English - Portuguese Subtitles

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Writing Portuguese language subtitles for English film and video productions

Translation of English dialogue to produce Portuguese subtitles for any film or video production is a highly specialised form of translation. Typical subtitles are on screen for only 3-4 seconds but comprehension of written text takes much longer than the spoken word. A considerable amount of simplification is required – a skilled subtitles translator will decide how much of the original English dialogue is transcribed into Portuguese to provide the best combination of readability and understanding.

Factors affecting the translation of English film dialogue into Portuguese language subtitles include:

We can process speech more quickly than the written word. The amount of English or Portuguese that can be spoken in 3-4 seconds is considerably more than can be accommodated in the 15-20 short words of Portuguese subtitles that could be shown in that time. The translator must reduce and simplify the originalEnglish speech while retaining the fluency and meaning in the Portuguese subtitles.

Literacy of the intended audience becomes important. While English and Portuguese people of all educational levels and ages might understand spoken dialogue equally well, it may take some much longer than others to read the same words in written Portuguese subtitles.

Standardisation. Both English and Portuguese speech patterns and dialects vary widely and give significant information about the characters in the film. Dialect and unusual inflections are much more difficult to read than standardised Portuguese. When writing subtitles in Portuguese the translator has to consider how much might be lost or gained through different renditions of the dialogue.