I've done that and it works for me because the langauge they use in movie scripts is very informal and there are a lot of expressions which people use nowadays..some of them u would never find it the novels. I have downloaded some TV shows scripts like, Dawson creek and Practice and the reason is that i think thats really how native speakers speak most of the time and because it suits my daily life, except for the fact that Practice has nothing to do with a teenage life but its very informational when it comes down to dealing with legal issues. I am a self learner and when i couldnt say what i want in English or if i am not sure about what i said was right i always looked at the scripts..well actually... i sort of read it for fun first but then later i was really into it so ever since then i whenever i came across new words or phrases i marked them so that i can always come back and see it incase i forget how to say it
DVDs have English subtitles.
Yeah, but don't treat subtitles (even in the original language) as gospel - often they are produced cheaply and roughly, especially on DVDs. The Arabic subtitles they put on Seinfeld on MBC, for example, are funny in themselves. The kind of thing I'm talking about is euphamisms, and when there is a wordplay kind of gag, it's obvious that the translator has tried to find a corrosponding joke to slip into the Arabic, and it NEVER works!
I'm trying to think of some examples, maybe I'll collect a few and post them.
I said English subtitles for movies in English. They are verbatim subtitles.
No Wingyellow - you're wrong, that's not necessarily true... often the subtitlers don't have the original script - they are putting what they think is said, and there are also lots of spelling mistakes; on the DVD of Psycho they keep on putting "motre" for "motor" as if that is the proper spelling!!
More than the subtitles, I think reading movie scripts is a good way to learn expressions and colloquial speech. I suppose this also depends on the movie.
Jamie On is right. My sister-in-law is that business.