There are Hollywood movies on Netflix that have been translated to a few languages. Have any of you tried watching them? I am asking because some movies have French voice overs and French subtitles, but sometimes the French subtitles don't match what the voice over is saying. Why is this?
An example is the movie "Good Will Hunting". For those who watched the movie, there is a famous scene where Will gets Skylar's phone number and asks the guy if he likes apples, then proceeds to ask "How do you like them apples?" The voice over for that was different than the french subtitles, I am assuming because that phrase does not exist in French. But still, if it does not exist in French, how can you voice over it? And why would it be written differently.
Kindly let me know, because I plan to continue to STUDY these movies by watching them and noting what the French subtitles say. If they are wrong or make not audio sense, then I am basically wasting my time. Thank you for your help.
I only trust subtitles in the original language. I find that French dialog and French subtitles match for French movies and series.
@Musa
I teach basic and intermediate French in my city. Here's what I do with my high-beginner and intermediate students:
- Read and listen to graded readers (CIDEB has titles at the A1, A2, B1, and B2 levels). They are available from amazon.com and might be available from a public library in your city.
- Listen to graded readers one level below the current reading level (slightly hard) or two levels below the current reading level (slightly easy).
- Watch French musicals on youtube with and without subtitles (simple dialog). Don Juan and Roméo et Juliette are worthwhile.
- Watch childrens animated movies (simple dialog).
- Watch television series (more dialog than movies - some may be hard to understand due to slang or cultural references).
- Watch movies (some may be hard to understand due to slang or cultural references).
You shouldn' t worry so much if the sentences you read don't match exactly what you're hearing.That's completely normal and I don' think it's really so important.
Subtitles are anyway very helpful to understand the story and to desenvelop you reading skills. Just go on and pay special attention to what actors are saying. Read the subtitles only to check that you're understanding the meaning in general.
