Today, for a person who has decided to learn a foreign language, especially English, everything is much simpler than ten years ago. And the point here is not only a huge number of new-fangled training courses, vowing that in just three to four months a person will be able to master a new language.
Modern technologies allow you to learn a foreign language on your own. All that is needed for this is a computer connected to the Internet, desire and perseverance. On the network you can find not only all the information about English or any other language (rules and exercises), but also communicate with its speakers on various forums and specialized sites. In addition, everyone has the opportunity to download a foreign film in the original language in order to train their ability to understand the language by ear. However, in the early stages, having not yet mastered the studied language well enough, you can watch films equipped with subtitles.
What are subtitles
The very word “subtitles”, or, as they are abbreviated as “subs”, came from the French language from the phrase sous-titres - signature.
Subtitles - this is the text at the bottom of the screen, which throughout the film or television shows the speech of the characters. Sometimes subtitles do not duplicate information from the soundtrack, but supplement it with new information or comments (this is more typical for TV shows and news).
In most cases, subtitles are made out in the form of light (most often white) printed text with a dark stroke. This text is present throughout the film along with the image, in contrast to the "intertitles" (periodically appearing on the screen of the inscriptions used in silent cinema).
What are subtitles used for? History of their occurrence
Having understood what subtitles are, it is important to pay attention to how they came about and why. The need for subtitles appeared at the dawn of the era of sound cinema, since every country that made films dreamed of selling the rights to rent them to as many other countries as possible. For this, films were brought to various film festivals and were shown to representatives of different countries. Those who liked the film signed a contract and bought the rights to show it in their country.
However, creating a dub in another language in those days was a rather long and expensive process. In addition, it was not easy to predict which countries would be interested in the “product”. Therefore, it was decided to leave films in the original language, providing them with subtitles in a foreign language. And the translation of the film was done by the country that bought the rights to its rental.
Over time, subtitles were often used to transmit lyrics in foreign languages ​​that were difficult to translate.
On television, subtitles were introduced so that people with hearing impairment can better understand what is happening on the screen. But more often it concerned ready-made programs or documentaries. Since it was very difficult to quickly create subtitles in the news that came out in real time, sign language was more often used here. But with the improvement of technology, in particular with the advent of digital television, subtitles have become more accessible both in price and in speed of creation.
Today, subtitles not only help deaf and hard of hearing people find out what the film or program says, but also provide additional information to all viewers about what they are watching. This is especially true of educational programs and documentaries, where with the help of subtitles they talk about the meaning of certain terms.
With the advent of VCRs, films with subtitles have increasingly been used to learn another language. For example, in many language universities at the initial stage of study, students are shown films in English with Russian subtitles. After they get used to distinguish most phrases in films by ear, they are shown a video with English subtitles. And having mastered this, students gradually switch to films without translation and subtitles.
Subtitles are also irreplaceable for fans to watch the latest movies. Most modern Internet users, in order to quickly enjoy a recently released foreign film without waiting for its translation, use Russian subtitles, which are less time-consuming than translation, and appear in the public domain much earlier.
This practice also applies to popular TV shows. Usually you need to wait a couple of days until a new series dubbed in Russian is released. Subtitles translated into Russian can be acquired almost the day after the premiere.
Another relatively young area of ​​application of subtitles is the beloved karaoke.
Subtitle Types
Having learned what subtitles are and what they are used for, you can consider what types of them are.
First of all, these are embedded subtitles, or hardsaba. In this case, the text is superimposed on the original image, and it cannot be disabled. It is worth noting that all the first subtitles were sewn. There were several ways to apply text to film. Later even cars appeared that did this automatically. It was a time-consuming process, because it was necessary to apply subtitles to almost every frame. Today, thanks to digital technology, it is much easier. However, due to the hardsabs, video quality is deteriorating.
Much later, software subtitles, or soft ones, appeared. These are separate files containing subtitles. They can be freely connected to the video file, as well as select the desired size, placement, font, and even speed up / slow down their appearance. If you wish, you can find a subtitle file in any language for almost every film and easily install it. Moreover, almost all modern phones have the ability to embed subtitles in the video being watched.
In form, all subtitles are divided into two large groups:
- Built-in subtitles (located in the same file as the video, you can enable or disable them by selecting the appropriate item in the context menu).
- External subtitles (separate files of specialized formats, which are also connected using the context menu).
Subtitle Formats
Today, for those who want to watch a movie with text, there is a huge selection of external subtitle formats that are perfect for the most common video players.
- SRT is the most famous subtitle format. It is extremely easy to use, it can be edited. In addition, SRT is able to synchronize with the video on its own, preventing premature subtitles from appearing or being late.
- SUB - was once a very popular subtitle format. But today it is being superseded by more modern formats.
- SAMI is a specialized format developed by Microsoft. It has a very clear structure. Supports the ability to change the font, its color, size and location.
- MicroDVD is a subtitle format designed specifically for the MicroDVD player. In this regard, when using subtitle data in other players, there may be a time mismatch. After all, the subtitles of this format are synchronized by the frame number of the video sequence, and not by time, like most other formats. At one time it was very popular, but today it is superseded by more universal formats.
- PGS is a modern subtitle format designed for use on Blue Ray discs.
- SSA is a subtitle format intended for use in Sub Station Alpha. This is a specialized program for creating subtitles.
- ASS is an advanced SSA format.
- IDX + SUB - graphic subtitles designed for DVD.
- TT is one of the most promising subtitle formats for today.
How to enable Russian subtitles and inscriptions in other languages
In order to download subtitles, you first need to download them. Most modern discs are equipped with appropriate subtitle files. Otherwise, the file with them just needs to be downloaded.
In most of the most common modern players (Media Player Classic, GOM, KMP, Quicktime player, and others), you can enable subtitles, if they are built-in, using the context menu called by right-clicking. In the window that appears, select the “subtitles” tab. In the menu that appears, check the box “display / show subtitles”. In the same menu, you can adjust them to your liking. If there are several, you can select the appropriate subtitles: Russian for example.
In the absence of built-in subtitles, the same menu item in the GOM will allow you to connect external subs. Just in the context menu you need to select the "subtitle manager" and, clicking on the "folder" icon, select the desired file on the disk.
In the KMP player, to enable external subs, you need to select the “open” position in the context menu and then “open subtitles”.
In Media Player Classic, you need to select the “file” item in the context menu, and after “open subtitles”, you can watch a movie.
Of course, there are other players, but in them the loading and inclusion of subtitles is carried out according to a similar principle.
Where to look for subtitles
Knowing what subtitles are, how to set them, and what are the most common formats, it's worth figuring out where to find them.
If the subtitle file was not included on the movie disc, then you can find it on the Internet. To do this, go to any subtitle library and download or purchase the necessary file. You should be careful with the subtitle formats so as not to be tormented later with manually adjusting to the video stream.
When searching for subtitles, it is also important to know how the movie title is written in Russian and in the original - this will simplify the search. Some players, such as Media Player Classic, are able to find the subtitles for the film themselves. To do this, pause the open file, go to the “file” menu and select “subtitle database”. Using this item you can find and download the necessary subtitles, however, the function does not work in all versions of the player and not in all regions.
With the development of modern digital technologies, watching a foreign film with readable translation has become as easy as translating a phrase from one language to another in an online translator. Every day, an increasing number of people use subtitles not only as an entertainment tool (watching fashion films and karaoke), but also to develop the ability to perceive a foreign language by ear. Today, subtitles are the most affordable and cheapest way to do this.