Unfortunately, we don't have British programmes in Hungary...we do have some, but either dubbed or not comedy.
Everything is dubbed into German in Germany. Besides, I don't have TV here at all... _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
Unfortunately, we don't have British programmes in Hungary...we do have some, but either dubbed or not comedy.
Everything is dubbed into German in Germany. Besides, I don't have TV here at all...
Dear God... I know that Germany deals with that abomination they call dubbing, but having to suffer the same ordeal in Hungary, your native land... And your dorm doesn't have a TV? How do you get by? I don't watch much TV now but when I lived in a dorm we used to watch TV every night.
Unfortunately, we don't have British programmes in Hungary...we do have some, but either dubbed or not comedy.
Everything is dubbed into German in Germany. Besides, I don't have TV here at all...
Dear God... I know that Germany deals with that abomination they call dubbing, but having to suffer the same ordeal in Hungary, your native land... And your dorm doesn't have a TV? How do you get by? I don't watch much TV now but when I lived in a dorm we used to watch TV every night.
Yes, German dubbing is aaaawful...My all-time favourite bit: Ich weiß, er war ein famous songwriter. LOL. No comment. Does anyone call it dubbing?
Hungarian dubbing is good...it's *Hungarian* dubbing, NOT Hunglish dubbing.
Funnily enough, my dorm in Hungary has a TV on each floor...this sh*** slum dorm doesn't have any, on a bring-your-own-stuff basis. I should be chuffed with having a toilet at least...for girls and boys only...*very* exclusive. _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
Yes, German dubbing is aaaawful...My all-time favourite bit: Ich weiß, er war ein famous songwriter. LOL. No comment. Does anyone call it dubbing?
I've been exposed to German dubbing myself. I've been having these weird twitches in the left side of my face ever since.
Liz wrote:
Hungarian dubbing is good...it's *Hungarian* dubbing, NOT Hunglish dubbing.
I hate to break it to you, but you've been brainwashed. I don't blame you, though; you grew up with it. See, for me it's not just about what they're saying -- it's also about how they speak. You can tell if an actor is dubbed because even if the actor's lips and the voice in question are somewhat in sync, his or her voice will sound so unnatural.
Liz wrote:
Funnily enough, my dorm in Hungary has a TV on each floor...this sh*** slum dorm doesn't have any, on a bring-your-own-stuff basis. I should be chuffed with having a toilet at least...for girls and boys only...*very* exclusive.
You should've come here then!
PS. Sorry for keeping this conversation up here on the Geography Forum.
Hungarian dubbing is good...it's *Hungarian* dubbing, NOT Hunglish dubbing.
I hate to break it to you, but you've been brainwashed. I don't blame you, though; you grew up with it. See, for me it's not just about what they're saying -- it's also about how they speak. You can tell if an actor is dubbed because even if the actor's lips and the voice in question are somewhat in sync, his or her voice will sound so unnatural.
I assure you that I haven't been brainwashed. Don't get me wrong - I'm fully aware of the fact that dubbing is nowhere near as good as the original voice. However, I've seen films dubbed into German, English, French and Russian. Compared to most of them, Hungarian lip sync was nigh on perfect in the majority of cases. What's more, the voices are usually *very* similar to the original.
I'm not being jingoistic here nor do I want to generalise. That's just *my* personal experience. _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
In Poland, instead of dubbing programmes, they have one person speaking a translation on top, but you can still here the original voice quietly underneath. When I went to stay with this Polish girl in Poland earlier this year, for some reason we ended up watching a British programme about buying and selling houses — there was a male Polish voice speaking over the top, translating everything which was said, but I was still able to listen to the English voices of the actual people.
In Poland, instead of dubbing programmes, they have one person speaking a translation on top, but you can still here the original voice quietly underneath. When I went to stay with this Polish girl in Poland earlier this year, for some reason we ended up watching a British programme about buying and selling houses — there was a male Polish voice speaking over the top, translating everything which was said, but I was still able to listen to the English voices of the actual people.
The same thing happens to films dubbed into Russian. I used to watch Helčne et les garcons on Russian TV and I could hear the original text almost entirely. What's more, a man was murmuring the text in an awfully monotonous voice. Can you imagine dialogues, especially that of young women, recited by one single person - a middle-aged man?
Probably the most shocking experience for me was watching an American catastrophy film dubbed into Russian! A bridge was falling down with a man who wanted to cross it. Another man, probably a friend of that poor bloke, kept on shouting "Noooooo!!!!!!" in the original version (you could hear it clearly) whilst an apathic monotonous Russian voice said: "Net". _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
LOL! LOL! LOL! You're right! I was young and foolish...
