The world of cinema and television is exciting, whether it be films, programs, series or documentaries, among others. We all like to sit on the couch with some popcorn and enjoy for a while something we like, right?
Fortunately, thanks to the translators, dubbers, adaptors and interpreters, we can enjoy original films or series from other countries whose language does not correspond to ours. Many of us like to watch these films or series in their original version using subtitles in our language, but… are these subtitles always correct? Can we understand the full meaning of the original?
[This is an automatic translation, not a professional translation]
Do professional subtitles have some serious flaws in their meaning?
Despite what many people think, the discipline of subtitling is not so simple and requires a range of knowledge and proper training to produce proper and successful subtitles. Today we find many subtitles made by amateurs or funsubs that contain errors of meaning, spelling or style. Do we accept these subtitles or do we prefer those made by professional translators?
It is not a matter of writing literally what is said in the OV, but of capturing the original meaning by modifying, in many cases, words or complete sentences following a series of determined guidelines. For the professional translator, this can be an offense and a serious work intrusion.
The fact that we know or know how to speak a foreign language well together with our love of a particular series or film does not make us experts. The audience deserves to receive a quality result and only professional audiovisual translators can provide it.
You decide the quality you want!