Subtitling vs dubbing
Thread poster: dianasantos21
dianasantos21
dianasantos21
Portugal
Local time: 23:57
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Apr 28, 2016

Hello Proz community,

I need you to answer this question for an assignment I'm doing for University. Which adaptation method do you prefer? Subtitling or dubbing?
Please be concise and clear in your answers. I really appreciate your replies.


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 20:57
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
I actually wrote about it Apr 28, 2016

Please keep in mind that the intent was to provide some guidance to prospects:

In English: http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/dub-or-sub.html

In Brazilian Portuguese: http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/dublar-legendar-.html

I'm not sure which one will be mo
... See more
Please keep in mind that the intent was to provide some guidance to prospects:

In English: http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/dub-or-sub.html

In Brazilian Portuguese: http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/dublar-legendar-.html

I'm not sure which one will be more useful to you.
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Juan Jacob
Juan Jacob  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 17:57
French to Spanish
+ ...
Subtitling, of course. Apr 28, 2016

Dubbing is for cartoons and kid's motion pictures.

[And yes, subtitling distracts you, shure. And cuts some dialogues because lack of time...]


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 20:57
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Actually not always Apr 28, 2016

Juan Jacob wrote:

Dubbing is for cartoons and kid's motion pictures.


When a video is all about technical explanations or instructions that the spectator needs to see, like "while holding the lever underneath the cover, flip the blue switch on the left of the panel, and then slowly pull the handle at the end of the cable...", if the person is reading all this in subtitles, no chance that they'll see what nor how it is done.

Or the IT videos, like "click here, double-click on the whatchamacallit button, and then drag and drop this icon on this area".

Or when tons of graphs and charts are shown, there is no point in translating and editing them into the video, if the spectator will be "busy" reading subtitles.

Let common sense prevail.


 
jbjb
jbjb  Identity Verified
Estonia
Local time: 01:57
Estonian to English
+ ...
culture Apr 28, 2016

It's a cultural thing. Some countries prefer subtitles, historically and culturally. Others prefer dubbing for the same reason.

Can anyone provide an example of a dubbing country successfully becoming a subtitling country or vice versa?
Subtitles are 2-3 times cheaper to produce, so many (smaller) dubbing countries have started to use subtitles in some platforms due to budget constraints.
But can anyone say if this has been appreciated by local audiences or has it remai
... See more
It's a cultural thing. Some countries prefer subtitles, historically and culturally. Others prefer dubbing for the same reason.

Can anyone provide an example of a dubbing country successfully becoming a subtitling country or vice versa?
Subtitles are 2-3 times cheaper to produce, so many (smaller) dubbing countries have started to use subtitles in some platforms due to budget constraints.
But can anyone say if this has been appreciated by local audiences or has it remained a niche service?

And then there are some mix countries like e.g. Czech Republic that has 100% subtitling in cinemas (except for children's animations) but almost 100% dubbing on TV.

I can't think of any subtitling countries that have converted to dubbing.
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Kirsten Bodart
Kirsten Bodart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:57
Dutch to English
+ ...
I agree, it's a cultural thing Apr 29, 2016

Most materials in Dutch are subtitled: 100% on TV and in cinemas apart from children's cartoons and things, though on national TV children's programmes are sometimes also subtitled or at least they used to be when I was small in the 80s. Annoying if you have only just started reading, but maybe good for language acquisition... Budget constraints may also have played a part in this, obviously.

I'm not sure though how it is with instruction videos. I have the impression from teleshopp
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Most materials in Dutch are subtitled: 100% on TV and in cinemas apart from children's cartoons and things, though on national TV children's programmes are sometimes also subtitled or at least they used to be when I was small in the 80s. Annoying if you have only just started reading, but maybe good for language acquisition... Budget constraints may also have played a part in this, obviously.

I'm not sure though how it is with instruction videos. I have the impression from teleshopping that actually that kind of stuff might be dubbed rather than subtitled, as it probably gives people more time to watch rather than read ^^_^^, like José has so deftly pointed out again.



[Edited at 2016-04-29 06:58 GMT]
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Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:57
German to English
changing situation in Germany Apr 29, 2016

Practically everything on conventional television is dubbed. The original programming of the French-German "Arte" station may be an exception and it may be available in the original language on a (more or less) conventional television set.

However, major motion pictures get dubbed and subtitled for different audiences. Every major English-language movie is available in the original language in major cities, and I'm almost sure that these always include subtitles. These movies are ce
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Practically everything on conventional television is dubbed. The original programming of the French-German "Arte" station may be an exception and it may be available in the original language on a (more or less) conventional television set.

However, major motion pictures get dubbed and subtitled for different audiences. Every major English-language movie is available in the original language in major cities, and I'm almost sure that these always include subtitles. These movies are certainly also available in dubbed versions. I assume that French blockbusters are also available in subtitled and dubbed form, but this may not be the case for films in other languages. I don't pay much attention to this issue if it is a language I can't understand.

Everything on Netflix is available in a dubbed and a subtitled version and the same is true of any movies or series bought on DVD. So, I would say that Germany represents a traditional dubbing country moving into a hybrid situation with commercially significant markets for dubbed and subtitled versions.
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PAS
PAS  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:57
Polish to English
+ ...
Third Stream Apr 29, 2016

In Poland there is another method used on television - voiceover.
You can hear the original dialogue, but it is translated (ie read) by a speaker. Films are mostly read by men. Nature programs etc. are sometimes read by women.
In Russia there is a variation of this method - male dialogue is read by men, female dialogue is read by women.

With practice you can learn to ignore the speaker and listen to the original soundtrack and dialogue. With the onset of digital broadcas
... See more
In Poland there is another method used on television - voiceover.
You can hear the original dialogue, but it is translated (ie read) by a speaker. Films are mostly read by men. Nature programs etc. are sometimes read by women.
In Russia there is a variation of this method - male dialogue is read by men, female dialogue is read by women.

With practice you can learn to ignore the speaker and listen to the original soundtrack and dialogue. With the onset of digital broadcasting television increasingly provides the options of listening to the original soundtrack only, with subtitles or with voiceover.

Like Kirsten said - it's a cultural thing, mostly.

Many programs - BBC, National Geographic etc. are produced and licenced, I believe, without Mr. Attenborough's voice, but supplied with printed dialogue to be translated and spoken by someone in the target country.

Which is preferable? No rule. People with mild visual impairment will probably prefer voiceover.
When my wife does the ironinginfrontoftheTV thing, she definitely prefers voiceover

[Edited at 2016-04-29 10:07 GMT]
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Subtitling vs dubbing







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