You must have watched it, too...otherwise you wouldn't speak with authority. LOL _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:09 am Post subject:
Liz wrote:
Probably the most shocking experience for me was watching an American catastrophy film dubbed into Russian! A bridge was falling down with a man who wanted to cross it. Another man, probably a friend of that poor bloke, kept on shouting "Noooooo!!!!!!" in the original version (you could hear it clearly) whilst an apathic monotonous Russian voice said: "Net".
I watched a few TV shows when I was in Russia that were done that way. It is strange. The first time I saw that sort of voiceover was when they showed a TV version of "The Tale of Genji" on public TV in the US. I think that was in the early '60s. Maybe the deadpan reading is supposed to give the feeling of reading subtitles. I think emotionless voiceovers are better than the ones where the speaker attempts to inject some emotion into it and does a bad job. I've seen a lot of that on news programs.
I assure you that I haven't been brainwashed. Don't get me wrong - I'm fully aware of the fact that dubbing is nowhere near as good as the original voice. However, I've seen films dubbed into German, English, French and Russian. Compared to most of them, Hungarian lip sync was nigh on perfect in the majority of cases. What's more, the voices are usually *very* similar to the original.
I'm not being jingoistic here nor do I want to generalise. That's just *my* personal experience.
Sure, I can appreciate that there are differences in the quality of dubbing. But I still think it's wicked and wrong. Even if the audience is used to dubbing and thinks that there is nothing strange about it, it is still deprived of hearing the original language. We Scandinavian folks are known for being relatively good at English. How do you reckon that is?
Sure, I can appreciate that there are differences in the quality of dubbing. But I still think it's wicked and wrong. Even if the audience is used to dubbing and thinks that there is nothing strange about it, it is still deprived of hearing the original language. We Scandinavian folks are known for being relatively good at English. How do you reckon that is?
At the risk of being presumptuous, can I suggest that your hostility towards dubbing is especially prevalent if it were an English language programme? Would you be equally adverse to dubbings if the programme in question is not in English and let's say you are suffering from near-sightedness and have misplaced your reading glasses?
Personally, I think dubbing has a role to play as far as maintaining the cultural integrity of a society is concerned. Mandarin dubbing is often very good. I once watched Friends in Mandarin and seeing Joey speaking in flawless Mandarin with that hint of a Shanghainese lilt is always a laugh.
Many telenovelas from Latin America here are frequently dubbed into Malay and I must say that they are very well done. Personally, I'd prefer those telenovelas to be in the original language for it'd otherwise have given me the feeling of experiencing the pleasures of foreign travel without actually having to go overseas. But we are all basically fascinated with languages here and not everyone shares our fascination with foreign tongues. There are people who are actually more interested in watching the plot unravel without having to be distracted by subtitles.
In Singapore, every film is subtitled in Chinese and sometimes, in Chinese and Malay. When I was watching Spiderman 3, it was bloody irritating to have the subtitles covering almost half the screen. Spiderman was blocked by the Chinese subtitles while the Green Goblin was partially obscured by the Malay subtitles.
How thrilling.
And when it's a non English language film, the situation takes a more depressing turn. You'd have up to three different set of subtitles for films like the most recent French language film released here Hors Prix - English, Chinese and Malay.
One of the benefits of subtitling, I must say, lies in its unconscious ability in promoting literacy. As a result, I am much better in reading than speaking in Malay, thanks to the tireless subtitling efforts of the producers. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Almost all TV films are dubbed in Hungary but at least 70% of the films in the cinema are subtitled (cartoons and films for children are always dubbed), whereas you'll find subtitled films in German cinemas once in a blue moon.
loic wrote:
At the risk of being presumptuous, can I suggest that your hostility towards dubbing is especially prevalent if it were an English language programme? Would you be equally adverse to dubbings if the programme in question is not in English and let's say you are suffering from near-sightedness and have misplaced your reading glasses?
So true. No-one complains why, say, a Russian film is dubbed into another language. However, they should.
I prefer films in the original (with or without subtitles) to dubbed films, but these films tend to be less popular in Hungary with the vast majority of people, and popularity is a key factor there. Most of the small cinemas playing quality films (very often in the original with subtitles) have gone bankrupt recently because the "plebs" prefer dubbed American crap. (Just a side remark: Don't get me wrong. There *are* good American films but certainly they aren't the too popular.) It's such a pity for other reasons as well: compared to the bloody expensive Hollywood Multiplex movies they are hardly breaking the bank.
