Will watching spanish shows/ movies actually help
I pick up words here and there that I know and recognize, but mostly they speak way to fast. Do people actually absorb anything osmosis wise when watching shows/movies?
28 Answers
No man, you have to kill the subtitles. No subs. Never subs. at. all. You can do it no subs and just in the background and let your brain soak it up, or you can be active and listen / lookup words you don't get and that takes a lot longer. But subs are the enemy. BUT if you listen in Spanish and use Spanish subs (never, never, never English subs) then you can do even better and learn faster. Remember, crutches are crutches, once you start using crutches then you can never walk without crutches so don't use English subs ever, they will never help you.
Listening to songs helps me the most. If I like a song in Spanish, I'll look up the lyrics and learn a ton of new words while learning how the words actually sound in sentences. But television and movies absolutely cannot hurt and I like doing that, too.
This is what Chileno said:
Think about this.
Get a movie in English, put it in the DVD player, no subtitles or close caption stuff, then turn down completely the volume and watch the whole movie.
Will you understand anything?
In other words, if you understand almost nothing about what is being said, it won't help you learn. I agree with the "osmosis" idea but I think it only works after you have progressed to a certain point. What I have done is to put the DVD in my computer and played each phrase over, maybe 6 times if necessary, until I either understood the words or not. If not, I asked my friend Normita and she would explain. And I would write it down. And I did that for the whole movie, and kept watching it until I understood what was being said for the whole thing.
And then the next movie turned out to be easier, and my listening comprehension improved a lot. It was a lot of work, and worth it.
You know, there are times I can't even understand movies in English!
Suerte,
J
Yes, watching movies in Spanish will definitely help. And jeezzle, I agree 100% about the 'no English subtitles' thing.
Don't be discouraged if you can only pick out a word here and there! It really does take time, so don't give up. Your listening comprehension will improve DVD by DVD. 
I'd suggest choosing a movie that you've already seen a couple of times, so you know the gist of what is going to be said at a given moment; that should give you some clues as to what to listen for.
I find that reading Spanish books gives you more vocabulary to listen for as well, so that's something you could try.
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So yes: keep watching those Spanish DVDs! In a little while you'll be coming back and telling us how many movies you can understand! 
Well, watching movies with English subtitles have been very helpful for me. I love movies and I love English, so this is the perfect combination for me. I use to memorize some new words or write them to check them later.If this work for me, may work for you. It's up to you
I watch TV shows in Spanish... only tried one movie, once.. with subtitles... the subtitles didn't help me though. I found myself just reading the subtitles!
With the TV shows, I always have my Spanish-English dictionary by my side, in case there is a word I heard and don't understand (which are many!). It's hard to keep up though. Most of the time the people on the shows talk too fast for me to understand. However, I do believe it helps! It sure can't hurt! 
Jeremias:
What I was saying is that of course you will understand some of what's going on in the movie, EVEN if you are not hearing anything.
Why is this concept so difficult to understand?
Just do it. I bet you will be able to say what the movie is about.
Why?
Because understanding a movie, not only has to be through your ears, but your mind and your eyes.
So when starting, of course you won't understand a single word of what's being said in a movie in the target language. That comes a little bit later of watching movies.
If you read and write in the target language, and translate what you are reading and writing, you will have more chances of recognizing the spoken words in a movie later on.
Osmosis?
Bleh!
What's that? You eat it?
Think about this.
Get a movie in English, put it in the DVD player, no subtitles or close caption stuff, then turn down completely the volume and watch the whole movie.
Will you understand anything?
The public TV station in Spain, RTVE, has episodes of shows you can watch online or download. I have downloaded several episodes of Amar en tiempos revueltos and watched about twice as many more. I watch the downloaded episodes over and over because I'm so amazed at how much more I understand the 2nd and 3rd time. I don't think I learn new grammar or vocabulary as much as I learn to hear what I already know.
Something you may find helpful. I am going to give this a try. I found a good book. It is titled, Listen n Learn Spanish with your Favorite Movies. The book gives an awesome core vocabulary that you learn by reading. It then lists movies that are available having English, Spanish and sometimes French soundtracks. It categorizes these movies from beginner to advanced. Finally, in addition to the core vocabulary are other glossaries listing words and phrases found in particular movies.
What this allows you to do is study words and phrases prior to watching it in Spanish. You can also be familiar with the movie in English before watching it in Spanish.
Buena suerte.
I watch both Spanish television and Spanish movies on Netflix and I find them both helpful. I personally disagree with the idea of not using subs if your truly a beginner like me. Remember everyone is different and we all learn differently. I can see how it would eventually be a crutch but for now I use English subtitles. I do like the idea of switching to Spanish subtitles.
I also find the commercials on cable helpful. They tend to speak slower and the visuals help as well.
Absolutely bro. More than you can imagine man.
If you are looking for a spanish film or a soap opera, which not absolutely stupid, you can watch them and you will understand a lot, espcially if you repeat them. I can recommend the films of Almodovar and a few mexican soaps.
Si buscas una pellicula español o culebrón, que no es tonto competemente , puedes los ver y comprendreras mucho, sobre todo si los repetiras. Puedo sugerir las pelliculas de Almodovar y algunas culebrónes de Mexico
I'll try, but even in the beginning no subs?
Honestly, the best way to learn is to talk with spanish speaking people. But movies, tv, cd's are great ways to keep hearing for it when you cannot be talking to people. When i first started learning spanish, i would watch kids movies in spanish (think finding nemo) because the ideas and langauge is targeted at kids it tends to be simpler. Another thing I did was take my diccionario everywhere! I dont know if you are religious at all...but for me sitting through many many church services was torture when I didnt understand anything but eventually I'd look up words and understand more and more..the day I knew my spanish was improving was the day i went through WHOLE service without feeling lost! I think media is excellent supplimentation to learning, but dont expect to learn it just by listening (thats like studying for advanced biochemistry by sleeping on top of the book), look up words, use subtitles if you need to, or watch movies that you are already familiar with in english, and use people and lessons (theres lots on here) to learn the vocab.
