Learning English with Audiovisual Language Techniques

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Ellen De Geyndt

As mentioned before, dubbing is the spoken translation of the spoken translation of a video. There are two options: either the original can still be heard in the background or not. In the first case, this is actually called voice-over.

Advantages and disadvantages of dubbing

One advantage of dubbing is that the attention is never drawn away from what happens on screen. Moreover, it is easier to follow who is talking in a dialogue. Dubbing is also preferred for children because they are not able to read as rapidly as adults.
Another advantage is that viewers cannot detect mistakes as easily, especially if the original version cannot be heard. It therefore cannot receive the criticism that information is left out. It was also preferred in times of dictatorships because it simplified censoring.
One last advantage is that the dialogue needs less abbreviation because there are no limits in space.
One major disadvantage is the synchronisation. Viewers will always know that they are not watching the original version and if the synchronisation is not done well, this might annoy the viewers.
Dubbing restricts the possibility of learning a foreign language. Viewers never become acquainted with the sounds and pronunciation of the source language, which influences their own level.
Finally, dubbing can be up to 15 times more expensive because of all the people that are involved in the process.

Restrictions and guidelines

Synchronisation

One of the first issues with dubbing is the synchronisation of sound and image. The translated text has to be synchronised with the lip movement of the speaker. This synchronisation is extremely important. If the sound and image are not synchronized, this is really annoying for the viewer to watch.

Perfect synchronisation is basically impossible. The main issue is that the same word might have a different number of syllables. An example is the English word "hat" which translates into "chapeau" in French. This makes dubbing a lot harder, especially in certain language combinations.

Language

Just like in subtitling, the language used has to be as natural and colloquial as possible. However, this is even more difficult in the case of dubbing. First of all, the dialogues must sound as natural as possible. A literal transation of the original will not come across as natural and therefore affect the viewer's experience. It also needs to be as spontaneous as possible. The combination of the need for synchronisation and natural spoken language makes dubbing very challenging but also makes it a very creative form of translation. It needs to be coherent both in a linguistic point of view but also in combination with the visuals.

But not only the translation needs to be done well, also the way of speaking by the voice actors has to sound as natural as possible. If you are trying dubbing on your own, just try your best and improvise on types of voices to use. It is your own work and you should really have fun with it!

Here is the link to a video about voice acting with some tips and practices.

Sound

It is very important that the quality of the sound is very good. Background noises cannot be heard. Moreover, the voice actors need to speak as clearly as possible, without compromising their acting. You need to create a combination of sound and visuals that gives the viewer the feeling that he is watching an original recording. The voices that are used need to be distinct enough for the viewer to notice that different characters are speaking.

Additions of dubbing to foreign language learning

Just like with subtitling, dubbing provides an intense and creative way to use a foreign language. As I said before, translating allows you to keep on learning your foreign language. There will always be some words or expressions you don't know yet. And the combination with visuals allows you to enter the culture of your foreign language as well.

Dubbing is very challenging but if you are up for something creative, it will definitely be worth it.

Practising dubbing

You can easily practise dubbing by yourself. Just go on YouTube, look for a video that you like and mute the sound. Just for fun, you can think up a dialogue that would match the context of the video and attempt to make it fit the image. Once you have found a fitting dialogue, you can record it yourself and look at the end result. To make it even more challenging, you can actually try to translate the original text and see if you are able to transfer as much of the original without compromising the language you use.

Another option is ClipFair. A platform where you can practice dubbing. Unfortunately, I am not able to access the work environment myself, but you can find tutorial videos here if you are interested!

Feel free to share any of your videos in this Google Docs Folder. You can create a Google document and paste a link to your video(s) there.