Good Sunday morning!Feels soooooo great to be back on my English blog after a long, long break!
My first posting for the year 2009 is about the DVD that I've been watching for the past few weeks, and some thoughts about language acquisition through watching DVDs.
The DVD that I am currently watching is ER season 3. I bought this DVD box set ages ago, but I stopped watching after only a few episodes as I got busier with my other commitments, mainly my French learning.
However, I resumed watching this DVD recently, after I bought a portable DVD player as a little treat for myself, for having finished learning my French-English dictionary shortly before the end of 2008. Luckily, this portable DVD player is region code-free, so I can play DVDs from any country on this player.
Coming back to the ER DVD box set that I've been watching, it is formatted for region 3 (Southeast Asia), and comes with English, Spanish, and Portuguese audio tracks and subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Korean. Maybe I can make use of this DVD to study Spanish or Portuguese in the future.
Up until very recently, seeing as my listening comprehension in English is not that spectacular (or so I thought), I had always made a point of turning on English subtitles whenever I watched English-language DVDs, but this time around, I've decided to go without the subtitles, so I can concentrate more on what's happening visually rather than trying to grasp every single word in the dialogue.
Surprisingly, I've found that I can understand each episode far better without the English subtitles than when I switch them on!
Maybe that's because I can pay more attention to the physical actions and facial expressions of the actors without the subtitles to divert my concentration. I am more convinced than ever that the important thing is not to try to get every single word that's being said, but to try to get the general idea of each story.
Anyway, I think ER season 3 is indeed fun to watch, and as I am now really hooked on this series, I expect to finish watching this DVD box set pretty soon. My sister told me that ER gets boring after Dr Mark Greene dies in season 8 (in her own words: ER basically dies when Dr Greene dies.), but that means that I still have 5 more exciting seasons of ER to enjoy!
Can't wait to find out how this captivating hospital story unfolds in the next few seasons!
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
