How can I understand everything without subtitles?

I'm a native speaker, and even I use subtitles almost all the time. Sound quality/mixing varies heavily in TV shows and movies.

What helped me break through that wall was dictation practice, just listening to one sentence at a time and writing down exactly what I hear. It’s more focused than watching full shows and really sharpens your ear for fast, natural speech without burning you out. Mixing that with regular show watching gave me much faster results than rewinding over and over. Might be worth trying!

I don't know if there's any trick to it. Learning takes time, and "native" fluency can seem very far away, but you keep working at it. Your process will lead to progress if you keep working at it. My answer to your question might depend on the level of understanding and misunderstanding you have. Which would you say? * Without subtitles, I cannot follow the story of the show, and I get lost. * I get the gist of what's happening, but I miss out on specific things people say. This might be a question you answer differently depending on the material. I find it's easy to get the gist of romantic comedies in a target language, but a science fiction film totally lost me. If it's the first, I'd say, take it in chunks. Watch ten minutes of the show, resisting the impulse to check the subtitles, then think through what you suppose the story might be, then rewatch it with subtitles. If it's the second, maybe take notes while you're watching the first time, marking the time when something is unclear. Like, "I can tell that George said something that made Jerry mad, but I don't know what it meant." Then you can go back to that specific point after you've watched the whole thing.

You can't. Nobody can.

I’ve been a fluent English speaker my entire life and I use subtitles on pretty much everything I watch. Trust me, you’re not the only one that does this. Don’t be too hard on yourself

Honestly? Just ditch the subtitles for a while. Once you get to a level you like you can turn them back on. But if you want to have real-world experience the best path is to find language exchange bars or things that can give you that experience.

I also need subtitles when I watch native movies.

The sound in movies especially in the last few years is messed up. I live in the uk, I speak english with real humans every single day and the other day I put on Daredevil while I was doing house chores and I legit could not follow half of what they were saying without earbuds and even then i was occasionally checking the subs.

Use headphones so you can focus on your hearing and the lip movements.

The more you get exposed to native content, the more you'll pick up on things like tone, inflection, and even body language that are used as auxilaries to language. For example, when someone says, "I don't know," you might hear it as "I dunno"... but sometimes people will even shrug their shoulders and kind of grunt like, "Ayuhnuh" and it isn't just the sound but the tone of the voice that goes high-low-mid. Like E, D, D#. That 3-note pattern over three syllables.... I could even just hum it to someone as an answer to a question, and it would be understood as "I don't know." MMmm*mm.* *E D D#* The point being, it's not about understanding every word. It's about spotting identifying speech patterns and anticipating call-and-response. Like when someone says, "What the.........." -- grammatically, that doesn't mean a thing. But if you've been exposed to enough content, you know it's "What the hell/fuck...", and you know what comes next would be "... is he saying/doing," "... is happening / going on." etc. It's less about individual words, even specific phrases or slang, and more about the commonly understood "dance" behind the words -- the auxiliaries to language that accompany speech -- that makes TV harder than reading.

If you're trying to do this, I would suggest focusing on older movies, where the dialog can be understood more easily. Audio quality in movies in the past 10+ years has gotten horrible, and understanding dialog has become a lot more challenging. A recent article I read claimed that something like 70% of households in the US use subtitles even though they're fluent and don't have hearing problems. My family certainly does.

By practicing the language. Getting used to listening to different people speaking. In different accents, with different cadence, at different speeds. Fluency comes with time.

I’m fluent in English and still need subtitles - don’t be too hard on yourself 🙂

Your current method actually shows great discipline — rewinding, checking, re-listening — but yeah, it *is* exhausting. What helped me (and others I've spoken to) is combining this with focused repetition of *shorter, high-frequency chunks* from daily conversations, and trying to use those chunks actively — even just in your head or out loud while walking. I'm actually working on a tool to help learners move from passive input (like watching shows) to active *speaking* fluency by helping you notice, internalize, and use real-life vocabulary more naturally. If you're up for it, I'd love to get your input through this quick form: 👉 [https://forms.gle/gX4QRaHN6faYdY9m9](https://forms.gle/gX4QRaHN6faYdY9m9) You're clearly putting in the work — with a bit more structure and less burnout, you'll get there 💪

I suggest you try this idea, which I discussed in another recent comment; https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1kdebzg/comment/mqa6mik/

Native speaker here. We do not always understand everything that is said. What we can do is fill in any blanks automatically. Also, it is often not necessary to understand every word—95% is good enough. Keep working. You might want to mix in documentaries or dramas for variety: fewer double meanings and, at least in documentaries, less slang.

If you can, try lowering the playback speed. Listening to it at speed 0.75x or 0.5x is a better way to practice those verbal comprehension skills than failing to keep up and needing to go back and read.

I am a native speaker and prefer to use subtitles, no shame in that!

It’s a matter of practice. Be patient with yourself. I’m very confident in my English skills but when it comes to Australian or Scottish accent I do need my subtitles!!!!! So don’t worry! You are doing great

Make sure that your audio settings are correct. If you have the player set to 5.1 sound it boosts the ambient sounds. 

I’m a lifelong English speaking American and I watch everything with subtitles, too. It’s just helpful. 

Understanding a movie without subtitles isn't just a random skill. Whether you can do it or not depends on your general language competence. Raise your general language skills and your understanding of a naturally spoken dialogue in the language will also improve.

Try listening to fast paced music, pick an album you like and listen to it over and over until you can understand/sing along to the words. That’s what helped me finally start native speaker speed, along with immersion. Plus it’s fun to sing to yourself in another language haha

Trying to catch everything in fast-paced shows like Seinfeld is a struggle Jerry’s speed alone is a workout for the ears. Your method of rewinding and checking subtitles is actually solid since it trains your listening skills, but yeah, it is exhausting after a while. One thing that helped me was mixing in podcasts or YouTube videos at slower speeds first, then gradually increasing the speed as I got comfortable. Also, shadowing (repeating what you hear right after) can help with pronunciation and flow.