Best Blu-rays for learning Mandarin?

[Darth Lavender]

Hi all,

I'm trying to learn Mandarin and looking for recommendations.

The Holy Grail would, of course, be to find a blu-ray that has both Mandarin dialogue and corresponding Mandarin subtitles (preferably simplified)

Failing that, which movies do Mandarin speakers recommend as the best for learning the language?
I know, for example, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon contains some very thick Malaysian and Cantonese accents (although the movie is amazing)

How about the other Mandarin films on blu-ray? Which are the best and the worst for trying to learn to the language?

Are there any blu-rays of English movies which contain a Mandarin dub track?

[Owozifa]

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Assembly-Blu-ray/8281/

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Beast...-Blu-ray/7099/

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-S...Blu-ray/20838/

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/As-Te...-Blu-ray/3783/

There's some that have Chinese subtitles with Mandarin language tracks. I think of them, only Assembly has Mandarin as the primary audio track.

I really don't know about English movies with Mandarin dub tracks, though. Dunno what would be best for learning, I never could get the hang of Mandarin myself.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by Darth Lavender

Hi all,

I'm trying to learn Mandarin and looking for recommendations.

The Holy Grail would, of course, be to find a blu-ray that has both Mandarin dialogue and corresponding Mandarin subtitles (preferably simplified)

Failing that, which movies do Mandarin speakers recommend as the best for learning the language?

Unless the disc was prepared by Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur (I've used the latter), it would be difficult to get a solid grasp of Mandarin simply by watching films with subtitles (this is coming from a Cantonese speaker). For learning purposes, I think Taiwanese speakers do a better job of enunciation than, say, someone from mainland China, but with so many nuances in the language, I don't think they can be picked up while watching films (unless you had a foundation to begin with).

My recommendation would be attending classes that are hosted locally. Around here, classes are $169 per semester (about four months, all conducted on weekends), and ~$340 for a full year (for both winter and spring semesters).

Good luck.

[xradman]

Just about every Hong Kong/Chinese Blu-ray of HK/Chinese film are going to have Mandarin dub/audio and simplified Chinese subtitles.

[McCrutchy]

Animated kids films are often good as well, because the plots are easy to follow, which helps to reinforce the meanings (both literally and culturally) of words and phrases. I remember I had a Chinese class where we watched Finding Nemo in Mandarin, and those greedy pelicans (I think they were pelicans...) would say "我的! 我的! 我的! 我的!" and it made us all laugh like hell.

[Darth Lavender]

Thanks for the advice.

I added a few of Owozifa's suggestions to my amazon cart.
Hadn't thought of children's films, yet it's so obvious. Great idea.

What's the best place to buy Chinese and Hong Kong releases? I've done all of my shopping so far from the various international Amazons and from DVD Pacific.

Private Pixel, I am taking some Mandarin classes already, the movies are just to supplement my learning. Thanks for the advice re: Taiwanese, a friend of mine has some Taiwanese dramas so I'll be especially sure to give those a look.

[xradman]

Originally Posted by Darth Lavender

Thanks for the advice.

I added a few of Owozifa's suggestions to my amazon cart.
Hadn't thought of children's films, yet it's so obvious. Great idea.

What's the best place to buy Chinese and Hong Kong releases? I've done all of my shopping so far from the various international Amazons and from DVD Pacific.

Private Pixel, I am taking some Mandarin classes already, the movies are just to supplement my learning. Thanks for the advice re: Taiwanese, a friend of mine has some Taiwanese dramas so I'll be especially sure to give those a look.

I buy almost all my HK Blu-rays from DDDHouse. If your goal is to learn Mandarin, then you can probably just buy the DVDs rather than Blu-rays. Those are dirt cheap.

I think watching films is not a good way to learn Mandarin. You should take classes. There are many online Chinese learning site that offer one-on-one classes. It's convenient and efficient. Why not have a try?