Thinking of getting training in subtitling Thread poster: Anna Parish
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Anna Parish 
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:48
English to Russian
Hello, I am a freelance translator. I have been thinking recently of new ways to get more work and somebody mentioned that subtitiling could be a good niche to get into.
The only short course I managed to find is a 3 day course at London Metropolitan University. Do you think that sounds reasonable to get a good base to start professional subtitling?
Another question, how difficult would it be to get work? Is there less or more work compared to other translation fields... See more Hello, I am a freelance translator. I have been thinking recently of new ways to get more work and somebody mentioned that subtitiling could be a good niche to get into.
The only short course I managed to find is a 3 day course at London Metropolitan University. Do you think that sounds reasonable to get a good base to start professional subtitling?
Another question, how difficult would it be to get work? Is there less or more work compared to other translation fields? And my language pair is English - Russian (target). Would there be enough work in the UK, or it would mainly be done in Russia?
Many thanks for your help! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | A suggestion: | Jan 29, 2013 |
I dont know if a 3-day course will help to get advanced (or at least to make a start), but here is my suggestion:
First, decide a genre for subtitling, because there is a great variety out there. After making a decision on the genre, try to translate subtitles of one or two movies / tv shows / documentaries and publish on those free subtitle websites to see if they are accepted (since there is a moderation process in some of them) and see the feedbacks. Just for fun, I have transla... See more I dont know if a 3-day course will help to get advanced (or at least to make a start), but here is my suggestion:
First, decide a genre for subtitling, because there is a great variety out there. After making a decision on the genre, try to translate subtitles of one or two movies / tv shows / documentaries and publish on those free subtitle websites to see if they are accepted (since there is a moderation process in some of them) and see the feedbacks. Just for fun, I have translated subtitles of some tv shows and a documentary and I can say that it needs hard-working since there is also synchronization issue to pay attention.
Don't think that "I can't translate subtitles for free"; if you can translate good enough, you can always use them as reference by providing links of them to your potential clients.
This is what I would do if I tend to work on subtitling professionally. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anna Parish
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:48
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for your good advice. | Jan 29, 2013 |
I was a bit concerned about how short that course was. I will look into the websites you mentioned and see if I could translate subtitles and then publish them there.
| | | | TrueBaller
Local time: 04:48
Albanian to English
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| Question for Fikret | Jan 29, 2013 |
Fikret,
Useful advice. Thank you.
You mentioned in your post " free subtitle websites". Can you recommend a few worth trying? Also, what do you mean by " moderation process"?
I am also very much interested in exploring subtitle translating.
Thank you.
[Edited at 2013-01-29 16:31 GMT]
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Sylvano
Local time: 10:48
English to French
| Yeah, subtitling is so cool | Jan 29, 2013 |
somebody mentioned that subtitiling could be a good niche to get into.
I bet that person never worked in that field. If subtitling is a niche, there is a lot of dogs in it. Not as fun, easy and rewarding a field as it may look. Not a field in which you'll make a lot of money, or even manage to make a living either. Good luck, though.
| | | | kmtext
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:48
English
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| Three days isn't much time | Feb 8, 2013 |
That would probably allow you to begin to familiarise yourself with the software, but I'm not sure how practical that would be. To be honest, if you're in the London area, you would probably be just as well approaching one of the subtitling houses directly to begin with. However, there are a number of language courses that include a subtitling module as part of a degree, and there's a lot of competition for internships between graduates of those courses.
As you work in a relatively ... See more That would probably allow you to begin to familiarise yourself with the software, but I'm not sure how practical that would be. To be honest, if you're in the London area, you would probably be just as well approaching one of the subtitling houses directly to begin with. However, there are a number of language courses that include a subtitling module as part of a degree, and there's a lot of competition for internships between graduates of those courses.
As you work in a relatively uncommon pair, you may have a better chance than someone working in French, German or Spanish, but your competitors will already have received anything up to 12 weeks' subtitling tuition.
It can be a rewarding job, but, as Sylvano says, it's not all it's cracked up to be. The rates tend to be lower than those paid for text translation even though it takes longer, especially if you're spotting as well. Because of that, there are very few full-time freelance subtitlers around these days, and staff contracts are rarer than hens' teeth. ▲ Collapse
| | | | EL_isa
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:48
English to Italian
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| free subtitling websites | May 5, 2013 |
Dear Anna, Dear All,
thank you for your interesting posts.
In these days I was actually thinking about professional subtitlers and how to get a professional and certified training on that.
Could you recommend any on-line based?
As Fikret mentioned, there are, in Italy, some free subtitle websites - the main source material being Tv series in English. That would certainly be an excellent training I personally might choose, since I have seen precise rules and... See more Dear Anna, Dear All,
thank you for your interesting posts.
In these days I was actually thinking about professional subtitlers and how to get a professional and certified training on that.
Could you recommend any on-line based?
As Fikret mentioned, there are, in Italy, some free subtitle websites - the main source material being Tv series in English. That would certainly be an excellent training I personally might choose, since I have seen precise rules and organization, as well as language quality in there, but....
