Mark Robertson wrote an article on his website titled “In-Depth Look at YouTube Closed Captions, SEO, and YouTube Indexing,” where he explores the many added benefits of adding closed captions to YouTube videos. In addition to increasing accessibility and allowing your video to have a global reach with the addition of multi-language subtitles, Robertson points out yet another added benefit—advanced search filtering. Both Google and YouTube allow users to filter their video search to include only videos with associated closed captions. If your Web video is not closed captioned, you are not only limiting your video’s accessibility, but you are missing out on an easy marketing strategy.

For more information on captioning your Web or YouTube video, visit our website!

Need multi-language translation for your YouTube video? No problem! Aberdeen will provide a professional and experienced translator to ensure that your message is understood globally.  All you need is a YouTube account.

To learn more about DCMP’s “YouTube Ready” qualification visit:

http://youtubeready.dcmp.org/

Also, watch Aberdeen’s YouTube video for more information on our captioning and subtitling services for your YouTube video at:

http://abercap.com/youtube_captioning.html

While traditional evangelism definitely has its place, there is no better way than the Internet to reach millions of people across the world with the least amount of effort.  Many ministries are using Internet-based evangelism by setting up virtual church campuses where members in remote areas without access to a physical church can attend.  These virtual churches have opened up the opportunity for millions of people who otherwise may not have been able to hear the Gospel or attend a good local Christian church.

ADDRESSING THE LANGUAGE GAP

When a cyber-church hopes to open its ‘virtual doors” to an international community they should first think of how they will communicate to a non-English-speaking community.

Providing multi-language subtitles is the most efficient and cost-effective method to localizing your webcasts in multiple languages.  Subtitles can be combined with just about any player: Flash, QuickTime, Windows Media Player, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, YouTube, RealPlayer, etc.  If you want your message to be understood by a multi-lingual audience, there is no way around localizing your programming for various languages.  This article summarizes the main ways to tackle subtitling.

COST AND QUALITY CHOICES

The Automated Translator

The cheapest option to subtitle your English video is automatic translation.  Google offers this as a free service for YouTube videos.  The main problem, however, is inaccuracy.

Here is an actual example of one such English to Spanish translation:

The original English subtitle: “The history of the Flood is precise. The history from Abraham on is precise. Everything else is precise. There’s precision in the Law and the history books. There’s precision in the Psalms and the books of literature that we call poetry. And there is precision in the prophets.”

The automated translation: “La historia de la inundación es preciso. La historia de Abraham en es preciso. Todo lo demás es preciso. No hay precisión en la Ley y en los libros de historia. No hay precisión en los Salmos y los libros de la literatura que llamamos poesía. Y no hay precisión en los profetas.”

But there are two serious problems with this translation. First, it doesn’t use the proper term for the Flood.  It is like calling the Flood “the inundation” in English. Second, it says that the Bible ISN’T precise in many instances, which exactly the opposite of what the speaker intended.

The main point is that automated translation will often distort, add or subtract from the Word of God, while a good human translator relies on the translations of the Bible into Spanish that have been diligently compared to the original Bible manuscripts. Therefore they do not need to do their own translation of the Bible.  Finally, good Christian translators rely on the Lord to give them the proper words, something a computer could never do.

The Volunteer Translator

If you have volunteer translators in your church, this can be an excellent way to go.  The translation will be free, but you will most likely have to team up with a subtitling company to create the needed subtitle file. Nevertheless your cost will be significantly lower.

One of the main advantages to using volunteers is that the translator will most likely be familiar with the speaker’s style and message as well as have a heart for what they are translating.

Nevertheless, there are two points to be aware of when dealing with volunteers.  First, just because they “know” another language, doesn’t mean they will be able to properly translate into that language in a Christian context.  Be sure they are native speakers of the target language, as well as having attended Christian church or listened to Christian teaching in their native language.  Also, as with all volunteers, you must be sure they can meet your production deadline week after week.  Be sure to have a back-up plan.

The Non-Christian/Amateur Translator

If you search for the cheapest subtitling package cost, you may end up with a “non-Christian” or “amateur” translation.  With a non-Christian translator or inexperienced translator you may find a cheaper rate, but you will run into problems similar to what you find with automatic translation. The terminology used is often of secular nature, or worse yet, that of another religion when referring to Christian matters. For example, in Japan, where less than one percent are reported Christians, it is very difficult to find a Japanese-speaker able to properly translate the word “atonement,” as this concept does not exist in Japan’s main religions, Buddhism and Shinto.

