Asian DramaWiki Forum

Have you ever watched a FULL drama without subtitles?

I am seriously thinking about watching without the subs.
Was wondering if this night improve my Korean.
What a wonderful world of many drama's i have not seen too.

Any one recommend an easy drama to watch preferably one of the newer ones that i might just manage.

BIG thanks in advance!!!

It could help with comprehension if you have the at least the basics down, in my experience I learned many words and phrases as well but something you might want to do too is check for subs in whatever language
your studying. If you know how to read the language it can be a huge help when your having trouble catching phrases,words or even whole sentences. If your doing it just to watch a series that haven't been subbed yet, hell why not? lol

audiodj007 wrote:Have you ever watched a FULL drama without subtitles?

I am seriously thinking about watching without the subs.
Was wondering if this night improve my Korean.
What a wonderful world of many drama's i have not seen too.

Any one recommend an easy drama to watch preferably one of the newer ones that i might just manage.

BIG thanks in advance!!!

Of course, i watch k-drama without subs all the time. I hate subs. it distracts the view and annoying as hell. lol

Yes I have!
Konno-san to Asobo, it was really fun to watch.
The fact that I've only taken a 30 hours course in Japanese for beginners.
I did actually understand some of it.

This is another reason why I don't provide subs when I share/seed k-dramas/J-dramas...

I hate subs to death. It's so annoying..... SUBS = DISTRACTION


lolz.....

I watched BLOODY MONDAY without subs, and I enjoyed it >.< There's a lot happening on the screen, so I yeah the subs would be total distraction I think I guessed what I didn't understand.

Now I am watching Akai Ito raw and I like watching at the actors expressions instead of concentrating on reading

i never watch kdrama or jdrama without subtitles. i'm not good with korean or japanese although i really love the languages....
i love to have english sub when i watch drama to improve my communication skill in that language beside korean and japanese....(i know only a little bit about the languages...hihihihihi)
but i really love watching KOREAN DRAMA....
i recommend you to watch Boys Before Flowers( Boys Over Flowers)... its a lovely drama and not so serious...
hope you enjoy it...

I watched a lot of drama without subs even if I don't understand a lot. It did help me to concentrate on the language, not the subtitles. I did learned quite a few words / expressions that way without even looking into a dictionary.
What I do is usually watch without subs, and after I'm done, watch with subs or when subs are out I watch again the episode with subs.

But I did for Japanese drama, I guess it's the same for Korean ;)

I watched many dramas without substitles, i learn japanese so it's for improve my comprehension, but i prefer with subs, because when i don't understand i can find the translation with the subs...

And i'm not very patient so i watch them when they come out ^^

So far I've only watched Kemonomichi, kurosawa no techo and Ningen no shomei without any subs whatsoever.

I've watched a few mandarin ones without subs. Don't know if that counts though because I learned mandarin in school
but I only understand half of it. lol but I generally watch stuff with slapstick comedy, so it's not really hard to guess what they're saying

Almost watched Punch (korean drama) without subs. Stopped at ep13 / 16 because I totally could not understand what was going on anymore. Not that the story was in jumbles, but I couldn't understand what they were saying and how the plot progressed from one thing to another. That is why I'm glad AntoK is fansubbing it for like the longest anticipation time I've ever had.

its hard to do so, cuz I've tried watching something without subtitles, and it was a chore and a half, mainly cuz I desperately wanted to know what was going on. Sometimes you can tell what's happening and get the jist of what's going on, if the language being spoken have certain words that are similar to those in the English language (like Spanish) but not so with Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc.

Yes, I have. I watched Stairway to Heaven without english subtitles because when each episode was released (way back when it was airing in Korea), I had no access to subs. Since then, I've watched it 6 times. I have Stairway to Heaven in these formats (raw avi, fansubbed by FOB, Hmong translated, Hong Kong bootleg, Yesasia).

Hahaha, not to give myself away so easily .. but yes, it's one of my favorite series. LOL.

Yes I have always watched dramas with or without subs. I watched Shanghai Bund recently and thoroughly enjoyed it altho I do not know Mandarin. If the action is good and the actors are expressive you can usually understand the plot and enjoy the people.

I love Japanese dramas and taigas and many do not have subs but you can pick up the words and phrases and the same is true with Korean. I have learned a few phrases in Korean and Japanese and if I were younger (very much younger) I would go to the local college and find a tutor or class.. Sometimes it is not so easy to find a Japanese class.
Anyway I will always watch, subs or not. you should try it and you will surely enjoy.

Peggy

I have. Not a kdrama, but I've watched some Cdramas, HKdramas, and even Twdramas without subtitles. I recently watched all of Taiwan's Honey and Clover without subs; though it was easier than most because I knew the manga story. Despite not knowing the language, you can watch a show subtitle free, if you watch the actors carefully. Sometimes, you can even pick up a few phrases.

