Many years ago, Finland purchased old American TV shows. One was “McHale’s Navy”. The problem was, they didn’t have the money to change the language from English into Finnish on the show. Instead, they put in subtitles. The printed word in Finnish was on the TV.
And guess what happened? Children learned to read, in a natural way. The people in Finland are strong in reading. Adults always have a book in hand, which is a terrific role model for children. Formal instruction in reading doesn’t begin until age six.
Finland is #1 in reading in the world. America doesn’t even come close. We’re #26. That’s pretty sad.
Closed captions on TV does exactly the same thing. Did you know that every TV has a closed caption component? Do you want to help grow a reader, one who prefers TV? Turn on closed captioning!
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 
Love the subtitles idea!
A great idea!
Great advice, Jennie. Kids watch so much TV and You Tube now, using subtitles would be a good way of adding to the reading experience.
Best wishes, Pete.
It really would be a good idea. I will be suggesting this to all the parents in my class!
That’s a good idea!
It really is! Thanks, Dan.
What a good idea!
It really is!
Technology can be used for good!
Yes, it can!
I love Finland!!!
I have never been there, but I understand the way of teaching in schools is absolutely the right way. It is a beautiful country.
We have same in Sweden 🙂 all tv is in subtitles
Thank you for telling me! I guess I’m not surprised, since you’re right next door. Where does Sweden rank in reading in schools? I imagine close to Finland.
Yesss 🙂
We hope so 🙂
Happy holidays 🎄☃️🍫📝🍾🧸
Happy holidays to you, Victoria.🎄
FYI: You Tube does, too.
Great idea!
I hadn’t thought about YouTube. Of course they have subtitles! The possibilities are expanding. Thanks, Laura. 🙂
I think I need to translate my books into Finnish and then go there. Fun post, Jennie.
Now, that is a great idea, John. 😀 On a side note, their schools have children up and moving every hour, not just one recess a day. Therefore they do better in school. Can I go to Finland with you? 🙂 Thanks, John.
They would love you there.
😀
This is a good idea, Jennie. When I was in Finland, I noticed that they have every available book in Finnish so I thought they must read a lot.
They do read a lot, Robbie. Children have no formal instruction in reading until age six. That’s when children are ready and eager. America, take note!
Six is when my children learned to read too.
And, it is the developmentally appropriate age.
Who knew that “McHale’s Navy” was so educational?😎 If only closed-captioned TV was around when I was a kid. (I could have used that learning argument when my parents were limiting my television viewing habits, ha-ha.)
Seriously Jennie, anything that promotes learning is a good thing. Maybe Finland has it figured out.
Yes, who knew? Seriously, Finland is the gold star model for education, at least at the primary level. Reading instruction does not begin until age six. That’s when kids are developmentally ready and eager. Also, within every hour at school there is movement, kids are doing something active. Then, (as you know) the brain is stimulated and ready to learn and the body has all the wiggles out.
Why don’t we do this in America? We cut recess and PE, and that’s a path for failure or apathy. Sigh!
I wanted to watch a lot of television when I was a kid, too. I vividly remember the bouncing ball on the subtitle song words. Was it Mitch Miller? Well, I remember those words to this day. It works! Thank you, Pete.
What a wonderful idea. The English movies shown here n Spain have Spanish subtitles. A great way to learn Spanish.
Absolutely!
Ha! That’s a terrific point, Jennie. I’ve heard several people say they learned a foreign language (at least partly) from watching subtitles, but I hadn’t thought about children learning from it. Excellent.
I always have the closed captioning running. I can’t deal with noise, and most TV shows’ volume fluctuate wildly. So, if I have the volume down to a comfortable level, I miss things. The subtitles fill in any gap without me even noticing. Hugs on the wing!
You hit the nail on the head, Teagan. Subtitles work! This is a great tool for learning to read, too. And of course there’s no noise distraction – the same as if you were reading a book. It’s a win all the way around. Hugs to you!
There’s another advantage to adding subtitles to English T.V. shows/movies instead of dubbing them in another language. Kids in non-English-speaking countries who watch them learn English at an earlier age than those in other non-English-speaking countries who watch English T.V. shows/movies dubbed in their native language. That’s one of the reasons why kids in Scandinavian countries end up speaking better English than those in Germany or France, for example.
You are exactly right, Magarisa! Thank you for your excellent comment.
Isn’t Finland the country where people read on Christmas Eve?!
I think it is Norway.
I ended up looking it up. Looks like it is Iceland!
Yes! You are right, Luanne. It’s Iceland.
What a great idea!
Isn’t it! 🙂
Yep, sent you post over to Baby Girl hoping she’ll do it! 😍
Yippie! 🙂
What a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing… I’ll be sharing too! ❤
I think it is an excellent idea, too! Thank you, Bette.
I love reading this. As a matter of fact, my TV always has closed captioning on for other reasons. I can’t always hear what people are saying so I need to read it. Most of the news is watched with the sound off. It helps. I’m glad they have subtitles for most shows now.
I have heard from so many people that they put the closed captioning on and the volume muted. It really is a good idea. Who knew it could be so useful for helping children learn to read?! Thanks, Marlene! 🙂
Jennie, thank you for another excellent post and great advice!
You’re very welcome, Charles!
I always have the CC on because my family is so noisy. Hahaha! In my country reading instruction also doesn’t start will 6. By then I had already taught myself kind of organically.
This is wonderful! Having the CC on really works. And, formal reading instruction at age 6 is developmentally age appropriate.
Didn’t Finland also make a huge commitment to music education a few decades ago? Hurrah for a culture that reads!!!!
I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all. They have it nailed. Yes, hurrah for the culture that reads – and is exposed to the arts. Best to you, Will!
Great story, Jennie! Love this!!!
Thanks so much, Anne! 🙂
Interesting! Who knew?
I want to tell every parent about this!!
You have a good platform for getting the word out to them! Do the parents of your students follow your blog? (I never thought to ask before.)
Interesting question. Yes and no. I tell them about my blog at the start of the school year, explaining that it is has more information than the parent newsletters. Some follow, and some do not. Parents are overwhelmed, and reading 500 words isn’t always easy. But, they know, and many do read my blog.
It’s good to hear that some of the parents follow your blog. I think they would get a lot out of it.
They do, Liz. The parent followers are champions, and they stay with my blog long after their child has moved on to older classes. When they ask me if their child can return to read-aloud, that’s as good as it gets. I’m guessing 50% of families follow my blog.
Oh, that’s a very good percentage!
😀