A very convenient idea this. I do this all the time, mostly because he
characters on the screen often talk too quickly to understand every word,
and this issue is magnified when they speak in a different dialect (e.g.
Australian English).

On 8 July 2012 23:37, MorphemeAddict <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I normally use same-language (almost always English) subtitles when I watch
> movies. The sound and volume control on my TV (or maybe it's just my
> hearing) aren't very good, so without the subtitles I tend to miss little
> nuances.
>
> stevo
>
> On Sun, Jul 8, 2012 at 6:38 PM, Claude Almansi <[log in to unmask]
> >wrote:
>
> > No particular example - but  you accurately describe a running
> > frustration I feel when I do subtitles. Not only translated subs, also
> > same-language: subtitles are static, even running live subs don't
> > quite flow like speech - and anyway, I can't do live subtitling, only
> > on recorded videos. So it's compromises most of the time, trying to
> > cut the sub at the less bad place, taking into account allowed length,
> > speed of delivery. But the frustration is compensated by the thought
> > that for people who can't use the original audio, imperfect subs are
> > better than nothing.
> >
> > What I find fascinating is dynamic (karaoke-like) same language
> > subtitling: see the videos of the PlanetRead.org
> > <http://www.youtube.com/user/planetread> channel or those made by Greg
> > McCall's students with reading difficulties:
> > <http://www.youtube.com/user/zwgm/>. True, there too, you get "too
> > much" in a single subtitle, but then the eye focuses on the moving
> > color: even more so with the "bouncing ball" ones, perhaps.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Claude
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 12:11 AM, George Corley <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> > > Bringing up dubbing of Yoda made me think about how subtitles can
> > > occasionally be in a way out of sync with the dialogue of a movie
> simply
> > > because of word order.  The langauges don't even have to be typological
> > > opposites for this to occur -- note this example from Pan's Labyrinth:
> > >
> > > Spanish: "Yo he tenido tantos nombres que solo pueden pronunciar el
> > viento
> > > ... y los árboles."
> > > English subtitle:  "I have had many names which only the wind / and the
> > > trees can pronounce."
> > >
> > > Since English doesn't normally allow for the kind of focus movement
> that
> > > the original Spanish uses, the subtitles end up somewhat rearranged,
> > making
> > > the poetic style of the line less noticeable.
> > >
> > > There's a lot of other things that can occur with this sort of thing,
> > such
> > > as screwing with comic timing and punch lines, screwing up a revelation
> > by
> > > giving up a name too early, etc.  Have any of you seen particularly
> > > noticeable examples of this?
> >
>