Another example that had me chuckling for hours was in an interpreted church service from English to Spanish when the interpreter referred to the Holy Ghost as the “Fantasma Sagrado,” instead of the correct Spanish term, “Espíritu Santo.”  For a Spanish-speaker this is like calling the Holy Ghost something similar to the Sacred Phantom. It doesn’t quite work.

The Experienced Christian Translator

Of course, this is the best option, but not always the most affordable.  The experienced Christian translator is a Christian with a heart for the message and also with the training and tools to localize your message properly to the target audience.  When searching for a full-package subtitling service, be sure to ask the company about the translators they use.  Do they have experience translating Christian material?  How many years of experience do they have?  What other Christian material have they translated?  Ask to see their resumes.  In addition to a good Christian translator, if you are willing to pay top dollar, also be sure there is an additional proof of the translation before the subtitles go live, so that any errors are caught.  If you have people available in your ministry to do a proof of the final translations, this option can bring your cost down significantly.

THE BOTTOM LINE

All and all, when translating your message for multi-language subtitles, be sure to allow feedback on the translation from the viewers.  This can be a simple box below the video where the viewer can input their feedback.  You never know, you may even get viewers across the world willing to translate your message for free.  Are you getting the number of viewers you desired in each country?  If not, it may be that the subtitles are so poor that the viewer gives up.

Although there are many service options out there at many different costs, the important thing is that you know exactly what you are getting and you evaluate what will work best for your ministry.  From years of experience, the old saying still rings true: You get what you pay for.

Most multi-national corporations either have their own production department or they outsource to post-production houses specializing in the creation of corporate training videos.  Usually each post-production house specializes in a sector, for example, retail or construction.

Commonly, these post-productions companies will outsource to a subtitling company to create the translated subtitles for their corporate training videos.  Subtitling companies specialize in subtitling multiple languages, even exotic and not-so common languages, that is often too much of a hassle for the post-production house to handle.

The complicated part about translating corporate training videos is, for one, the industry-specific jargon.  The translator will usually be provided with a company-specific lexicon for the given language.  For example, a product might have the name, “Super-duper AirTight Duffel” but in Japanese there is no product name.  The multinational corporation will need to decide whether they want to keep product names in English or if they want the translator to create equivalent names in their respective language.  It is common for large multinational corporations to have teams of translators in multiple countries who, among other things, dedicate themselves to these types of issues.  In this case, the subtitling company will use the clients’ translations to do the subtitling.

Creating DVD or Blu-ray Disc subtitles is not as simple as putting a translation into a software and spitting out files.  It takes adaptation for subtitles, timing and placement of the subtitles, as well as special subtitling software capable of exporting files for DVD or Blu-ray Disc, like specially formatted .stl files, .son files, .xml files, .txt files, .srt files to name a few.  These file types are often accompanied by .tif images.  These files are later ingested into the client’s or post-production house’s DVD or Blu-ray Disc authoring system and added to the DVD or Blu-ray Disc menu.

One thing I have learned from subtitling thousands of corporate training videos, is that when we are handling the translation, to always, without fail, get the translation and the subtitles proofed by the client.  What we tell the company’s international branches via translated subtitles is very crucial to the company’s bottom line abroad, and making a mistake with one sentence or even one word could compromise the progress of the overall training.  Successful translation and subtitling of corporate training videos comes down to having all the available lexicons from the client, a translator who specializes in the sector (retail, construction, hospitality, et cetera), a proofer who also specializes in the given sector, and a final client proof of the subtitles.

All in all, international companies have found the importance of creating video for training employees abroad, and with these videos the easiest and most cost-effective way to adapt the video for multiple countries at one time is by the addition of multi-language subtitles.

