Episode 185
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Have you ever wondered why movies are dubbed in some countries and not in others? Dubbing a movie means to substitute the original voice for another one in the language of the country.
This way you don't need to know the original language of the movie. You can simply watch the entire movie in your language without any problems.
An alternative is to simply add translated subtitles. This is done in most countries.
This way you can listen to the original sound and at the same time read in your native language to understand the meaning. It is a cheap alternative and much easier than dubbing the movies.
Interestingly, performers are called voice actors. The truth is that I find this job very difficult. You have to record exactly at the moment when the character is speaking. Also, you need to use the right intonation. If the character is angry, or happy, or says something with irony, ... All this has to be taken into account.
There are some people who criticize dubbing. They give two reasons.
The first is that it doesn't help people learn foreign languages, such as English.
The second is that, in a way, it can distort the interpretation of the actors, since, if a dubbing actor is not good, he can totally change the character.
But dubbing is not limited to movies or series. Music and video games are also dubbed.
Dubbing music
Similar to movies, dubbing has a totally different meaning in music. Here, this process occurs when you transfer or duplicate a song.
Dubbing video games
Many games now require dubbing - when dubbing, the original audio is replaced with new recordings of the translated script. This allows players to listen while playing in their own language.
In my opinion, dubbing does not help people learn new languages. Regarding whether or not the interpretation of the actors is changed, I think it can happen, but I have to say that there are very good dubbing actors who do it very well.
Do you know how you can help me? You can share the podcast with your friends and family. Tell them to go to SpeakEnglishPodcast.com and get my free mini-course.
That would mean a lot to me. Thanks.
Let's move on to the next section.
Now, let’s practice.
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GRAMMAR MADE EASY
POV Story: Grammar in Context
Read the same story in two different points of view and notice how the grammar changes naturally.
| 01 |
First version Past Tense - First Person |
Hi! I'm James, and I have a very rare talent. I can do all kinds of voices: a middle-aged man or woman an older man or woman, a boy or a girl. They call me the man of a thousand voices.
In the past, I worked in a library, so I could hardly ever speak. That made me very frustrated. So, I decided to try my luck in another line of work.
One day, I saw an ad in a newspaper. They were hiring new voice actors. I applied, and the director was highly impressed by the number of different voices I could reproduce. So he hired me immediately.
Since I could do all kinds of voices, I dubbed every character in every movie. I kept getting job offers. Things were going well for me.
However, there was a problem. Members of the actors' union were furious and kept calling for demonstrations and protests in front of my house.
I am a good person, and I understood that I was taking work away from the rest of the voice actors. So, I decided to change jobs again. I now do humor, and I am very successful, telling stories in several voices. However, it seems that the members of the humorists' union are not pleased with me.
| 02 |
Second version Past Tense - Third Person |
James had a very rare talent. He could do all kinds of voices: a middle-aged man or woman an older man or woman, a boy or a girl. They called him the man of a thousand voices.
James worked in a library, so he could hardly ever speak. That made him very frustrated. So he decided to try his luck in another line of work.
One day he saw an ad in a newspaper. They were hiring new voice actors. He applied, and the director was highly impressed by the number of different voices James could reproduce. He was hired immediately.
Since James could do all kinds of voices, he dubbed every character in every movie. James kept getting job offers. Things were going well for our friend.
However, there was a problem. Members of the actors' union were furious and kept calling for demonstrations and protests in front of poor James' house.
James is a good person, and he understood that he was taking work away from the rest of the voice actors. He decided to change jobs again. He now does humor and is very successful, telling stories in several different voices. However, it seems that the humorists' union is not very happy with him.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
Review
Vocabulary
Review the most useful words and expressions before listening again.
dubbing
replacing original voices with recordings in another language.
subtitles
written translations shown on a screen.
voice actor
a performer who records a character’s voice.
intonation
the rise and fall of the voice while speaking.
distort
change something so it no longer represents the original accurately.
original audio
the sound recorded in the source language.
translated script
a written text converted into another language.
interpretation
the way an actor presents a character or meaning.
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