How to Condense Audio from TV Shows & Movies [to supercharge your listening comprehension]
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Contents
Why use condensed audio?
Bridging the gap when learning “difficult” languages
Learn from material that’s above your level
Why condensed audio works is a great language learning tool
How does it work?
HOW to easily create condensed audio
What about for Mac OS X? (Step-by-step guide)
The best way to use condensed audio
What if your media has other non-target languages as well?
How do I find TV shows and movies with target language subtitles?
Refold’s Discord Community
Have you ever noticed (sounds like the beginning of a Seinfeld episode, I know) that when you watch a TV show or a movie, not all of it is dialogue.
Out of a 25 min show, maybe only 15 min of that is actual talking. Movies can even worse. They can have as little as 30-40 mins of spoken dialogue in a 1h 30m movie. This obviously depends on the genre. But no matter which one it is, it won’t be pure talking all the way through.
So are watching TV shows and movies a good way to learn a language?
I think they can be one of the most powerful sources of language learning. Especially when you find a TV show you’re really into. You just want to continue watching episode after episode. Through that you get lots of input. In the end, the amount of input you get is what will ultimately determine your language level.
Re-listening to shows and movies you have already watched is a powerful way to improve your comprehension. The sheer repetition gives your ears more opportunity for the words and phrases to stick. It becomes more and more comprehensible which each listen.
What if you could make this type of immersion more time-efficient? To cut out all the silences and only be left with all the dialogues?
Instead of having to let your immersion time be listening to things that won’t move the needle (in terms of your language skills).
This is what condensed audio is.
The process of creating condensed audio can feel a bit tricky. Especially if you’re not very tech-savvy (I’m definitely not the best with tech. So if this is you, you’re in good company!).
But it’s actually very easy.
If you want to easily create condensed audio files to have on your phone to listen to on the go, then you’ve come to the right place.
This blog will explain the benefits of condensed audio. How to use it to supercharge your listening comprehension. I will show you how to easily create condensed audio files, so you can listen to them on-the-go.
This will help take your listening comprehension (the most important skill in language learning) to the next level. If you want to read more about the concept and skill of improving listening then check out this blog post that I did on it.
You may or may not already be familiar with the concept of condensing audio. This blog post is for you if what you’re looking for is:
To learn why condensed audio is effective and how to use it to learn languages.
And/or:
You want to know how to condense audio in the simplest way for PC and Mac OS X.
Why use condensed audio?
There are several benefits:
Get the most out of the TV shows and movies you’re consuming (through repetition)
Use your time more efficiently to see faster language gains
Having tons of content, so you never run out of things to listen to
To help you when learning difficult languages with few resources
Bridging the gap when learning “difficult” languages
When learning more “difficult” languages (for an English speaker) such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Arabic, it can be difficult to find material at just the right level.
The material available is either beginner or native material. This is very much true for Cantonese that I’ve been learning for the past several years.
Once you’re past the early stages and those beginner materials, there’s hardly anything.
There might be very few materials to use between between upper beginner and native level content (such as movies, TV shows, YouTube vlogs, and so on). It feels like this bridge that is broken in the middle and the hole is too big for you to be able to jump over.
With a language like Spanish (that I’ve also been learning) it’s different. There are tons of materials available at every level and there’s very little need to repeat anything. You can just keep watching and listening to different media, and in that way improve your listening comprehension. There’s just so much content at just the right level for you.
Learn from material that’s above your level
What if you’re learning a language that don’t have the same luxuries such as Spanish? In this case, condensing media can really be that bridge you need. To take you from really struggling to understand native content, to being able to enjoy and understand your favorite TV shows and movies with ease.
When watching things that are above your level it can be difficult to keep up.
Ideally you would be able to understand somewhere around 90-95% (or more) of what’s being said.
But what if you understand 70-80%? Or even 30-40%?
For the past several months or so I’ve started using condensed media to get more out of the TV shows I’m watching. To really supercharge my language learning. It’s been working incredibly well. I’ve seen a lot of progress in my Cantonese in only a few months since I started using it.
So I wanted to share with you how to do it.
By bombarding your mind with the language you’re learning you’ll go from your mind not being able to keep up, to actually following along with ease.
It is something that takes time and determination, especially when you’re learning more “difficult” (i.e. more time-demanding) languages.
