Hollywood’s Financial Saviors: Dubbing Makes U.S. Films Accessible to World Audiences and Allow Americans to Enjoy the Best of World Cinema

Dubbing and subtitling are the two methods of making movies live up to their proud billing as “the universal language of the screen”. Without language translation there would never have been a film industry with worldwide appeal. Many Americans, living in the largest of English-speaking countries, would be surprised to find out how dependent Hollywood is on foreign box office. Poor countries, especially ones with minority languages, have often have to put up with inferior translation, while wealthier, often European countries pride themselves on flawless conversions into the local tongue. Television demands even more translation work than feature films do.

In the days of silent films, it was usually easy to make movies accessible to foreign audiences; skilled editors just snipped out the English title “cards” between scenes and spliced in translated ones in the local language. Some studios actually went to the trouble of making sure that the fake stores and restaurants in the background of their studio backstreet sets had very few words painted on them, a subtle way to make it easier for overseas audiences to accept the movie as “theirs”. In 1927, all films were silent except one—“The Jazz Singer”, starring Al Jolson. They could be easily adapted to be shown in any silent cinema anywhere. But by 1931 all films were sound except one—Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights”. For a couple of years, cinemas all over the world converted their equipment to show sound movies, and suddenly audiences everywhere could hear the sounds of American English. There are reports that London audiences couldn’t help laughing at the diction of early Hollywood “talkies”.

But outside of the English-speaking countries, the film industry had a massive new financial challenge. The richest companies in the film Industry tried to regain their world audiences by shooting each scene several times, in several languages, but this proved to be expensive, slow and impractical.

Gradually Hollywood met the challenge with the new technique called “voice doubling”, which became the more familiar “dubbing”: a voice specialist watches the lip movements of the actor in the film and matches them as closely as possible with new words spoken in the target language.

Dubbing was the financial savior of the movies, giving Hollywood its world audience back. Most overseas sales territories for American films and TV have long-established arrangements to have new productions translated and dubbed into local languages.


It’s a little known fact that sometimes English speaking actors have had to be dubbed into English! The movie “Singing In the Rain”, a famous musical comedy about the arrival of sound in Hollywood, shows a mythical version of the invention of dubbing when a silent beauty queen’s piercing East Coast U.S. accent has to be replaced with another actress’s warm, cultured voice. Although the story is fictionalized, it’s based on truth; replacing actors’ voices became possible very early on, but in Hollywood it’s mostly been used as it is in “Singing In the Rain”, as a desperation move to rescue a picture. Even in modern times, the 1980 film “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” became legendary in the Industry for only one reason: the studio decided it never liked the leading man’s voice, so every word he spoke in the entire film had to be replaced with someone else speaking the lines.

If dubbing plays only an occasional supporting role in Hollywood’s domestic production, it plays the central leading role in Hollywood’s export business. Of course, when a feature film leaves the theaters and enters the DVD market, it is possible and customary to include several choices of language on the soundtrack.

Subtitling is the other major method for making films accessible to foreign language audiences. Though subtitling has also been done since the earliest days of sound films, it is relatively rarely used compared to dubbing, since it requires more effort on the part of the viewer. Children’s films in particular are seldom subtitled since it’s hard for children to read the titles.

Whether dubbing or subtitling, filmmakers who want the revenue and cultural outreach of multilingual audiences can always find the best language solutions at American Language Services. Although many factors come into play with dealing with film and television projects, there is one thing that remains constant. Translations should be done by experienced, professional translators with the proper and necessary experience to ensure the best quality service possible. We at American Language Services have been providing just that for over 26 years. ALS is happy to assist you with your dubbing and subtitling needs. Please contact us at the numbers listed below for more information or to schedule translation for your next dub session or script mark-up for subtitling.

A Brief History of American Sign Language (ASL)

ASL is a manual language or visual language, meaning that the information is expressed not with combinations of sounds but with combinations of hand shapes, palm orientations, movements of the hands, arms and body, location in relation to the body, and facial expressions. ASL is not a written language. There is no one-to-one correspondence between words in ASL and English, and much of the inflectional modulation of ASL signs is lost. ASL is used natively and predominantly by the Deaf and hard-of-hearing of the United States and Canada.

Abbe Charles Michel de L'Epee established the first free public school for the deaf in Paris in 1771. L'Epee educated the deaf using a standard sign language that he created. L'Epee's standard sign language eventually became French Sign Language and was widely used in Europe. The first American school for the deaf was established in 1817 by Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. They are often credited as the inventors of American Sign Language. Like Abbe Charles Michel de L'Epee's school, children from all over the country traveled to attend this school, bringing their home-signs with them. These home-signs, combined with French Sign Language, became American Sign Language.

