Is watching anime with JP subtitles considered as reading?

Yes, it is. Watching anime with Japanese subtitles counts as reading immersion because reading the subtitles creates an inner voice that competes with the spoken language that you're listening to. As a result, you are not fully paying attention to the native speech. Instead, you focus on your internal subvocalization while reading the subtitles.

If you watched anime with English subtitles before starting to learn Japanese, you've likely spent thousands of hours listening to native Japanese. However, if reading subtitles did not interfere with your listening practice, you would have already learned the language. This is why we say that watching with subtitles counts as reading immersion. When you read subtitles, your own subvocalization interferes with and overshadows the audio. Consequently, you end up learning the language of the subtitles rather than the language of the audio. In this case, the language of the English fansubs.

Watching anime with Japanese subtitles can help you notice and learn more words, but it will cause your listening skills to lag behind. Relying too heavily on subtitles can create a crutch, making it difficult to transition to listening without any text support. If you've spent a long time watching anime with Japanese subtitles and neglected listening practice, you will be frustrated when you decide to turn off the subs and watch raw anime. While you can improve your listening skills by going cold turkey and immersing with a lot of raw anime, it will be challenging at first. It's better to train your listening ability while you're still a beginner. Therefore, AJATT recommends prioritizing listening to avoid this issue.

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Tags: faq