I am still a beginner in the Japanese language, but I do try to watch a lot of Japanese media. Normally I use English subtitles so I can understand what is going on, but when I do that I have noticed I don't pay as much attention to the audio as much. So if a character is speaking in Japanese, I would read the English subtitles and really not hear the actual Japanese much.
I have been experimenting with taking subtitles right off and just listening(similar to radio basically). I find I hear the words being said far easier and can concentrate on the language I am trying to learn instead of trying to translate it everytime to English with subtitles.
I think that for a intermediate-advanced learned who is able to comprehend dialogue most of the time this would be even more helpful. By turning on subtitles you will fall into the trap I am, of focusing a lot on your native language instead of focussing on your learning language. The final step to learning a language is skipping that last step of translation and learning to think in the language you are learning.
I encourage all of you who use subtitles to try turning them off and tell me what you think. Those who have already tried this, did you find it more helpful to your learning?
