Foreign language subtitles often don't match the foreign language audio track.
Foreign Language subtitles is closer in matching the meaning
Foreign Language audio track is closer
I use both (sometimes subtitles and audio don't match - I make my opinion of which is better in my choice of the first 2 poll options)
I use neither
I mix it up (audio and subtitles are not in the same language)
What do you find more faithful?
What is more faithful?
- luke
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Re: What is more faithful?
I really like having both, I don't know I can say what's more faithful on average as I don't watch a ton of TV. I have been watching Squid Game in Spanish and the subs and voiceover definitely do not line up, sometimes it's small things like using tu forms in one with usted in another, sometimes it's whole sentences that are different (without the meaning of the moment necessarily changing). Luckily my Spanish is good enough that as long as the accent isn't tough (looking at you, Potro from Club de Cuervos) I just ignore the subs and listen. Mostly I watch stuff natively in Spanish or French so when the subs don't match the audio is obviously more faithful, as it's what the actor/actress actually said. For Squid Game, well, I don't speak Korean.
Seriously though, why not have the same translation team do both?
Seriously though, why not have the same translation team do both?
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- Le Baron
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Re: What is more faithful?
I mix it up. The audio is clearly the most faithful, right? The subtitles are for the audio, not the other way around. The subs tend to be 'abridged' when the dialogue is wordy or many people are speaking in succession otherwise they'd never fit onto the screen! So if one wants to know what the people in a film are saying, you need the audio and to be able to comprehend it. If you want to know what they mean, you can rely on the subtitles when there's a listening gap.
I've done both many times when necessary. In fact since TV in particular became strange and mumbly, I've even used subtitles to watch things in my native language. I'll bet I'm not alone in that.
I've done both many times when necessary. In fact since TV in particular became strange and mumbly, I've even used subtitles to watch things in my native language. I'll bet I'm not alone in that.
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Re: What is more faithful?
Nowadays, when the original producers oversee the dubbing in multiple languages, both the dub and the subs tend to be very accurate.
Independent dubbing studios doing only one language take more liberties in re-writing the text.
Independent dubbing studios doing only one language take more liberties in re-writing the text.
2 x
- MorkTheFiddle
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Re: What is more faithful?
Le Baron wrote:I've even used subtitles to watch things in my native language. I'll bet I'm not alone in that.
Yep, you're not alone. But only once for me. An Australian flic, which without subs would have been incomprehensible for me, an English speaker from the USA.
So far as I could tell, the subs were accurate.
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