The Oscar ceremony is approaching and now is a good time to speak about that.
I have travelled to several countries and Spain is the only country I have met where you have to watch movies translated to the mother tongue, why not O.V.??? why not in English with subtitles in Spanish??? This is 21st century and I don´t know why politicians never speak about it, do you think they really don´t know that?? or maybe is because there are some dark interests on it??, the reader must choose the good answer :P
I know something about economy, and I know something about how not to waste extra money, and I´m sure is cheaper watch movies in English than translate to Spanish and later send students to other countries to study English with grants. It´s time to change things in Education system, I´m not an expert in this area, but I think I can make my contribution here, and one of these is about languages, our pending subject.
If there is somebody who can explain me why we have to see foreign movies in Spanish I appreciate your collaboration.
Ooops maybe I must to write this post in Spanish, if not they never understand what I´m saying, hahaha.
Hi Richard,
ResponderEliminarIt all started in Italy with Mussolini. Dubbing films into one's mother tongue was a way of enhancing the Italian language and culture of the time. Hitler copied it from Mussolini, and Franco copied it from both of them. For some other reasons, France followed the trend.
I'm not sure to what extent we would save on grants by leaving films in their original version. I think that mere exposure to a language does not lead to acquisition, not as an adult or even as a child. If that was the case I would start watching TV shows in German, Russian, Chinese, etc.
Language acquisition has more to do with an emotional interaction between the parents and/or caregivers and the child. For more information on language acquisition you can read the following article:
Singleton, D. (2005). The Critical Period Hypothesis: A coat of many colours. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 43, 269-286.
As adults, we can always set our TV on "dual" or maybe some newer models give the option of adding subtitles, but I'm not sure.
Take a look at Germany. They still dub films into German and people speak relatively good English. I think the reasons for our poor English skills have deeper sociocultural origins.
You will find more information on dubbing here: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doblaje
I love English and have spent several years in England and the USA and love watching TV films and shows in English. However, I'll confess that when I watch a film in my mother tongue, the feeling I get is different, deeper.
Regards,
Manuel