{"id":3629,"date":"2016-01-06T17:52:20","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T17:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=3629"},"modified":"2017-08-23T16:35:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T16:35:50","slug":"closed-caption-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Closed Caption Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something a little exotic about watching a foreign language film; cue images of smoky, half-filled theatres and a romantic scene with subtitles that don\u2019t quite capture the magic that you\u2019re seeing onscreen.<\/i> When it comes to films and TV, there are three main methods of translation used to make them accessible for all. Here\u2019s our look at those methods, where they\u2019re typical in Europe, and what impact they have on the average language learner.<\/p>\n

Lectoring\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

...is the least common method of presenting foreign media. The original soundtrack is lowered and over the top played either a translation or a single-speaker narration describing what the actors are saying and doing. Whilst lectoring does increase the potential viewing audience and is likely the cheapest option, the result can be a bland, monotone experience with an unpleasant mumbling in the background and the original passion and excitement of the picture being lost. Lectoring is more likely to be found in Russia and Eastern European countries, at least for television, whilst cinemas tend to lean more towards subtitling.<\/p>\n

\"photo_1<\/a>

Photo via Wikimedia \/ Wikimedia<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Subtitling...<\/b><\/p>\n

...is an economical option for film and TV-makers alike. Popular in the Netherlands and throughout most Scandinavian countries, subtitling, with the text displayed across the bottom of the screen, provides the quickest turnaround for cinematic releases and offers a mostly-direct translation for viewers. What often happens though is good old lost in translation, and you can witness this for yourself if you watch an English film in a non-English speaking country. Native English viewers laugh at the intentional jokes, leaving the non-natives looking perplexed, and then suddenly those non-natives are bursting out with their own laughter in different places, whilst the original language viewers raise eyebrows and wonder what they\u2019ve missed.<\/p>\n

(Not) dubstep<\/b><\/p>\n

Our final method of translation is dubbing, where an entire replacement cast provides the voices of the original picture in the local language. Dubbing is seen in many European countries, and the history behind Spain\u2019s dubbing of foreign language media dates back to the Franco dictatorship. Franco did not approve of anything that would be seen to weaken Spanish, and therefore demanded that all foreign media be dubbed. Italian dubbing often improved the original films by going off-script, and France is known for its passionate pride in keeping French alive, so it follows the dubbing route too. Dubbing is such a big deal in Germany that it even hosts special awards ceremonies for voice over actors. Whilst effective, dubbing, like subtitling, can take away authenticity, particularly with the translation of things like colloquialisms.<\/p>\n

\"photo_2<\/a>

Photo via Pixabay \/ Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

There are no rules<\/b><\/p>\n

Of course, there are no hard and fast rules for where and when each of these translation methods are used. Switzerland subtitles films but often uses dubbing for television. Portugal dubs children\u2019s films and some documentaries, but subtitles everything else. Slovenia is similar, subtitling all but children\u2019s television which is dubbed. Hungary dubs films, uses some lectoring for television, and on occasion you can find subtitling as well.<\/p>\n

Through a learner\u2019s eye<\/b><\/p>\n

So what impact does this have on learners? Listening is arguably the hardest part of learning a language, so dubbing instantly takes away an incredibly useful tool. It is also often bad quality: students in Czech have even protested<\/a> about badly dubbed TV favourites like Downton Abbey and CSI, as well as films. Subtitling provides a much better way of aiding with language learning than dubbing, and this correlates well with where you can find the most confident of second language English speakers. Countries that consistently use subtitling over dubbing are seen to have a much better standard of English than those using dubbing as their main method of translation. Those countries relying heavily on lectoring tend to have students who experience the most difficulty with listening, pronunciation and overall English ability.<\/p>\n

\"Photo_3<\/a>

Photo via Pixabay \/ Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Use your resources<\/b><\/p>\n