I grew up in Southern California, the heart of Hollywood. I was accustomed to watching TV shows and movies in their original form–English. If I were to watch a foreign film, which I did often, I would naturally watch it in the original narration with English subtitles.  I loved the feeling of being taken to a different culture, a different language.  My whole perception of what television was changed when I was a 19-year-old living in Spain. Surprising to some, but this was the first time I realized that my language–American English–was the dominant language in TV and film.  Most of the shows and movies that Spaniards watch are from my neighborhood!  Even Homer Simpson speaks Spanish in Spain.  Since it is an animated TV show, “The Simpsons” is kind of cute in Spanish. But then, when I watched “Mission Impossible” and I heard Tom Cruise with a Spanish actor’s voice, I couldn’t stand the idea of dubbing. 

The Origins of Dubbing is History: Case of Spain, Germany, and Italy

Spain, like Germany, Italy, and France, prefer to dub American films and TV shows rather than subtitle them.  This was a decision made by their governments back in the 1920s and early 1930s when overseas production was first being imported.  Think about this: These four countries are some of the largest in Europe, therefore they had a larger audience that would make the high cost of dubbing potentially worth it. Dubbing is much more costly than subtitling and takes more time and resources.  Voice dubbing was also chosen by Spain, Italy, and Germany as a form of censorship back in the 1930s.  At this time, these three countries were run by dictators–Franco, Mussolini, and Hitler–who did not want foreign influence being brought into their countries.  Also, in Spain’s example, Franco wanted to “encourage” speakers of Basque, Catalan, and Galician to learn Spanish, the national language.  To this day, films in these local languages are dubbed in Spanish, not subtitled when shown in other parts of Spain.  Presently, dubbing in these countries remains the norm, but the use of subtitling is growing rapidly.  This is mainly due to lower costs and faster turnaround times, but also because the younger generation has better literacy skills as well as more global knowledge and desire.  More and more young people understand English and would like to see the English programming in its original language with subtitles in their native language. 

The Subtitling Standard

Here is a list of the main countries who subtitle programming as their general standard (source: www.wikipedia.org): Albania, Arabic countries (In Lebanon both Arabic and French are shown simultaneously), Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.

Dubbing vs. “Subbing”

A good thing that I can think of about dubbing is that it allows the viewer to be more relaxed while watching the program, because they do not have to rapidly read the subtitles.  If you are exhausted from a long day, reading subtitles may not be relaxing. Also, it must be used for children’s programming as they may not have the literacy skills needed for reading subtitles.  On the other hand, dubbed programming is generally distracting, unless you are accustomed to it, because often the audio does not match the movement of the mouths perfectly.  Although, I have to admit that in Spain, they often do an excellent job matching the new audio to the original video.  Generally, the acting is worse than the original and oftentimes seems downright different.  You do not get the same feel for the film as you would in the original language.  I am telling you this from my experience watching the same film in two languages in which I am fluent.  I could come up with many examples to demonstrate this, but a recent example is the film I just watched, “Vicky Christina Barcelona.”  For those of you who haven’t seen the film, there are two Americans and two Spaniards as the main characters in the film. In the dubbed version, all four of them speak Spanish.  In the original version the two Spanish actors speak to the Americans in English with a Spanish accent.  Also, the Americans act confused when the two Spaniards argue in Spanish. This DOES NOT get portrayed at all in the Spanish dubbed version.  Not to mention the two Spanish actors in the film, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem DO NOT do their own dubbing in the Spanish version. For the Spanish audience this is really awkward since they know the real voices of these two actors. On the contrary, subtitled versions allow for the viewer to hear the real actors voices and hear the original AND best soundtrack.  If the viewer has some knowledge of the original language, they can also learn more and pick up more by hearing one language and reading another.

So, come on already, should I dub or sub?

There is really no cut and dry answer for this.  If you are a producer, that has a low budget, definitely subtitle your project.  You can get excellent quality for the fraction of the cost of a poor dubbed project.  If you choose to dub, you must be willing to pay the top dubbing agency to hire excellent actors to get a quality dubbed program.  If they are inexpensive, be weary, as good actors charge high prices.  Ask them if you can view a recent project they did before you contract with them.  Either way, if you are distributing in Spain, Germany, Italy, or France you will get a more satisfied audience and potentially more viewership if you dub.  All in all, know your audience, know your budget, and either way, make sure you get the translation of your film done well.

Copyright notice: 

© Joanna Scavo & Aberdeen Captioning, Inc. 2009.

