Re:Language Learning with Netflix extension
by jakub_g on Monday January 13, 2020 @09:54AM
(#22034917)
I know this too well as I tried learning French by watching FR dubbing with FR subtitles on Netflix.
There's absolutely zero resemblance between the two. Different words used, different order within the sentence (dubbing says "A B C" while subtitles say "C B A" half of the time). Pure madness. I immediately had to stop because it's been impossible to follow the two :(
Practically, not many people want dubbing and subtitles at the same time, so it's probably rational choice to save the costs.
Re:Language Learning with Netflix extension
by MalcolmPF on Monday January 13, 2020 @12:48PM
(#22036730)
I also ran into this issue with French specifically, and got frustrated and gave up. Even original language French films/shows seem to have spotty subs (or none at all!) Most of them have English subs, but that's not as helpful for learning. Did you ever find alternatives?
Subtitles are translated with brevity and ease of reading in mind. Translators typically take more freedom with nuances and emotion because, well, you're hearing the actor say it out loud in the original language and that's where you get the emotion from. So it's ok if the subtitle has it in a different order / different "punch", etc.
I'm also pretty sure that translated subtitles have as their primary target audience people watching the movie with the original audio. Taking the two step process of going from the source audio, to translated audio, to subtitles seems like a needless detour for that (both organizationally, but also qualitatively).