Asian DramaWiki Forum

Seriously , they're too freakin' fast! many times i have to pause to read them because i'm not able to read them all in time before the next sentence comes up and it's really annoying , is there any way to improve this ability? suggestions??

Not everyone is the same. My sister has to pause to read subtitles on anime, or any other show. I can read them quite fast, but if it's a long sentence, then i'd have to pause. If you happen to be a fast reader when reading novels, or the like, than you should be fine. But like I said, not everyone is the same. =/

I'm the same. That's why I when timing try to keep the subtitles visible for a longer time. Also don't make the lines too long. (I'm not writing a novel) One line at most 39 characters, this includes spaces.
http://www.giftedones.net/how-i-make-subtitles/

The lack of feedback given to fansubbers is a big problem. I try to accommodate for slow readers, but I have no idea if it's still too fast for them since I never get any feedback about it. So if you can't keep up with subtitles for a show, tell the subber!

The problem with timing English subs from Japanese has to do with the actual languages. Eg. An opinion which takes 5 seconds to communicate in English can take 1 second to communicate in Japanese.
It's hard to shorten translations without losing too much or any of the intended meaning, so sometimes sentences have to be long.

Isn't it just some sort of training? Most people I know start of slow, but once they've gotten used to it, they get quicker and quicker in reading the subs. People complaining about subs that are too fast usually only lack the experience, they are not (yet) used to it.
I usually just look at the sentence and "see" them as a whole. I don't really "read" it like I do with normal text, if that makes any sense to you guys.

When I watch a normal television show, I see how huge the influence is, that subtitles made on me: My eyes usually twitch to the bottom of the screen for a split second several times, before I realise "oh, no subtitles there...right, I actually do understand the language, that's why".

In all the years, there have been only very few occasions, where suibtltes have been so fast, that I had to stop and rewatch something. But in 90% of the cases it have been scenes with a lot of dialouge AND some annotations on the top of the screen, like an explanation of a joke, term etc.

Miharu-Rush wrote:The problem with timing English subs from Japanese has to do with the actual languages. Eg. An opinion which takes 5 seconds to communicate in English can take 1 second to communicate in Japanese.

Maybe it's a consoling fact, that English is quite a "short" language. Books translated from English into German usually are 30-40% longer after the translation. ;) This is the main reason, why I always prefer English subtitles over German ones...they are simply much shorter.

the only solution is to get used to it.

practice makes perfect....

Both Aegisub and Subtitle Edit have a feature called CPS (characters per second) which gives an indication for lines where the subtitle duration may need to be increased for readability. If the subs have have the CPS constantly in the red, it may be better to retime it, unless you're a fast reader.

whiteadamas wrote:the only solution is to get used to it.

practice makes perfect....

I've been watching dramas for 6 years , i can't get used to it , it's there a way to slow down the subs , it's really frustrating to keep an eye at the subs and and an eye at the images at the same time , maybe it's me but i can't multi-task.

There are some dramas that just have rapid-fire dialogue, and it doesn`t necessarily have to do with being a slow reader - I get visual strain very easily, so I have to take breaks if there's a lot of 2-line dialogue in a show.

If you use VLC, you can slow video down: right-click -> Playback -> Speed -> Slower (fine). It shouldn't affect your viewing experience as long as you don't go too slow (I guess music can sound a bit odd).

You can also do quick edits of the subtitles yourself with Aegisub. Open subtitles in Aegisub -> CTRL + A (this selects all subs) -> Choose Timing from the Menu -> Timing Post-Processor -> in the Lead-in/Lead-out section, add in the milliseconds (if you're having trouble reading, maybe add 1000ms lead-in and/or 1000 lead-out. Unfortunately, if there are subs immediately before or after that subtitle, this trick won't be able to change the timing for those lines.

Lead-in: time from the start of the subtitle to the start of the audio
Lead-out: time from the end of the audio to the end of the subtitle

riki_kun wrote:

whiteadamas wrote:the only solution is to get used to it.

practice makes perfect....

I've been watching dramas for 6 years , i can't get used to it , it's there a way to slow down the subs , it's really frustrating to keep an eye at the subs and and an eye at the images at the same time , maybe it's me but i can't multi-task.

you can stop every 10 to 15 mins, avert your eyes somewhere else....somehow when im watching dramas I don't stare at the TV for the whole time because sometimes I have to go to the toilet or someone will knock at the door or I have to drink or someone will call. It helps if you pause once in while.

I could imagine it's more exhausting for your brain if your eyesight is bad. Maybe that affects your reading.