system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: In most cases, TV shows and movies should not use captions like "[speaks spanish]"

For simplicity, I'm going to use "English" to refer to the language of the show's expected audience.

When a character is speaking a language other than English, they should either translate the language in the captions, **or spell out whatever was said in the original language**. (So if a character says "que passa" in an English show, the closed captions should either say "Que passa?" Or "What happened?", but never "[Speaks Spanish]".)

Translation would enhance the experience, but I understand it's more work, and they may want to give the person reading a more similar experience to the hearing person. **Putting the text in the original language however gives the reader the closest possible experience to the hearer.** (If they understand the language, but just can't make out what's being said, they'll understand. If they don't understand the language, they still have the experience they'd've had if they'd heard it)

I'm so sick of struggling to hear what's being said in my second language (or other languages I've a base understanding of) and not being able to understand because it just says "[speaks x language]". Somehow it's even more frustrating when I see such a caption when I *am* able to make it out what was said.

I'm willing to make an exception for small budget productions, particularly if they're using digital speach-to-text technology, but for anything big, and/or captions generated professionally or from the script, I just don't get why the viewing experience isn't worth it.

Artificial languages aren't really within the scope of this CMV.

**Edit:** apparently some of my sentences were weirdly messed up

**Edit 2:** Everyone just keeps talking about how translation is bad for story telling in some cases. I acknowledged from the start that using the original language would often be preferable, (now bold) primarily for this reason. I'm going to stop responding to messages that only point out issues with translating, unless they at least mention writing out the original language.
gpt
I would agree for a lot of cases, but sometimes it’s a purposeful decision from the director to not include a translation. For a specific example, in Saving Private Ryan, two soldiers on the Nazi side are screaming at the Americans not to shoot because they’re not German, they’re Czech. The American soldiers don’t know what they’re saying and shoot them. Most of the audience is meant to take this scene at face value and assume that the Americans just shot two screaming German Nazis. Only those who took the time to get a translation will be able to understand. A lot of the time, the audience isn’t meant to know what the characters said, otherwise the director would’ve put subtitles.