Because in the end, what will make you able to understand what you’re hearing is ultimately the amount of time you’ve spent listening.
One of the most powerful things condensed audio does is reduce that time.
Why condensed audio is a great language learning tool
What I usually do is watch an episode of a TV show. There will typically be many things I don’t understand.
Then I will listen to a condensed version (keep reading and I’ll show you how to create these) of the same episode. It’s perfect to listen to when I’m going places, doing housework, doing dishes, brushing my teeth, etc.
What tends to happen is that you start picking up on things that you didn’t hear the first time around watching.
This is a natural thing.
Our mind only has so much capacity to process new information (in other words, hear new words). The more things that are familiar to you, the easier it becomes to understand.
In a nutshell:
When you hear something in a foreign language and you immediately understand what it means, it frees your brain up to be able to focus on those things that you don’t yet know what they mean.
This is why shooting for 100% comprehension when watching or listening to something isn’t the most effective goal. If you understand 50% and you raise your level of comprehension to 60% of a particular content, then that’s a great gain!
It might not feel as if it is the same level of accomplishment as reaching 100% comprehension. But once you get used to this it will work in your favor.
You tend to get more out of things that you repeat. The thing is just that watching the same episodes isn’t necessarily the most fun for most people (except if you’re like my wife who has watched every single episode of Friends more than 10 times).
By using condensed audio you get the best of both worlds.
You get:
The benefit of repetition.
A more enjoyable experience by continuing to watch the next episode (instead of watching the same one multiple times).
Look, I’m not saying improving your comprehension in a language such as Chinese or Japanese is fast. It will require serious determination and commitment if you want to take it to a high level.
What I am saying is that you can make it relatively faster by maximizing your time.
How does it work?
Condensed audio is created based on the subtitle timings of a video.
It removes all the audio where there is no dialogue or talking going on.
Fighting scenes, montages, views of beautiful scenery… you get the idea - all those are removed.
What you’re left with is an audio file with pure dialogue.
It removes all the bones of the chicken and what you’re left with is only the meat for you to consume. This makes your listening time much more time-efficient (and who doesn’t want to save time?).
What you need to condense audio
You need three things:
A program that automatically condenses the audio and converts it into ready audio files.
A video file of the movie or tv show you want to condense (in .mkv or .mp4 format for example).
Subtitles - either a separate .srt file OR “soft subtitles” (meaning they are already embedded in the video file).
You can either use external subtitles (in the form of an .srt file) or use ones that are already embedded in the files. Hard-coded subtitles (that are burned into the video) won’t work as they won’t be recognized by the program we will be using.
If you’re unsure whether it has subtitles or not, then use VLC player (it’s free). Click on “subtitles” and then “subtitle track”. If the show or movie has subtitles it will show up there.
If you have a .srt file you can manually add the subtitles by choosing “add subtitle file”. Then they will then show up in “subtitle track” just as if they are embedded.
The good news is that it doesn’t really matter what language the subtitles are for the purposes of creating condensed media. They can even be English.
The audio, on the other hand, needs to be in your target language (otherwise you’ll be left with a condensed audio file in the wrong language).
HOW to easily create condensed audio
The best program I have found is a program called Condenser. It’s so easy to use and does the job perfectly. You press a few buttons and it automatically creates condensed audio files for you.
Condenser is made by Ercan Serteli. He wanted a tool to make immersing in Japanese easier for himself. So he created Condenser to help him do that. He then very graciously made it available to download for everyone else who wants to us it. Completely for free.
Ercan has clear and simple instructions for how to install and use the program on PC, so just follow those and you should be good to go.
If you’re a Mac user, don’t worry. Instructions are below.
If you use external subtitles in the form of an .srt file, the best way to condense the audio is to name it the same name. For example:
The video file would be called:
Triumph in the Skies Ep 1.mp4
The .srt file is called:
Triumph in the Skies Ep 1.srt
By naming it the same it makes it easier for the program to match the video with the right subtitle file. It makes it very easy to do an entire season of a TV show at once as you can condense multiple episodes at once.
To do this you choose “Folder” instead of “Video” as shown in the picture below:
What about Mac OS X? (Step-by-step guide)
I’m a Mac user. Previously it was only possible to use Condenser on a PC. I had to manually transfer files over to my wife’s computer using a USB memory stick since Condenser only worked on PC.