Original language television and film are fantastic resources for language learning. Pronunciation, colloquialisms, fluency; there is a long list of important elements of learning that you will find on the screen. Of course, the best way to approach language learning is from all sides; as many resources as possible! Books, language practice, news articles; you have unlimited possibilities available to you<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something a little exotic about watching a foreign language film; cue images of smoky, half-filled theatres and a romantic scene with subtitles that don\u2019t quite capture the magic that you\u2019re seeing onscreen. When it comes to films and TV, there are three main methods of translation used to make them accessible for all. Here\u2019s(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":3630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[397,487,439,46],"class_list":["post-3629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humour-offbeat","tag-bilingualism","tag-closed-captioning","tag-foreign-languages","tag-languages"],"yoast_head":"\nClosed Caption Classroom: How Do We Hear Our Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not all visual media is in one language, but can almost all be seen around the world. How do other peoples understand the messages? Check it out here!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Closed Caption Classroom: How Do We Hear Our Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not all visual media is in one language, but can almost all be seen around the world. How do other peoples understand the messages? Check it out here!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-06T17:52:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-23T16:35:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1632\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1224\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/\",\"name\":\"Closed Caption Classroom: How Do We Hear Our Media\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-06T17:52:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-23T16:35:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54\"},\"description\":\"Not all visual media is in one language, but can almost all be seen around the world. How do other peoples understand the messages? Check it out here!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg\",\"width\":1632,\"height\":1224},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Closed Caption Classroom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54\",\"name\":\"Kelly\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kelly\"},\"description\":\"Hi, I'm Kelly and I am a freelance writer and a CELTA-qualified ESL teacher from the UK. As a writer, I get to cover a range of topics by working for a variety of clients in a number of industries. My focus when writing for Listen and Learn is on language and travel, but away from that, I like to write a lot about animals and the environment. Travelling while writing gives me a fresh perspective for all the things I write and allows me to consider everything from opposing points of view thanks to the people I meet along the way. Europe is an amazing place to travel. The countries vary so much, as do the languages, cuisines and ways of life. Though underneath all of that, travelling has really taught me that people are just people, and that we have more similarities than we do differences. We talk a lot at Listen and Learn about languages teaching us so much more than purely vocabulary and grammar, and it is true; there is nothing as exciting as getting to talk to someone you might not normally get to, just because you have made the effort to learn some of their language. Teaching English has given me further insight into the importance of understanding other languages and cultures. I've taught lessons on beaches about the climate crisis and the impact of oil spills on marine animals, and helped students in train stations to practise booking train tickets and make travel plans. I've worked with laboratory technicians in large conglomerates and newly qualified architects starting their own companies; people with completely different lives to mine. And it has been a privilege getting to know them all! Though the most rewarding thing about teaching is seeing students achieve their goals. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing students proud of their hard work and going on to achieve amazing things as a result!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/kelly-wang\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Closed Caption Classroom: How Do We Hear Our Media","description":"Not all visual media is in one language, but can almost all be seen around the world. How do other peoples understand the messages? Check it out here!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Closed Caption Classroom: How Do We Hear Our Media","og_description":"Not all visual media is in one language, but can almost all be seen around the world. How do other peoples understand the messages? Check it out here!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2016-01-06T17:52:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-23T16:35:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1632,"height":1224,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kelly","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kelly","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/","name":"Closed Caption Classroom: How Do We Hear Our Media","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-06T17:52:20+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-23T16:35:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54"},"description":"Not all visual media is in one language, but can almost all be seen around the world. How do other peoples understand the messages? Check it out here!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photo_1-1.jpg","width":1632,"height":1224},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/closed-caption-classroom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Closed Caption Classroom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54","name":"Kelly","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kelly"},"description":"Hi, I'm Kelly and I am a freelance writer and a CELTA-qualified ESL teacher from the UK. As a writer, I get to cover a range of topics by working for a variety of clients in a number of industries. My focus when writing for Listen and Learn is on language and travel, but away from that, I like to write a lot about animals and the environment. Travelling while writing gives me a fresh perspective for all the things I write and allows me to consider everything from opposing points of view thanks to the people I meet along the way. Europe is an amazing place to travel. The countries vary so much, as do the languages, cuisines and ways of life. Though underneath all of that, travelling has really taught me that people are just people, and that we have more similarities than we do differences. We talk a lot at Listen and Learn about languages teaching us so much more than purely vocabulary and grammar, and it is true; there is nothing as exciting as getting to talk to someone you might not normally get to, just because you have made the effort to learn some of their language. Teaching English has given me further insight into the importance of understanding other languages and cultures. I've taught lessons on beaches about the climate crisis and the impact of oil spills on marine animals, and helped students in train stations to practise booking train tickets and make travel plans. I've worked with laboratory technicians in large conglomerates and newly qualified architects starting their own companies; people with completely different lives to mine. And it has been a privilege getting to know them all! Though the most rewarding thing about teaching is seeing students achieve their goals. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing students proud of their hard work and going on to achieve amazing things as a result!","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/kelly-wang\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3629"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4488,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629\/revisions\/4488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}