Subtitles ?!

I always come across this issue... watching Korean videos with or without subtitles. I also come across different opinions from other people.

For instance, my mother who now speaks English at a native level, was able to learn the language via various sitcoms on TV. Since Dari, was her first language, finding subs for her shows were nearly impossible. She tells me that watching videos without subs is the best way to learn a language. I can agree with this, being that it can become really easy to watch shows passively once subs are included.

I also hear from other language learners, that subtitles are indeed necessary in order to grow an understanding of the language itself whether that be vocabulary or sentence structure. I can also concur with statements such as this one. I find that watching subtitles in the language that is being presented is really helpful as well since it reinforces spelling, etc.

Being that I agree with both, I finally came up with a solution. As of right now, I watch content with and without subtitles! Allow me to share a few examples. As I am a drama addict, I choose to switch between subtitles between alternating episodes. That way, I am able to pull content from previous episodes to formulate an overall understanding of the new content.

As for videos on Youtube, I choose to watch them without subs (unless it's a movie). You will be shocked, trust me! I was watching an episode of WGM and was able to understand almost every other sentence! Being so, I was able to form an overall idea on what the episode was about!

Do you have any opinions utilizing subtitles?