Watching Japanese TV shows with my kids

[PatPaul]

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can watch and understand Japanese TV. My Japanese level is low and I try to spend time with my kids watching their favourite TV shows on a regular, falt-screen TV;however, with most of the shows, there are no subtitles (English or Japanese), so I am completly lost...

PatPaul

 

[Lothor]

I don't know how much it will improve your Japanese but it sounds like a very good way of improving the communication with your kids and their communication skills, particularly if you ask them key words that you don't understand.

 

[bentenmusume]

Well, to understand Japanese television, you need to understand Japanese.

If you're not understanding, that means either your basic knowledge of Japanese grammar, or your listening skills are lacking.

There's really no solution except studying, learning, and listening more.

 

[PatPaul]

Thanks for the feedback

 

[mdchachi]

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can watch and understand Japanese TV. My Japanese level is low and I try to spend time with my kids watching their favourite TV shows on a regular, falt-screen TV;however, with most of the shows, there are no subtitles (English or Japanese), so I am completly lost...

PatPaul

My son watches a lot of anime movies with English subtitles. No idea where he's finding them. But if you could find some streaming sources with subtitles to watch with them it could be helpful.

 

[nice gaijin]

Japanese TV doesn't really cater to non-Japanese speakers, and I don't think I've ever seen English subtitles on Japanese TV, so your options are to either find a streaming source that provides subtitles, or to study more so you can watch live TV. If you're living in Japan, it's always a good idea to work on your language skills.

If you're into self-study, there's a "language learning with netflix" chrome plugin (I guess it's called Language Reactor now) that lets you set multiple subtitles and change playback speed. Once you have a solid base in Japanese, this can help you reverse engineer what's being said, and figure out grammar patterns for Japanese speech and natural word choices, depending on what you're watching. If they're into anime, I think Crunchyroll offers subtitles for the shows on their platform.

That being said, you can continue to watch with your kids, just as a way to spend some time with them. Even if you don't understand it it's good exposure. If they're growing up bilingual you can ask them questions, which can also be a good way to bond and to mutually practice language skills.

 

[PatPaul]

Dear Nice

Japanese TV doesn't really cater to non-Japanese speakers, and I don't think I've ever seen English subtitles on Japanese TV, so your options are to either find a streaming source that provides subtitles, or to study more so you can watch live TV. If you're living in Japan, it's always a good idea to work on your language skills.

If you're into self-study, there's a "language learning with netflix" chrome plugin (I guess it's called Language Reactor now) that lets you set multiple subtitles and change playback speed. Once you have a solid base in Japanese, this can help you reverse engineer what's being said, and figure out grammar patterns for Japanese speech and natural word choices, depending on what you're watching. If they're into anime, I think Crunchyroll offers subtitles for the shows on their platform.

That being said, you can continue to watch with your kids, just as a way to spend some time with them. Even if you don't understand it it's good exposure. If they're growing up bilingual you can ask them questions, which can also be a good way to bond and to mutually practice language skills.

Thanks for the great advice and information!

 

[Jonnylotto]

Sometimes you can find SAP or CC buried in the menus; for broadcast TV it's in the TV audio settings. For Amazon Prime, Roku etc it can be in the individual app settings.

btw, NHK World broadcasts in multiple languages and even though it's not anime a lot of current events, documentaries and Grand Sumo ! are available live or streaming. Might be worth a watch for you and the kids?