
I’ve always wanted to learn Japanese, and I heard that watching shows with subtitles can help a lot. So, I thought, “Why not give it a shot?” I fired up my Netflix and started searching for something with Japanese subtitles. It was a bit of a pain to find, but I finally did. It wasn’t as easy as I expected.
I went to the “Audio & Subtitles” section and started browsing. Eventually, I selected “Japanese” in the audio search. Boom! A bunch of shows popped up, all playing in Japanese. I thought this was it, my breakthrough to learning the language quickly.
I picked a show and started watching. At first, it was pretty cool. I was trying to catch the words I knew and connect them with the English subtitles. But let me tell you, it got tough real fast. The Japanese was flying by, and I was struggling to keep up. I realized that most Japanese folks probably don’t even need subtitles for these shows, they just get it.
I kept at it for a while, pausing and rewinding, trying to make sense of it all. I even tried using the dual subtitles feature I’d heard about, thinking it would be some kind of magic bullet. This was supposed to show both Japanese and English subtitles at the same time, making it easier to connect the words and phrases. The idea was to link the words in my target language, Japanese, directly with their meanings in my native language, English.
But here’s the thing – it didn’t really work out like that for me. I found myself either focusing too much on the English subtitles and not really absorbing the Japanese, or getting totally lost in the Japanese and missing the story. It was like my brain couldn’t handle both at the same time. I was spending more time pausing and rewinding than actually watching the show.
- First, I logged into my Netflix account.
- Then, I went to the “Audio & Subtitles” settings.
- Next, I searched for shows with Japanese audio.
- After that, I picked a show and started watching with dual subtitles.
- Finally, I realized it wasn’t working for me and gave up.
I guess learning a language isn’t as simple as just watching TV with subtitles. It takes more than that. I mean, sure, it might help a little, but it’s not the whole solution. There might be situations where subtitles are useful, like when dealing with dialects, historical language, or really complex dialogue, but for regular shows, it didn’t seem to be the norm for native speakers.
So, yeah, that’s my story. I tried, I failed, and I learned that there’s no easy shortcut to learning Japanese. It’s going to take some real work, and maybe I’ll find a better method down the road. But for now, I’m back to the drawing board.