Swedes in general are very good at English -- that's an indisputable fact. However, I'm not sure if the "English films in the original" thing is a result of or a reason for that. I hope my last utterance means what it should mean... _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
Sure, I can appreciate that there are differences in the quality of dubbing. But I still think it's wicked and wrong. Even if the audience is used to dubbing and thinks that there is nothing strange about it, it is still deprived of hearing the original language. We Scandinavian folks are known for being relatively good at English. How do you reckon that is?
At the risk of being presumptuous, can I suggest that your hostility towards dubbing is especially prevalent if it were an English language programme? Would you be equally adverse to dubbings if the programme in question is not in English and let's say you are suffering from near-sightedness and have misplaced your reading glasses?
Yes, I would. The lip sync is not the worst part; it's mainly the unnatural quality of the dubbed actors' 'voices' that gets on my nerves. I've seen British and American productions (childrens' programs that weren't cartoons) dubbed into Swedish. I've seen parts of American productions dubbed into German, and German TV-series where some of the actors were dubbed by other German actors. The Italians do the same. I used to watch La Piovra when I was younger and some of the actors were dubbed by other Italian actors. As far as I can remember I've only seen one Swedish film where a couple of actors were dubbed. I later learned that those dubbed actors where German. And then of course there are those old samurai flicks that are dubbed into English. In my experience it's always the same; you can turn away from the screen and still be able to tell which actor is dubbed and which isn't, no matter what language they speak. Most of the dubbed movies and series I've seen have been fairly old, though. Maybe they're better at dubbing these days. If I couldn't see I would rather go to the library and fetch a novel on CD (with only one reader) than watch a movie that was dubbed into Swedish (or English).
Quote:
Personally, I think dubbing has a role to play as far as maintaining the cultural integrity of a society is concerned. Mandarin dubbing is often very good. I once watched Friends in Mandarin and seeing Joey speaking in flawless Mandarin with that hint of a Shanghainese lilt is always a laugh.
A friend of mine has spent some time in Austria and he told me about having watched The Nanny in German. I don't even want to imagine what that must've been like.
Quote:
Many telenovelas from Latin America here are frequently dubbed into Malay and I must say that they are very well done. Personally, I'd prefer those telenovelas to be in the original language for it'd otherwise have given me the feeling of experiencing the pleasures of foreign travel without actually having to go overseas. But we are all basically fascinated with languages here and not everyone shares our fascination with foreign tongues. There are people who are actually more interested in watching the plot unravel without having to be distracted by subtitles.
In Singapore, every film is subtitled in Chinese and sometimes, in Chinese and Malay. When I was watching Spiderman 3, it was bloody irritating to have the subtitles covering almost half the screen. Spiderman was blocked by the Chinese subtitles while the Green Goblin was partially obscured by the Malay subtitles.
How thrilling.
And when it's a non English language film, the situation takes a more depressing turn. You'd have up to three different set of subtitles for films like the most recent French language film released here Hors Prix - English, Chinese and Malay.
Yes, I can see how that must be very annoying. When we were kids a friend and I once watched Beverly Hills Cop with Finnish subtitles. They didn't take up more space on the screen than Swedish subtitles do, though, but it was so annoying that we ended up cutting out strips of paper and attached them onto the screen using tape. Three different set of subtitles? That's ridiculous!
Quote:
One of the benefits of subtitling, I must say, lies in its unconscious ability in promoting literacy. As a result, I am much better in reading than speaking in Malay, thanks to the tireless subtitling efforts of the producers.
I sometimes try to avoid reading all the subtitles when the language is English and only read them when I need to, but out of habit I usually end up reading all of them anyway.
Liz wrote:
Swedes in general are very good at English -- that's an indisputable fact. However, I'm not sure if the "English films in the original" thing is a result of or a reason for that. I hope my last utterance means what it should mean...
I believe that the "English films in the original" thing is one of several reasons. Hearing English all the time makes us know better than some others how English is "supposed" to sound.
I saw a Hungarian film about ten years ago in which a well-know Italian actor (Franco Nero) played the main role. Needless to say that he was dubbed into Hungarian by a Hungarian actor! That makes no sense -- why did they need an Italian actor then???
