The document summarizes research on the effects of faster subtitle reading speeds. An experiment tested comprehension, cognitive load, and preferences with slow (12 cps) and fast (20 cps) subtitles in Hungarian and English. While slow subtitles required more text reduction, fast subtitles provided higher fidelity to the original dialogue. Participants generally preferred faster subtitles that contained more text, though slow subtitles were re-read more. Viewers wanted subtitles to match the dialogue accurately in order to fully understand the content and learn languages.

1. Are faster subtitle reading speeds
changing the nature of subtitling?
Olivia Gerber-Morón
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Agnieszka Szarkowska
Centre for Translation Studies, UCL

3. Is “cheating” always a bad thing?

5. Original version: «In the morning, I’m making waffles»
Spanish dubbing: «Y por la mañana, prepararé churros».
(In the morning, I’ll make churros)

6. “Ahora vas y lo cascas”
(you just made a fool of yourself)
Original version:
“She’s as nasty as you are”

8. Do viewers want faithful subtitles?

9. Subtitle speeds
▪ Experiment 1: Films in Hungarian
– 12 cps (slow)
– 16 cps (medium)
– 20 cps (fast)
▪ Experiment 2: Films in English
– 12 cps (slow)
– 20 cps (fast)

10. Who did we test?
▪ 97 people
– 77 Hearing
• 30 English
• 21 Polish
• 26 Spanish
– 10 Hard of hearing
– 10 Deaf
▪ Aged 19-74, M=30.7

11. What did we test?
▪ Comprehension
▪ Cognitive load
▪ Subtitle and scene recognition
▪ Immersion
▪ Enjoyment
▪ Preferences
▪ Eye tracking variables
▪ Interview

12. Slow subtitles (12 cps)
▪ Traditional interlingual subtitling
▪ High degree of text reduction
▪ Problematic synchronisation

13. Fast-paced subtitles (20 cps)
▪ Netflix (17 – 20 cps)
▪ ≈ 240 words per minute
▪ (Near-)verbatim text

14. Speed vs faithfulness
▪ Slow subtitles – lower degree of faithfulness
▪ Fast subtitles – higher degree of faithfulness
?

15. 12 cps
- Harvard is over 300 years old.
- Founded in 1636.
Almost everyone
who went to Harvard is dead.
- You sure you still wanna go here?
- Yes, I'm sure.
They developed the pacemaker here.
They also postulated existence
of a charmed quark.
I was wondering who did that.
Holy smokes!
They get 18,000 applicants a year
and only 2,000 get in.
20 cps
- Harvard is over 300 years old.
- Founded in 1636.
That means almost everyone
who ever went to Harvard is dead now.
- You sure you still wanna go here?
- Yes, I'm sure.
They developed the pacemaker here.
Also discovered how
electromagnetism and radioactivity
are two manifestations
of the same force
and postulated existence
of a charmed quark.
- I was wondering who did that.
- The smarties at Harvard.
Holy smokes!
They get an average of 18,000 applicants
every year and only 2,000 get in.

17. Preferences – Experiment 1 (Hungarian)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
12 16 20
I prefer subtitles to contain less text so that I have more time to read them
I prefer subtitles to contain as much dialogue as possible, even if it means they
appear and disappear very fast

18. Preferences – Experiment 2 (English)
-10
10
30
50
70
12 cps 20 cps
I prefer subtitles to contain less text so that I have more time to read them
I prefer subtitles to contain as much dialogue as possible, even if it means they
appear and disappear very fast

19. Slow subtitles are re-read more often
0,00
0,10
0,20
0,30
0,40
0,50
0,60
0,70
0,80
12 cps 16 cps 20 cps
English
Polish
Spanish
0,00
0,10
0,20
0,30
0,40
0,50
0,60
0,70
0,80
12 cps 20 cps
English
Polish
Spanish
Experiment 1 Experiment 2

20. Re-reading
P21en
(Maybe I read it wrong, but it was written wrong)
P20pl
(I like slower subtitles, but it makes me watch twice)
P24sp
(When I wanted to read the new ones, there were
the old ones)

21. Mismatch between dialogue and subtitles
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
English Polish Spanish
12 cps
20 cps

22. Matching the dialogue
P21 en
It’s easier to watch when it matches exactly
P13pl
Order of information
English original Polish subtitles Back-translation
It's the oldest library in the US
To największa biblioteka
akademicka
It’s the largest academic library
and the largest academic library
in the world.
na świecie
i najstarsza biblioteka w Stanach.
in the world
and the oldest library in the US.

23. “
When I hear English, then I actually do
compare and I’m getting annoyed
when I see too much editing because,
to me, it’s cheating people
out of the information given, you know,
what actually is being said.

24. “ When I’m watching something I understand
I’d like to be able to read exactly
what I’m hearing, and when I’m watching
something that I don’t understand
I prefer there to be minimal words
in the subtitles so that I can get a gist of
what’s being said and still be able to follow
the scenes of the movie.

25. ▪ English is the best known
and most often studied
foreign language in the EU
▪ Dominance of English-
language productions

26. Subtitling as vulnerable translation
The co-existence of subtitle and original
soundtrack allows a comparison
between the source text and target
text that may often give rise to criticism
of the translation from a more or less
bilingual audience.
Díaz Cintas (2003)
“

27. Why do people want matching subs?
▪ To support viewing
– In poor sound conditions
– Unfamiliar accents
– Family watching
▪ Easier to read when it matches
▪ To learn languages
▪ To gain access to their favourite TV shows
(not their favourite subtitler’s work)

28. Faithfulness in subtitling according to viewers
▪ Accurate content
– Verbatim transcription in intralingual subtitles
– All the information from the dialogue
▪ Synchronisation
– In and out times
– Order of text

29. FAITHFUL REDUCED
Intralingual
English-to-
English
Interlingual
known SL-
to-TL
Interlingual
unknown
SL-to-TL

30. www.facebook.com/SureProject
This project has received funding from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 702606