Earlier this year I found this page on the TVP website where you could watch a few different Polish TV series (and even a couple of films) with the option of viewing on-screen Polish subtitles (for deaf people, but very useful for Polish language learners).
Having just checked the site again, unfortunately they don't seem to be available anymore. The series "Boso przez świat" is still marked as having "napisy dla niesłyszących" but when you load any video from the series it doesn't give you the option to view the subtitles anymore.
This is a real shame as this type of material is almost impossible to find, even on Youtube there is almost nothing.
Does anyone know why they have removed these videos, if they can be viewed anywhere else online, or if there are any other sites where you can watch Polish series or films with Polish subtitles?
Don't worry - subtitles everywhere are changing. This is due to an EU rule being implemented now that all terrestrial free-to-air TV has to be subtitled. The titles will return, but they'll be computerised.
As a Polish learner myself, I can only reiterate the personal significance of Polish-language subtitles for Polish movies. I trained my skills by watching either with Polish-language subtitles, or, (ideally) NONE at all, avoiding completely English or German captions!!!!
Tough as h**l at the beginning, but man what a difference in the end:-)
English subtitles for foreign films are also notoriously iffy! Sometimes, even while I was just starting to learn Polish, I'd be watching the movie and furiously trying to concentrate on the story/acting while reading the silly subtitles and think to myself, "Come on! Noone would say that in English!"
I'd then switch them off and probably got more of the actual dialogue than the stilted, unnatural rendering into English.
Jon, I hope they will also return online because, due to not being in Poland, unfortunately I don't have access to Polish terrestrial TV, just the Internet.
Wlodzimierz, at the moment I'm watching stuff for little kids :[ (without subtitles) on Youtube because, although my comprehension of written Polish is, say, intermediate level, understanding the spoken language is, as you know, a big step up. If I could watch normal Polish programs and films with subtitles in Polish, I'm pretty sure that I would understand enough of the dialogue for it to be worthwhile. Without them, I'm still seriously handicapped by my limited Polish listening skills.
I think that watching television/films in the language you're learning with the native subtitles is kind of like when you learn to ride a bike with stabilisers as a child. At the beginning they are necessary for you not to fall off, but little by little you eventually learn to ride without them.
I know there are lots and lots of non-English speakers who use this method to learn/improve their English, but fortunately for them they have a vast amount of easiliy available material to choose from (on the Internet, on almost any DVD, etc). As mentioned above, in Polish I've hardly found anything of this sort.
It's a shame that foreign language teachers and teaching institutions (at least from what I've seen) don't promote this method more because I honestly think it's THE BEST way of improving your language comprehension once you've gotten past the beginner's stage. Maybe it's because there is no money in it for them.
Okay, well rant over anyway :P, I guess I'll carry on watching Hello Kitty until I can find something for adults with subtitles...
Juvenalia's fine, so long as it's "classic", or traditional and not this contemporary YA (Young Adult) garbage! I'll make a slight exception with Harry Potter. Other than that, there's little out there on a so-called more basic level which isn't sub-mental at the same time:-)
Don't be afraid to challenge yourself! Do you honestly want to sound in Polish, like so many a young Pole sound like a vulgar valley girl in English???
