I wanted to know your opinions regarding learning languages from watching TV. I for one learned English watching cartoons and movies ( if would’ve had to learn the traditional way I don’t think I could have reached the level in which I am now).But the thing is that this happened when I was little and I don’t really know for sure if someone could learn a language if they have gone past their childhood.I also suggested this topic because the best method for learning is to hear how a native person uses it and if you also watch a show,a documentary or anything else for that matter you could also tell to some extent what they are saying.
I watched a lot of TV as a beginner and think that it was mostly a waste of time. I learned some from it, but little compared to how much I could have learned in the time that I spent. Now I watch TV a huge amount and learn a lot from it. It is the only time that I can actually listen to the language when I am alone, and concentrate. When I listen normally, if I am not doing something else, I cannot concentrate at all.
i think learning languages is mainly about an emotional connection. The brain alone will not remember 10,000 to 50,000+ new words or expressions unless the heart (passion,emotion) is sending messages to the brain that it feels worthy of occupying this amount of memory or effort/time. Pseudoscience, I know… but this has been preached more eloquently by the most talented polyglots in the world. Whether it’s through TV or not, the emotion, passion, heart whatever we call it, has to be present to get the brain truly involved.
The reason why it’s easier to learn languages as a child is because the brain and heart are more interconnected, not sure how to describe this. Children are more sponglike both in their hearts and minds. Lack of prejudice. I’m not one of the smarter users here, take my post with a pinch.
I think there is more than pseudoscience in what you say. To an extent, it is random what we remember and what we forget, but we do remember some things better than others, and the things we remember are things that seem important to us.
If you can’t listen to something intelligently, then it’s just a lot of sounds. If you don’t understand the thousands of words and expressions coming over the radio and telly, then at most you can practice hearing syllables. Listening becomes productive when you understand about 90%(?) of the content. So the lessons at LingQ are ideal: they are right at your level, and you can then hear, exactly what you already understand.
I think 90% is a bit high. I think if you understand 50%, then you can get a lot from listening.
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Maybe so! 
The thing is that it is difficult to rely only on the TV if you want to learn languages. But this way you can have a feeling from the language and plus I belive when we learn for example new words that they must be learned somehow indirectly ( I mean not to search every word for its meaning).I for example study Hungarian at the university and my language practice professor advised me to watch every day an hour of Duna TV (and I can understand about 35% of what I listen).