On subtitles

On AJATT, Khatzumoto writes that you should not use English subtitles at all. I have mixed feelings about this. I apply this policy to songs: I never watch or look up any English translations of lyrics, because I'm afraid that then I'll just remember the English translation as I hear the song. I want to listen carefully and gradually piece each song together over the course of many, many repeated listenings.

I feel like dramas and movies are a different story. I know so little Korean that I would literally be unable to follow anything that happened - except really, really basic things, like "What's that?" and "Don't go" - which I've only learned through using subtitles as it is. Or things that I could infer from context, like a guy being jealous. This would be incredibly frustrating for me since I love the storylines and can't stand not knowing what's going on. At the same time, I haven't actually tried watching anything with no subtitles yet...

I feel like at this point, it's still better for me to watch with subtitles but still try to focus on listening, because that way I can look up words. Sometimes, when I'm cooking, I play drama scenes I've already seen in the background, with the subtitles cut off at the bottom so I can't see them. That way I have a vague sense of what's going on (since I've seen it before at least once), but can only listen to the dialogue and can't become distracted by subtitles. If I watch the same scene with English subtitles too many times, I end up memorizing the English meaning of the dialogue, which is useless.

But I know that I can't be dependent on subtitles forever, and that they could cripple me before long. The ideal situation would be watching things with hangul subtitles, since then I could look up words and easily mine sentences. Maybe I could watch a movie or drama with English subtitles the first time through, and then re-watch multiple times with hangul subtitles...