YES, I HAVE.
my first obsession was Hiroyuki Sanada and as he has so many movies and dramas that are unsubbed, i watched every one of them because i like his works.
same goes with Tomoya Nagase's dramas like sune ue no koibitotachi, kanojo ga shinjiyatta, futari, days, ...and i have watched them more than once too.
it does great help when you study nihongo.
i still watch a drama with no sub if the story is interesting enough for me and i can't find its sub any where.

Definitely. I watch all my TWdramas without subs... But then again, I do speak Chinese.

I've also watched Zettai Kareshi and a couple of other manga-based drama without subs. Once I know the story line, then it's not that big a deal to watch it without subs (if the actors are decent). However, I find it much more enjoyable to watch it with subs and actually understand what's going on.

If you know the basics of the story and the basics of the language, then it's usually okay to watch it without subs. But it can be really different from show to show.

Yes, I have watch a lot of drama without subs, then rewatch them when the sub come out. I find that once I watch it with the subs, I really wasn't understanding it as much as I thought......lol Any way the two drama I have watch without subs Billy Jean look at me and Juliet Man I enjoyed them both regardliess watching it raw. Most Korean drama iare the same so I basicly know what was going on.

Yes I have!
I'm Japanese so I rather watch Japanese drama without subtitles!

Nope, never watched without the subs....can't understand it.

You are looking at ONE.
Guess that's how i love and appreciate my dramas while I am learning hangul the hard way...
so i watched (around 80%) &
i can say most of my fav. Kdramas unsubbed.

Perhaps this is only me.. but its truly interesting when u get to feel the story this way.

I use subs sometimes if they're available. I don't cry if they're not though. It's really frustrating not understanding something.

no! hehe..can't live without subs!

Only when I am at work, which has access to the US TVB channel. Last one that I watched was the Drive of Life.

Hm...there are a couple but I don't remember the names....Some historical dramas, which I kind of got a bit confused on lol and Family Honor.

Of course. I try to watch the episodes without subtitles first and then with the subs. I feel that I miss something with the subs like facial expressions or things in the background. I feel I get a better understanding of the drama this way.

Mainly those Korean game/variety shows xman and the like.
Non Stop 2 , though that being a sitcom is pretty short episodes with a lot of physical gags
A lot of Bratty Princess /Mischievous Princess or even The Rough Princess and whatever other names it gone under before I could find the DVD with english subs online.
Good Morning Shanghai another of Jang Nara's Chinese TV Dramas.
But if there subs for the drama I will use it. It got so even when i watch english tv shows I find myself looking for the sub titles..lol

[quote="Basuha"]Yes, I have watch a lot of drama without subs, then rewatch them when the sub come out. I find that once I watch it with the subs, I really wasn't understanding it as much as I thought......lol quote]
Sorry to cut your post but I agree, back in the old days (I'm say about a decade ago), it was hard to get anything subbed (unless you wanted to pay an arm and a leg - drama imports were really expensive in the past).

So I watched a bunch of Kdramas raw and thought I understood about 20-30% of (nothing about the intricate plots but the main story line). I think I was able to catch a word or two, especially exclamation words or of love, loneliness, sadness - the typical emotional words you'd hear in a Kdrama.

Seeing the explosion of fansubs brought tears into my eyes! I realize how much I was missing by not understanding the tidbits. Especially fansubbers that go out of their way to explain a cultural nuances that foreigners would not get, and when they explain how the dialogue sometimes doing a word play (from the dramas I watch mostly Taiwanese and Japanese dramas seem to do this), it's just adds to the enjoyment of the drama!

However, in times of desperation, when I get addicted to a drama, I sometimes watch it raw. I try to read recaps where ever I can find it when I don't understand a language at all, then watch it.

I find because I've been watching subbed eps, when I watch a raw ep I find I already understand a word or two! With Kdramas, without seriously studying the language in a program, because I had a light base, I found that I was able to pick up a great deal more vocabulary. Now I think my comprehension is about 40-50%.

Anyhoo, as far as Kdramas, I got addicted to Queen of Housewives,couldn't wait for the subs so saw the rest raw. I feel as if I didn't miss anything important that I would rewatch when all the subs come out.

Shining Inheritance - the plot gets complicated, well I should say the plans are being discussed and the vocabulary is beyond me.

Examples of ones (kdramas) I found that seem to be light on the vocabulary are not exactly new ones (not in any particular order):

- Rival
- Witch Yoo Hee (I watched it with subs but found myself mostly not reading them)
- All About Eve
- Autum Tale (aka Autumn in my Heart)
- Winter Sonata
- Last Scandal

Pretty much any drama that's targeted with straight love story telling. I hope this helps.

(Quite honestly, I would love to be fluent with the language and be knowledgeable about the culture of every drama/movie I watch, for it does make for better viewing pleasure - however, since it's not a reality, I am satisified with being ever grateful to the wonderful fansubbers!)

Well, lately I watched a lot of Japanese dramas without subs, just because I was too excited to wait until the subs were released.
It's a good way to practice = ]

No, that'd be the "spoiler" to me. It'll drive me crazier than waiting for the subs, LOL.