I don't know if anyone has the same problem but I hate subtitles! If there are subtitles I don't understand the original text (English or other languages I understand quite well under normal circumstances) because subtitles distract my attention. I prefer films in the original without subtitles or with subtitles in the original language (e.g. an English-speaking film with English subtitles) as I was deaf and dumb. However, it can be annoying, too...Subtitles aren't always in accordance with what the characters actually say.
Walker wrote:
I believe that the "English films in the original" thing is one of several reasons. Hearing English all the time makes us know better than some others how English is "supposed" to sound.
So the thing that allegedly happens to Hungarians very often would never happen to Swedes... I've heard / read that several people had thought they could speak pretty good English before they went to an English-speaking country. They were profoundly shocked at how people spoke in reality and they also had problems with making themselves understood. Most of these people claimed that their command of English was at an intermediate level. Maybe it's just me being sceptical but I tend to take these statements with a pinch of salt. I think it verges on the absurd because nowadays almost everyone is heavily exposed to the English language, at least to American English.
On the other hand, those who have ever worked in an English speaking country as an au-pair, waiter/waitress, cleaner etc. are usually extremely proud of themselves and are inclined to think that the mere fact that they've lived their for a while automatically makes them native-like in English. An acquintance of my family who used to have some menial job in the US reacted this way when she got to know that I was studying English literature: "It means that you only speak the literary language, so your knowledge of English is worth sweet F.A. I bet you won't make yourself understood in an English-speaking country. Have you ever heard English spoken by native speakers anyway?" (Of course, she said it in Hungarian. She wouldn't have used the expression "sweet FA" as she has worked in the US!) LOL!
Oh...I strayed away from the already strayed-away topic. _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
So the thing that allegedly happens to Hungarians very often would never happen to Swedes...
I'm not sure if I know what "thing" you are referring to. They are Swedes who have a rather poor English pronounciation, that's for sure. As for Hungarians I can't say.
Liz wrote:
I've heard / read that several people had thought they could speak pretty good English before they went to an English-speaking country. They were profoundly shocked at how people spoke in reality and they also had problems with making themselves understood. Most of these people claimed that their command of English was at an intermediate level. Maybe it's just me being sceptical but I tend to take these statements with a pinch of salt.
I thought so myself before I started meeting foreign exchange students. A real life conversation in English turned out to be much more difficult than I'd thought it would be, and I do not claim to be fluent in English.
Liz wrote:
I think it verges on the absurd because nowadays almost everyone is heavily exposed to the English language, at least to American English.
Are they? I thought this very discussion had showed that everyone is not heavily exposed to (Amercian) English.
Are they? I thought this very discussion had showed that everyone is not heavily exposed to (Amercian) English.
In fact, they are, if not *heavily*. The most youngsters I know download American films from the internet or copy DVDs, have a collection of them at home and watch them all the time. Almost everyone has English-speaking channels and you can hear more English/American music than Hungarian music on the radio. Twenty years ago hardly anyone could hear English in Hungary, apart from some English songs.
I think most of those people went to England...The lack of rhoticity might cause some problems as we arrrr extrrrra rrrrhotic. _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
Are they? I thought this very discussion had showed that everyone is not heavily exposed to (Amercian) English.
In fact, they are, if not *heavily*. The most youngsters I know download American films from the internet or copy DVDs, have a collection of them at home and watch them all the time. Almost everyone has English-speaking channels and you can hear more English/American music than Hungarian music on the radio. Twenty years ago hardly anyone could hear English in Hungary, apart from some English songs.
Yes, I see. I dow... acquire movies too and I watch them without subtitles, as do a lot of other young people around here. It's good practice, at least as far as listening comprehension and vocabulary goes.
Liz wrote:
I think most of those people went to England...The lack of rhoticity might cause some problems as we arrrr extrrrra rrrrhotic.
Erotic? Now, now... oh, extra rhotic! Yes, rolling 'r's is something that I see as characteristic of Slavs when they speak English.
Deborah wrote:
Walker wrote:
A real life conversation in English turned out to be much more difficult than I'd thought it would be, and I do not claim to be fluent in English.
That's true in every language, I think. But I'm surprised to hear you say it, since your written English is so good.
Wow, thank you! But I must stress that my written English is partly due to my frequent use of a dictionary.
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However, I'm not sure if the "English films in the original" thing is a result of or a reason for that. I hope my last utterance means what it should mean... 
I prefer films in the original without subtitles or with subtitles in the original language (e.g. an English-speaking film with English subtitles) as I was deaf and dumb. However, it can be annoying, too...Subtitles aren't always in accordance with what the characters actually say. 