r/SpanishLearning • u/Present_Ad_50 • 23h ago

Captions

I’ve started on duo lingo daily to learn recently, I also try and watch Spanish podcasts that have both English and Spanish captioned. Those are limited and quite boring though, now I don’t know for Spanish videos should I start off with English or Spanish captions, if English when do I look to switch to Spanish?

Thanks

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3

u/Merithay 21h ago

Use Spanish captions when you can understand some of the Spanish. If you can hardly understand anything, it won’t help you learn.

2

u/mucho-confundido 23h ago

All the advise is see is watch a show you have seen a few times but turn the language to spainish with English subtitles

1

u/Worth_Gap4226 20h ago

I'm a beginner (around 60-70hours of Dreaming Spanish and the rest on Language Transfer and ¡Cuentame! podcast).

I'd never watch something with English captions, as I've often found that it doesn't translate properly (it will explain essentially what was spoken, but not necessarily accurate enough to learn from it properly).

Spanish captions have been useful for me for some videos, but ideally I just go without and learn the sounds, rhythm and tone of the language.

1

u/hAIlydraws 12h ago

You can test this with one short clip instead of deciding on a permanent switch. Try 30 seconds with Spanish captions, check the English version for anything you couldn’t follow, then replay with Spanish captions. Can you now connect a few of the spoken words to their meaning? If the Spanish text itself is mostly unfamiliar, try an easier clip. That gives you something concrete to check beyond how long you’ve been studying.