1) could the activity done on those websites be put on your CV?
2) thing is, the volunteer subbers must download (sometimes illegally, by using Torrent) the original Tv serie in English, since the official dubbed version in Italian would be broadcast about 6 months later in Italy. So the demand for these free subtitles come mainly from fans of such Tv series who cannot wait long or anyway people wanting to train their English listening. Don't you think all this free subtitling (as many other volunteer jobs) decreases the real job opportunities for those who want to be professional?
3) As for subtitling jobs, apart from Tv Series, which the other fields?
Which companies/ agencies hire?
thank you for your precious help!
have a nice day ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sylvano
Local time: 10:48
English to French
| Fansubbing is illegal ! | May 7, 2013 |
Coming to a website for professional translators asking if illegal and free subtitling is OK and can be put on a resumé seems a bit akward, to say the least. Don't you think ?
Translating somebody's work without their permission is illegal, as is uploading and broadcasting that work... Of course, fansubbing is bad for us, professional translators : seems so obvious...
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| Sure, why not? | May 7, 2013 |
Anna Parish wrote:
The only short course I managed to find is a 3 day course at London Metropolitan University. Do you think that sounds reasonable to get a good base to start professional subtitling?
I think it's a great place to start. 3 days isn't too much of an investment, and it will tell you pretty quickly whether subtitling is for you or not. I play around with programs like Visualsub and Aegisub in my spare time and I must say, subtitling is a lot harder than it looks! But it's fun in its own way, so go for it!
| | | | EL_isa
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:48
English to Italian
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Sylvano wrote:
Coming to a website for professional translators asking if illegal and free subtitling is OK and can be put on a resumé seems a bit akward, to say the least. Don't you think ?
Translating somebody's work without their permission is illegal, as is uploading and broadcasting that work... Of course, fansubbing is bad for us, professional translators : seems so obvious...
Dear Sylvano,
Thank you for your frank reply. Sorry to have put the "akward" question, but I am really a newcomer in the translator word (even though I have a degree in languages and some experience of translating industrial products within manufacturing companies). But I wanted to know how things work, since, as said, there are many of these "free subtitling groups around".
And therefore, could you please advise for some good training/ diplomas for subtitling ?
Thank you very much.
Have a nice day.
| | | | Sylvano
Local time: 10:48
English to French
| Can't help, I'm afraid | May 9, 2013 |
El_isa wrote:
And therefore, could you please advise for some good training/ diplomas for subtitling ?
I only know about public academic degrees in France (university of Lille, Nice and so on), which won't be of any help to you, I guess.
| | | | EL_isa
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:48
English to Italian
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| RE: training and diplomas in subtitling (Online ?) | May 9, 2013 |
Sylvano wrote: El_isa wrote:
And therefore, could you please advise for some good training/ diplomas for subtitling ? I only know about public academic degrees in France (university of Lille, Nice and so on), which won't be of any help to you, I guess.
Dear Sylvano,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply. You have already helped me by naming those universities.
However, could Anyone else advise for some Online Subtitling Studies ?
Thank you in advance.
Elisa
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| Master´s Degree in Audiovisual Translation | May 9, 2013 |
Dear Elisa,
the University of Cádiz (Spain) offers a Master´s Degree in Audiovisual Translation: Lokalisation, Subtitiling and Dubbing (on- and off-site learning).
Here the link:
http://www.mastraduvisual.com/mvisualen.htm
I am doing this Master since November last year and I am really happy with it.
| | | | EL_isa
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:48
English to Italian
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| RE: University of Cadiz - online | May 12, 2013 |
Kerstin Petersmann wrote: Dear Elisa, the University of Cádiz (Spain) offers a Master´s Degree in Audiovisual Translation: Lokalisation, Subtitiling and Dubbing (on- and off-site learning). Here the link: http://www.mastraduvisual.com/mvisualen.htm I am doing this Master since November last year and I am really happy with it.
Dear Kerstin,
Thank you very much for your advice.
Are you doing the online / off-site version?
| | | | | Any experience with this course? | Jul 24, 2013 |
Hi all,
I've been interested in subtitling for a while now and I found an online course by Subtitling Worldwide. It goes over 3 months if you put in 12 hours of work per week. You get a free trial of the Spot software and feedback on your work. The price of 300 Euros (or 362 including VAT) seems fair to me, but I would like to know from experienced subtitlers whether it's really worth it from the course description.
Here... See more Hi all,
I've been interested in subtitling for a while now and I found an online course by Subtitling Worldwide. It goes over 3 months if you put in 12 hours of work per week. You get a free trial of the Spot software and feedback on your work. The price of 300 Euros (or 362 including VAT) seems fair to me, but I would like to know from experienced subtitlers whether it's really worth it from the course description.
Here is a direct link to the course: http://www.subtitlingworldwide.com/outline.html
Does anyone know this company? Do you think taking the course would be useful? Would a certificate from them really enhance my chances?
Thanks a lot in advance for all your input.
Malgorzata
[Edited at 2013-07-24 21:26 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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