Closed Captioning Blog

To sell, or not to sell, that is the question.  As a “sales guy,” in a sales position, that should be an easy one, right?  It would be except for the fact that I’m really a sales engineer.  That’s my title and I’m stickin’ to it.  It’s the engineer part of that fan dangled moniker that has me asking the “not to sell” part of the aforementioned question.  ...

Though we are stuck in one location with one official language in one country, it doesn't mean the videos that we post on the Internet are limited to one's geographical location. It's time to go global since the Internet doesn't have limitations on audience, language, cultures, etc. Producers should aim to go global by adding different languages in the captioning/subtitling when they post their videos on the Web. ...

What you see here is a photo of the television in my family room. Notice anything interesting? Give up? Okay, I’ll tell you. The closed captioning is on, and no, it’s not just something I did for this picture. I have the closed captioning on all the time. But why? I’m in my early 30’s and my hearing is just fine. So again, why? The answer is ...

How many ways are there to translate a word from one language to another? Sometimes it’s as simple as translating Dora the Explorer’s "¡vámonos!" (let’s go), but in Aberdeen’s Multi-Language Department, often times it’s a bit more complex than that. I regularly work with Spanish translations from very competent people, and although these translations are already great, my job is to make them better.  When reading them, it ...

¿Cuantas maneras existen de traducir una palabra de un lenguaje a otro?  Algunas veces es tan simple como traducir la frase de Dora la Exploradora “¡let’s go!” (vámonos), pero a menudo es un poco más complicado que eso en el Departamento de Idiomas de Aberdeen. Usualmente trabajo con traducciones en español que vienen de gente muy capaz, y aunque éstas son muy buenas traducciones, mi trabajo es ...

To see Jesus some people need a little boost, just like Zacchaeus.  He was a short, little man and when Jesus came into town, Zacchaeus could only see him by climbing up a sycamore tree. What kind of “trees” do you need to plant to help your congregation see Jesus? The first “tree to plant” is closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing members of your church. Here’s ...

Aberdeen Captioning is known for its quality subtitles, multi-language translations, and fast turn-around times. A recent example of Aberdeen’s expertise in this field is our success with subtitling Saddleback Church’s Online Easter Service. Aberdeen managed to successfully subtitle their 80 minute Easter program in both Korean and Spanish in record time—the files came in on Friday morning and were completed by Saturday morning—24 hours! This project was detailed and ...

Since the brand-new launch of Aberdeen’s Multilanguage subtitling and translation department in 2008, we have worked on many exciting projects, but the God of Wonders project has been one of our most adventurous feats yet!  God of Wonders is a documentary by Eternal Productions that explores the wonders of creation, conscience, and the glory of God.  Jim Tetlow, the executive producer of God of Wonders put his faith ...

Translators deal with many obstacles when trying to translate colloquilisms and slang expressions. An additional difficulty occurs when dealing with taboo language. If the translator tries to omit the words, it may shift the meaning of the original content. Successful subtitles are ones that always accurately portray the intended meaning, without influencing the interpretation of the audience. This can be achieved by remaining neutral and not making the ...

It is safe to say that most people who speak more than one language understand that there are certain idiosyncrasies inherent in each language. Sometimes it is difficult to accurately translate certain sayings and the end result can be comical. In an Athens hotel there is a sign that reads: “Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. daily.” A sign for ...