|
 |
Multilingual Europeans | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6705 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes  Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 25 of 40 13 August 2006 at 2:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
Even worse: the Germans dub their films, but in foreign non fiction on TV they non only dub, but let people in the program speak in the original language behind the German voice and at the same sound level. For Germans understanding both languages in question this must be a daily nightmare, even though they after years of neglect and maltreatment have given up all hope of changing the rules. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7183 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 26 of 40 13 August 2006 at 2:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Urrgh, I've heard that type of dubbing before. I really found it off-putting.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6686 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German | Message 27 of 40 13 August 2006 at 3:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Dubbing definitely contributes to a lack of understanding. I much prefer watching films in languages I don't understand with subtitles in languages I do (IE, House of Flying Daggers with English subtitles). When something is dubbed, you don't hear any of the original actors or actresses; it's just strange. Not to mention the whole thing with the lips moving while the overdubbing phrase finished several seconds ago. On one hand, it's "easier" for people to watch overdubbed movies, because they don't need to pay attention to subtitles, but on the other hand, I think it puts up an artificial barrier to the culture that created the movie. It's interesting. I read on a different forum that in Brazil, few programs are dubbed, so people get to hear the languages things are shot in. The person who noted this suspected this was why (in his experience) Portuguese speakers were more likely to understand Spanish speakers than Spanish speakers were to understand Portuguese speakers.
And yes, the double-dubbing is annoying. I listen to RFI, and the silliest parts are when they interview someone who speaks English (or even worse, Spanish), and after a moment, the translation starts coming in in French. It's worse for me with Spanish since I'm learning that language as well as French, but I'm a lot better at understanding Spanish than I am with French, so it becomes a conflict between one language I'm learning and am happy to be able to understand a large amount of, and the language that's soon dubbed over it, which is the one I'm supposed to be learning at that time (French, since I'm listening to RFI), but which, ironically, is less understandable for me than the language they were translating from in order to make it easier for their listeners to understand. Oh, the irony! Edited by lengua on 13 August 2006 at 3:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 6892 days ago 909 posts - 942 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 28 of 40 13 August 2006 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I agree with all the comments made about dubbing...it can be *very* irritating, especially when you can still hear the original voice behind it.
One thing I love about the Netherlands is that they leave most, if not all, TV shows and films in their original language and add Dutch subtitles. This has been really useful for me as I can read the subtitles and learn while I watch TV. It can be a little distracting at times (especially at the cinema) but it's a very useful learning tool. This could be just one reason why the Dutch seem to be much better with English than your average German or Spaniard as they tend to dub pretty much everything in Germany and Spain. Edited by lady_skywalker on 13 August 2006 at 8:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6945 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 29 of 40 13 August 2006 at 9:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
This seems plausible, but I fear a degree of circularity in the argument as it begs the question of why small countries prefer subtitles. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 6892 days ago 909 posts - 942 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 30 of 40 13 August 2006 at 9:52pm | IP Logged | |||||
I can't say for sure but one of the reasons that the Dutch are a little more multilingual than most Europeans is down to the fact that it is a fairly small country and that Dutch is a fairly minor language in the grand scale of things. Learning other languages has been a key to the Dutch economy's success for the past few centuries and learning English, French and German are certainly good moves in a European context as these are quite possibly *the* languages of business. I suppose subtitles is just one way of encouraging multilingualism. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6945 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 31 of 40 13 August 2006 at 9:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
I wonder if it is known whether using subtitles was a conscious decision to educate the masses in languages, or whether for a small country the mere economics of dubbing versus subtitles is different enough from that of a big one to force the choice. If the latter, it would be another, in this case indirect, example of how small size encourages better foreign language instruction. Edited by frenkeld on 13 August 2006 at 9:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6859 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 32 of 40 14 August 2006 at 9:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
Now this is interesting. I work for an Indian company in the U.S. and several of my managers who've come to visit us have told me it's quite common for a person to know at least four languages, such as the language you speak at home or in your village, English and other local or national languages. Has this been your experience as well? 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