This article can be freely reproduced under the following conditions:

a) that no economic benefit be gained from the reproduction

b) that all citations and reproductions carry a reference to this original publication on [online] http://www.abercap.com/blog

A first-rate translation requires the know-how that cannot be rated by a translation program or a computer-assisted translation tool.  Accuracy is not the only point of measurement. It’s about immersing in another culture and offering words that wholly speak to the viewer.

What’s fascinating about audio-visual translation is the creative authority the translator has.  You must adapt the original dialogue to another culture through language.  The translation turns into a new creation. This being said, the translator usually adheres to the original narration, but sometimes the translator will actually create their own dialogue to convey the same message in a better way.  This new creation communicates more effectively than if the text were translated literally.  If drastic changes are to be made, the translator will usually ensure to get authorization.  For audio-visual translators, they usually find enjoyment in conjuring up the best way to adapt a song, a pun, or a joke into another culture, and another language.

Many subtitle viewers often complain that portions are missing in subtitles. The truth is, everything cannot be translated as subtitles are limited to around 40 characters per line. It doesn’t matter how much is written in the subtitles if the viewer doesn’t have time to read them.  The subtitler’s job is to shorten what is being said.  This creates some tough decisions.  They must decide which parts of the dialogue are important and which parts can be left out. If everything seems important, the extremely creative and challenging part is determining how to fit three ideas into one sentence.

I talk to people often about what kind of work I do.  The general public has no idea what translation subtitles are all about.  Typically, they say something like, “Isn’t that for free” or “I thought that just happened by the TV or a computer.” The people behind them (if they are good subtitlers like Aberdeen Captioning’s team), are highly educated and markedly cultured individuals.  They are usually people who have parents from two different countries or who have grown up in two or more countries.  In addition to being multi-cultural, they are linguistic superstars.  They have not only been brought up in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual environment, but they are extremely gifted and highly trained in writing.  Take if from me, a person who bilingual in Spanish and English, but is not a translator: It takes much more than knowing a language to create a subtitled masterpiece.

Consider the following before you decide to purchase an automated translation software:

I will give you the example of Spanish, as this is a language that I am fluent in. Think first about the register the language is using.  In Spanish, there are two ways of addressing people, formal and informal. In English, there is only one. Not only do pronouns change depending upon the register being used, but verbs and other words change too. The software does not know what kind of register the people are using, and therefore poorly communicates entire sentences.

Then there is the word choice from the software. Imagine a newscaster. The language and the choice of words would be completely different than if the same words were being used while a father speaks to his son. This is because the software does not recognize who the speaker is, who he is addressing, if there is a difference in rank, social status, or the like.  Think of English.  Imagine kids playing soccer in the street in a low-class neighborhood.  These children would not use the same vocabulary as a headmaster would who is addressing a teacher. All this is not taken into consideration by software that translates word-by-word.

Think of grammar differences between languages. In English the second person of the personal pronoun takes the same form for singular and plural: “you.” In Spanish, there are  four forms, two for singular (formal and informal) and two for plural (formal and informal). The software does not recognize this difference, making the conjugation of the verb that accompany the pronoun incorrect, because the verb in English almost always remains the same. Automated software does not know these nuances.

Your audience will most likely be from a given region of the target language. For example, in South America each country uses a different variant of Spanish. The nouns vary completely from one country to another. Just think of the differences between Australian, Canadian, British, and American English. Even though you still understand each other, every country has its own linguistic nuances.

Try it for yourself.  Go to a website in a different language and copy some text.  Go to Google translate.  Paste the foreign language text and translate into English.  Read the translation, and you will see my point exactly. 

A good translation depends completely on the translator’s ability to capture the essence of the text by using creativity–something only the human brain can achieve. Translating is an art.  Software just puts words together, leaving much to be desired.

Why all the hype?

Think of the statistics in the U.S.:  Spanish is the second most common language in the United States after English, and the Spanish-speaking community in the U.S. is growing each year.  As of 2007, according to the United States Census Bureau, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home by over 34 million people.  An unbelievable fact is that the United States, with 45 million Hispanics, is the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country in the entire world! Mexico is the first, but the U.S. has more Spanish-speaking people than Spain, Argentina, and Colombia!  Why would you want to miss out on such a huge market?  No matter what the content of your programming is, I can assume one of your main goals is to reach as many viewers as possible, and with Spanish captioning, your viewership will automatically be on the rise.

