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That's a misconception by people not used to reading subtitles. It's like a logo of the TV channel, after some time your brain just filters it out and it doesn'

That's a misconception by people not used to reading subtitles. It's like a logo of the TV channel, after some time your brain just filters it out and it doesn't steal your attention at all. I grew up reading subtitles and I'm absolutely not aware of the text when watching the movies, my brain just picks it up. If it's in one of the languages that I speak I'll both listen to the original and read the subtitles, and it all happens also on auto-pilot without ever really thinking about it. I become aware of that only when the translation doesn't match.

kgwgk 7y ago
If the subtitles « don’t steal your attention at all » you’re not reading them. I agree that one might be able to ignore the subtitles in the same way that one can ignore the logo. Edit: I’m used to subtitles. In the same language, in another language, even in two other languages at the same time. One reads them unconsciously, a few minutes later maybe one can’t even recall if there were subtitles or not. But when you’re reading them, even if it’s just a fraction of the time, you’re not looking at the whole picture. Comparing them to the network logo is ridiculous.
EliRivers 7y ago
I remember watching City of God with someone and afterwards asking about the subtitles. "What subtitles?" He hadn't noticed he was reading subtitles. Raved about the film, though; aware that they must have been speaking Portuguese, but with genuinely no memory of the non-English language or the subtitles.
k_sze 7y ago
It's funny. I have watched so much TV/anime with subtitles that I am now used to having them, even for shows with dialogue already in my mother tongue (Cantonese). Sometimes I watch TV and forget to turn on the subtitles, and I start feeling uncomfortable or even have trouble understanding, even though I can hear the dialogue perfectly well. Another phenomenon is that, due to the sheer amount of Japanese drama/anime I have watched with English subtitles, I can often spot translations that are unidiomatic, even though I have no formal training in the Japanese language.

kgwgk 7y ago

If the subtitles « don’t steal your attention at all » you’re not reading them. I agree that one might be able to ignore the subtitles in the same way that one can ignore the logo. Edit: I’m used to subtitles. In the same language, in another language, even in two other languages at the same time. One reads them unconsciously, a few minutes later maybe one can’t even recall if there were subtitles or not. But when you’re reading them, even if it’s just a fraction of the time, you’re not looking at the whole picture. Comparing them to the network logo is ridiculous.

EliRivers 7y ago

I remember watching City of God with someone and afterwards asking about the subtitles. "What subtitles?" He hadn't noticed he was reading subtitles. Raved about the film, though; aware that they must have been speaking Portuguese, but with genuinely no memory of the non-English language or the subtitles.

k_sze 7y ago

It's funny. I have watched so much TV/anime with subtitles that I am now used to having them, even for shows with dialogue already in my mother tongue (Cantonese). Sometimes I watch TV and forget to turn on the subtitles, and I start feeling uncomfortable or even have trouble understanding, even though I can hear the dialogue perfectly well. Another phenomenon is that, due to the sheer amount of Japanese drama/anime I have watched with English subtitles, I can often spot translations that are unidiomatic, even though I have no formal training in the Japanese language.