The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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@Linguist_CIOL OCTOBEr/NOVEMBEr The Linguist 15 FEATURES With sports such as basketball, commentators speak very quickly to keep up with the action. It is extremely difficult to respeak at the same pace because, in order for the voice recognition software to be as accurate as possible, the subtitler needs to respeak in a clear, almost robotic manner. They must also include 'micro-pauses' to allow the software to send out the subtitles at a steady flow, so the viewer can follow them. In such cases, the subtitler can apply the techniques used for multiple speakers. Homophones and invented words As impressive as the voice recognition software is, errors can occur. These range from names coming out incorrectly, even when the software has been trained in advance, to everyday words not being recognised or being mistaken for other words. One of the first things a trainee subtitler is taught is the need to enunciate. This gives the software a much better chance of understanding what you are trying to say, and therefore a higher accuracy level. There are certain words that need greater enunciation than others. The softer sounding letters are harder to pick up, so when subtitlers respeak 'off' or 'tenths', they really have to stress the end of the word or the software may register it as 'of' or 'ten'. Homophones cause a real problem. When a subtitler respeaks 'He has won' there is no reason why the software wouldn't mistake this for 'He has one' as there is no context to help it formulate the correct sentence. The easiest way for subtitlers to get around this issue is by creating a macro for one of the two words, so when they mean 'won', they would say 'macro won'. A subtitler can store tens, if not hundreds, of macros throughout their career – the tricky part is remembering them all! The subtitler can come up against a similar problem when it comes to the spelling of people's names; they could be subtitling a news story about David Davis in the morning and a Tottenham Hotspur game featuring Ben Davies in the afternoon. The software will most likely favour 'Davies' as it is the more common surname, so the subtitler can either train the full name David Davis into the dictionary – which wouldn't guarantee the correct spelling because there is also the name David Davies – or select the word 'Davies' in the dictionary and temporarily tell the software to use only 'Davis'. This approach may be safer, but the subtitler needs to remember to reverse the setting after the programme has finished. Each profile's dictionary contains thousands of words but relatively new language will not be included. On reality shows such as Love Island the contestants often coin new words or phrases that won't feature in the dictionary ('pranging out' = 'to behave erratically', for example). If the subtitler tries to respeak these words they will come out incorrectly, replaced by random words that might even cause offence to the viewer, depending on the context. Instead, they could either attempt to type such words or omit them and move on to the next sentence. They can then train in these words and phrases during an ad break to use in the remainder of the programme and future broadcasts. Last-minute changes There are certain situations that are out of a subtitler's control and can make it difficult for them to carry out their job to the best of their ability. Occasionally, the audio provided by the client is not of the highest quality, making it difficult to hear everything that is being said. For example, during a broadcast of a sports match, the crowd noise can drown out the commentary. The best way for a subtitler to manage this is to adjust their audio mixer to get the best balance possible. Due to the nature of live television, there can be last-minute changes to the clients' schedule, and they often don't have time to notify the subtitler beforehand. So they could be all set to subtitle a wrestling programme, only to find out that it has been replaced with a show about American football. This isn't ideal, as they most likely won't have trained in the relevant terminology, but unless the programme is jargon-heavy, a professional should be able to subtitle it without issue. The job of a live subtitler requires a great amount of skill, focus and an ability to work well under pressure. Overcoming a variety of challenges in order to provide a high-quality service to the millions of people around the country who rely on it makes the job even more rewarding. MAINTAINING FOCUS Live subtitlers may attempt to type in new words, but most of the work involves respeaking © SHUTTErSTOCk