English Programming with Spanish Captions

If you are broadcasting in English, you already must broadcast your content with English captions.  So you are probably wondering how you can also broadcast with Spanish captions.  English captions are usually decoded through CC1 and Spanish captions are typically decoded on CC2.  On your TV menu you can select CC1 or CC2.  If the viewer is used to watching TV with Spanish captions, they probably always have CC2 selected.  With this option, you are reaching the Spanish-speaking community in your broadcast area.  If you are debating if captioning your English programming in Spanish is worth it, do an online search for the amount of Spanish speakers there are in the area that you broadcast.

Spanish-language Programming with Spanish Captions

Broadcasting your Spanish-language programming with Spanish captions is now being mandated by the FCC: In the United States, all Spanish-language programming that was first shown after January 1, 1998, must be captioned by 2010.  I know it may seem like another burden, but the good thing is, by captioning your Spanish-language programming, you will reach the Hispanic deaf and hard of hearing community, and once again, broadening your viewership.  As you can imagine, the deaf and hard of hearing community is not limited to the English language–there is a considerable number of deaf and hard of hearing in the U.S. Hispanic community that want access to your programming.

Spanish Subtitles for DVD and Blu-ray

If you are putting out a DVD or Blu-ray Disc for distribution, you can reach your target audience with Spanish subtitles, as opposed to captions.  Subtitles are burned on the video and can be turned on and off through the viewer’s DVD menu, so they don’t need to be decoded through a decoder chip in their TV.  You should choose subtitles instead of captioning when authoring your disc because they look much nicer and are easier to read.

If you have any questions regarding Spanish captioning or subtitling, call or e-mail Nicole Stone with Aberdeen Captioning:  800-688-6621  or e-mail her at info@abercap.com

Copyright notice: 

© Joanna Scavo & Aberdeen Captioning, Inc. 2009.

This article can be freely reproduced under the following conditions:

a) that no economic benefit be gained from the reproduction

b) that all citations and reproductions carry a reference to this original publication on [online] http://www.abercap.com/blog

Without a doubt it is a remarkable, touching documentary.

I was blessed with the opportunity to translate this powerful testimony and I am certain it will greatly impact the people that get to see it the way it impacted us (I shared it with my wife) while working on it.

It made us realize once again the power and grace of our Omnipotent Lord. We truly believe God gave the old Everett and his family the grace and strength to keep on going after so many setbacks.  He just took up the cross and followed while others (as me) just stand by and see in awe.

Best regards,

Enrico

Aberdeen was blessed to work on this project because James-Kirk Johnson, the Executive Producer of the film and Director of Operations for Strong Tower Ministries, contacted us after discovering our company through mutual contacts.  Before we got involved in the project I visited one of James’ projects in Tijuana, Mexico, The Purple Palace, and was moved by the orphanage they had built and by the hearts of the children.  By working on this project and seeing other things their ministry is doing helped me realize how much I can do to contribute, and the many opportunities there are right in my own backyard.  Find out how you can help by visiting: strongtowerministries.info or hearingeverett.com

Aberdeen’s new subtitling team prides itself in top-notch customer service, doing whatever it takes to satisfy your subtitling needs in a way that will save you time, money, and make your life easier.  They personalize each project to match your requests, always maintaining the highest subtitling and linguistic standards in the industry.  If you’ve captioned programs with Aberdeen, you don’t need to be told that you will love working with them, but if you haven’t, find out why people like you love working with Aberdeen and give their subtitling services a try.

For additional information on Aberdeen’s multi-language subtitling department, contact Steve Holmes or visit www.abercap.com.  You can contact Aberdeen for sample subtitle files to test with your system.  New subtitling services are available immediately.

ABOUT ABERDEEN CAPTIONING – Aberdeen Captioning, Inc. is based out of Orange County, California and offers post-production services worldwide to TV and film producers, TV stations and networks, government and educational agencies, et cetera.  Their services include: post-production captioning, Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH), multi-language subtitles and translation, transcription, captioning for webcasts, captioning for DVD and Blu-ray authoring systems, subtitling for DVD and Blu-ray authoring systems, HD captioning, dubbing, distribution, NLEdirect (tapeless captioning), and live captioning for TV broadcasts, meetings and seminars, and webcasting.