We are all aware of the different levels of language proficiency. All the way from A1 to C2, each level indicates your ability to understand and produce your language of choice.

If I had to say, though, what is one of the highest achievements you can complete during your studying, it would be watching and understanding movies without subtitles or dubbing. It is certainly not an easy feat to achieve: movies contain slang, colloquialisms, quick speech, exceptions, cultural nuances and all sorts of intonation.

All this can be stressful and nearly impossible for your early period of acquisition. Do not be discouraged, though, as gradually, you will understand more and more.

And the more you understand, the more motivated you will get to understand the movies to even greater depths.

Another great part of this is that you are doing something fun! It is definitely not the same as reading a boring and outdated text about cassette players in a textbook. If I were to advise you, I would suggest re-watching all your favorite movies in English, without subtitles.

First, try to understand as much as possible. Since you already know what the movie is about, you will be able to find meanings of words on your own, without a dictionary. This has to be the most satisfying part about it, and your long-term memory will love it.

Apart from tutoring and conversing with a native speaker, this is probably as close as you can get to hearing the language in its raw, non-academic form. Thanks to the internet, you have pretty much unlimited access to movies, and you have no excuse not to use this learning tool.

I have personally found this to be one of the absolutely most effective ways of learning a language. Effective and extremely fun!

What level of language knowledge allows to watch films in the original?

There are films and movies for every level of language skills from A1 to C2.

What are the benefits of learning a language with movies?

Movies contain slang, colloquialisms, quick speech, exceptions, cultural nuances, and all sorts of intonation.

Is it necessary to watch movies in the original without subtitles?

You can always switch on the subtitles, but don't use subtitles in your mother tongue.

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