I reached out to the creator of Condenser, Ercan, and worked with him personally to get it to work on Mac.
So even though it was previously not possible, it now works on Mac OS X!
Using it on Mac takes quite a few more steps than on a PC. But once you’ve set it up, you’re good to go and it’s easy to use.
I made a step-by-step guide to make this as easy as possible for you.
This is especially great if you’re not tech-inclined. I’m certainly someone who looks for guides online on how to do all sorts of things. So I know how valuable it is to have a clear “holding your hand every step of the way”-guide that will save you time and effort in having to figure it out for yourself.
It’s full of screenshots and easy-to-follow instructions. Download it below:
The best way to use condensed audio
What you want is a playlist of audio. That makes it easier to get your listening time in.
In my experience, that way you will actually do it.
And do it often.
I prefer using LingQ (←get an extended free trial + 37% off).
It keeps all of my listening and reading materials organized.
With LingQ there are two major advantages:
Separate playlists
You can create as many separate playlists as you want (so you can separate podcasts, tv shows etc.)
It keeps track of your playtime
This increases motivation and makes something that is as abstract as listening concrete.
Learning a language is a long-term game. I’m a big believer in keeping track of how much you have listened. Keeping track of the time is great as a motivator. Especially in the long-term.
This is especially helpful when you’re setting a listening goal each day (which I recommend). You can then clearly see when you’ve achieved it.
It’s also very powerful to see how much you have listened over time. It keeps you honest - you know what to expect from your level, based on how much you’ve listened to over a certain period of time.
So if you feel your listening skills are not what you would like them to be, it’s only a matter of increasing the minutes spent listening every day.
And then see the total number go up in the long run.
You can’t expect your listening comprehension to be better after 20 hours of listening. But you definitely can after 200 hours.
What if your media has other non-target languages as well?
I was watching the Hong Kong movie Chungking Express a while back. Most of the movie is in Cantonese, but it also has quite a bit of Mandarin, some Hindi and even English.
Obviously I didn’t want to listen to the dialogues of those languages, since I’m not learning them.
So what I did is to open the .srt file for the subtitles of the movie with the program text editor. I hit the search button (cmd+f on Mac) in the file and typed in the name of the language (since the subtitles specified them for each line of dialogue). I then manually removed all the subtitles that had any language other than Cantonese.
That way Condenser just assumes those places in the movie were non-dialogue scenes and didn’t include them in the finished condensed audio file. I then had an audio file of pure Cantonese.
This can sometimes be a bit tricky because it can take some time to do. You have to weigh whether it’s worth doing, or if it’s too time-consuming. Maybe you choose to do it or maybe you just pick another tv show or movie to condense instead.
You obviously want to spend as much time immersing in your target language, and as little time as possible creating resources.
You just have to weigh the benefits vs. the hassle.
How do I find TV shows and movies with target language subtitles?
There are many places online where you can find subtitles as well as video files. Free programs like Subadub let you download subtitles directly from Netflix.
You also need the video file in .mkv or .mp4 format. There are many different ways to do that. It’s not my area of expertise, so just do a quick search online for it on Google, DuckDuckGo, or YouTube.
Refold’s Discord Community
My best advice to find good quality subtitles is to join the Refold Discord Community. It’s a language immersion community created by Matt from Matt vs Japan.
You choose the language you’re learning and then join a community that has other people learning that same language. Many of them have created entire libraries of content and even very accurate target language subtitles.
How much content is available will depend on the language you’re learning and the specific community you’re part of.
For Cantonese (which is a relatively small community), it’s without a doubt the best source for content I have found. The people there are very helpful and quick to respond to questions. You can always get great recommendations for where to find content and even specific shows or movies that you’re looking for.
To join the Refold Discord Community, just scroll down to the bottom of the page of the site. You’ll find it on the bottom left side of the page.
Summary
Condensing media is a way to help you create a listening immersion environment for you.
It helps you make the most of every single minute you listen. Making your listening times really count and in that way speed up your language learning.
In the end, what’s going to move the needle the most is not what you listen to or watch, or even necessarily how you’re doing it. It’s simply the time spent with the language. Every single person who has gotten very good at speaking a language has spent tons of time listening to it.
Any way you can make that easier for you is going to help you reach your goal faster.
