Learning English with Audiovisual Language Techniques

Hi there, welcome to this course on Audiovisual Language Techniques. This course will provide you with the basic techniques and insights on audiovisual language techniques like subtitling and dubbing. Both of these are a really good manner to improve your foreign language knowledge. It is one thing to understand a language, but it is a completely other thing to be able to make a proper translation, especially when translating a spoken text. 

First of all, we will start by explaining the differences between subtitling and dubbing, followed by an introduction to subtitling. In this introduction, we will talk about the most important aspects, restrictions and practices. The final part of the chapter on subtitling ends with a number of suggestions to practise subtitling. The second chapter covers dubbing and maintains the same structure. In the final chapter, there are a number of links to websites where you can do some extra reading on the topic. 

The theory in this course is fairly basic and can definitely be extended. If anyone wants to edit, add to or reuse the information in this course, feel free to do so. 

Audiovisual Language Techniques

In this introduction, we will tell you something more about Audiovisual Language Techniques in general before going deeper into the theory behind subtitling and dubbing. There are various types of audiovisual language techniques. However, the main purpose is always to make sure the viewer understands what is happening. Three of the main types of ALT are:

• Subtitling: a written translation of what is said, projected at the top or bottom of the screen.
• Dubbing: a spoken translation of what is said, heard in synchronisation with what is happening on screen.
• Audio description: a spoken summary of what happens on screen for the visual impaired. This only describes visuals, not what can be heard.

In this course we will only focus on subtitling and dubbing, since these are most important when you want to improve your knowledge of a foreign language, in the case of this course this language is English.

Let me begin by explaining what the main differences are between subtitling and dubbing.

Whether you see more dubbing or subtitling in a country, is based on culture. In Europe, larger countries such as Spain, Germany and France have a dubbing culture. One of the main reasons for this is that larger countries have more viewers and therefore more money to afford this costly practice. It costs more because you need a translator, voice actores, a technical crew,... Subtitling, on the other hand, is preferred in countries such as Belgium (or at least the Flemish part of it), the Scandinavian countries and The Netherlands. Subtitling is cheaper because it can be done by one single person.

These differences have a big influence on the actual task of subtitling or dubbing and cause various restrictions. These restrictions will be covered in the next two chapters.