4 ms·

> subtitles are some kind of problem Heck, they're not even limited to foreign languages. I put them on in English because I'm starting to lose my hearing now

> subtitles are some kind of problem Heck, they're not even limited to foreign languages. I put them on in English because I'm starting to lose my hearing now in my late 40's and if I turn up the volume loud enough that I can hear the dialogue ok, the sound effects would be so loud they'd set off the neighbor's car alarm.

aeturnum 5y ago
I also use them regularly in my native language! Very helpful in noisy environments.
- ncpa-cpl 5y ago
  And very helpful for slang too. I speak Spanish well, but I always add subtitles in English or other language in case I miss a word of two from another Spanish variety.
epolanski 5y ago
many reasons to use them: - family is sleeping so you keep volume low - hard to understand accents or lingo - bad audio mixing or bad audio systems that muffle words and rest of the sound
- wyldfire 5y ago
  > hard to understand accents or lingo It's easy to tell which transcription services have access to the original script as a reference and which don't. I have subs on most of the time to catch subtle or barely-audible dialogue (or to decipher accents). There's sometimes when I can tell "oh gee that's not right at all but I can see how you misheard it." And there's other times when dialogue is coming from offscreen or a TV/radio and it's too far in the background to understand unless you are reading along with the script.
- maroonblazer 5y ago
  - You're a euro-, arab-, and/or, asia-phile (I'm in the U.S.) and the sound of the language further transports you to those parts of the world.
  - distances 5y ago
    Yes, dubbing is the worst of both worlds obviously. But parent's point apply specifically to English subtitles over English content.
pen2l 5y ago
I frequently choose not to watch films because I can't find the right subtitles for them. They are an absolute boon for those interested in learning foreign languages.
- distances 5y ago
  And I refuse to watch movies/series without English subtitles, even if the original language is English. I too often miss something the actors say and get majorly annoyed. Could well be something about my hearing.
derefr 5y ago
If you can afford it, buy a speaker system with at least a dedicated center channel. Dialog is almost always mixed to the center channel in 5.1/7.1 mixes. Which means that you can just turn up the gain on the center channel speaker, while leaving everything else down. The result is magical — it's like turning down the "background music" slider in a video game :)
- pxx 5y ago
  You don't even need to set up the surround speakers. Having a 3.1 setup has improved my enjoyment of TV and movies substantially. My understanding is most if not all receivers will downmix the surround into your L and R channels.

aeturnum 5y ago

I also use them regularly in my native language! Very helpful in noisy environments.

ncpa-cpl 5y ago
And very helpful for slang too. I speak Spanish well, but I always add subtitles in English or other language in case I miss a word of two from another Spanish variety.

epolanski 5y ago

many reasons to use them: - family is sleeping so you keep volume low - hard to understand accents or lingo - bad audio mixing or bad audio systems that muffle words and rest of the sound

wyldfire 5y ago
> hard to understand accents or lingo It's easy to tell which transcription services have access to the original script as a reference and which don't. I have subs on most of the time to catch subtle or barely-audible dialogue (or to decipher accents). There's sometimes when I can tell "oh gee that's not right at all but I can see how you misheard it." And there's other times when dialogue is coming from offscreen or a TV/radio and it's too far in the background to understand unless you are reading along with the script.
maroonblazer 5y ago
- You're a euro-, arab-, and/or, asia-phile (I'm in the U.S.) and the sound of the language further transports you to those parts of the world.
- distances 5y ago
  Yes, dubbing is the worst of both worlds obviously. But parent's point apply specifically to English subtitles over English content.

pen2l 5y ago

I frequently choose not to watch films because I can't find the right subtitles for them. They are an absolute boon for those interested in learning foreign languages.

distances 5y ago
And I refuse to watch movies/series without English subtitles, even if the original language is English. I too often miss something the actors say and get majorly annoyed. Could well be something about my hearing.

derefr 5y ago

If you can afford it, buy a speaker system with at least a dedicated center channel. Dialog is almost always mixed to the center channel in 5.1/7.1 mixes. Which means that you can just turn up the gain on the center channel speaker, while leaving everything else down. The result is magical — it's like turning down the "background music" slider in a video game :)

pxx 5y ago
You don't even need to set up the surround speakers. Having a 3.1 setup has improved my enjoyment of TV and movies substantially. My understanding is most if not all receivers will downmix the surround into your L and R channels.