Spoken language is not the natural language of the deaf. They naturally defaulted to their native language--sign language. Though no one person invented the whole of sign language, Thomas Gallaudet is regarded as the major figure in its widespread adoption.

From its synthesis at this first public school for the deaf in North America, the language went on to grow. Many of the graduates of this school went on to found schools of their own in many other states, thus spreading the methods of Gallaudet and Clerc and serving to expand and standardize the language; as with most languages, though there are regional variations. After being strongly established in the United States, later in the 19th century the use of “sign”—what we now call ASL-- was suppressed, socially and pedagogically. Many considered it to not even be a language at all. This situation was changed by William Stokoe, a professor of English hired at Gallaudet University in 1955. He immediately became fascinated by ASL and began serious study of it. Eventually, through publication in linguistics journals of articles containing detailed linguistic analysis of ASL, he was able to convince the scientific mainstream that ASL was indeed a natural language on a par with any other.

Today American Sign Language interpreters offer services in a varieties of fields, catering to each and every need of the hearing impaired community—job interviews, funerals, weddings, legal matters, school classes, and Vegas shows are just some of the various times when ASL interpreters are utilized to facilitate communication with the hearing impaired.

Sign language, since it is not spoken, is in a class unto itself. The interpreters train rigorously, and must keep their hands and arms well-rested and toned in order to keep their performance sharp, and their muscles agile. Sign language interpreters often work in pairs to allow for frequent breaks so they do not develop carpel tunnel syndrome or other, various hand cramps, muscle spasms, etc. Sign language interpreters are also, often very visible and recognizable within their local hearing impaired community, and have a special notoriety and reverence given to them for their work.

To say that American Sign Language is unique and special in relation to the other languages provided by American Language Services, is an understatement—it is a necessity to help a community of people live and function in the mainstream world. No other language is so unique; and as languages come and go in the modern world, one language is sure to stand the test of time—of the times—American Sign Language. Since 1992, American Language Services ® has provided ASL interpreters in every major market and most other markets in the United States as well as around the world. Our ASL interpreters are experienced, knowledgeable and highly accomplished. Some of their most recent activities include a US Coast Guard security response seminar in Virginia, and a US Department of Agricultural meeting in Washington DC; on the west coast, ASL services for a major student meeting for DeVry University in Encino, CA; a public educational meeting for the Lennox Unified School District in Lennox, CA; a public forum on pre-K child development for First5LA in Los Angeles, as well as a class on emergency preparedness for REI Inc. in Las Vegas.

Our depth of local talented certified, qualified and experienced interpreters is crucial in reducing our costs by eliminating expensive travel, hotel and other logistic arrangements. American Language Services ASL interpreters are a talented group, consisting of credentialed professionals who are part of a vast resource base. We have a skilled and friendly staff to help fulfill your requests promptly and cost effectively. Please contact us for a quote or to place an order today.

Today’s world of Braille Language Communication and How to Access It

Since 1985, American Language Services has provided outstanding Braille translators and transcriptionists worldwide. Braille is a unique and important international language. It is vital to understand the general nature and specific idiosyncrasies of Braille. Most people would be surprised to know that Braille didn’t start as a language for the blind, nor—in fact—did it originate with its namesake. Louis Braille was blinded after an infection took hold of his eye. He was sent to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris, where in 1821 he used his creativity to find easier and quicker ways for blind people to read and write through touch. He built on the ideas of Charles Barbier de la Serre, who was the first to attempt such a system, not as a means of communication for the blind but to try to create an unbreakable secret code for the military. The sighted soldiers who tried to learn his method found it too difficult to learn, but Louis worked with Barbier's basic ideas and simplified it by using a method of six dots arranged in a cell. This allowed the human finger to “read” a cell without having to move the finger around. Unfortunately, Louis Braille's system was not brought into wide use until after his death.

Today, in virtually every language around the world, Braille is the standard form used to read and write by the blind. Braille transcription is a unique process done simply by substituting the equivalent Braille Character for its printed equivalent. Different Braille codes are used for different things like mathematics and music, however, and many Braille characters have different meanings based on their context.

American Language Services ® (ALS) understands the importance of working in the Braille language. Recently we’ve completed key Braille jobs for Anthem Blue Cross, providing several medical forms for their Blind members. For Card Inc, a coordinator of agencies for disaster relief, we completed Braille assignments in Russian, Chinese, and Vietnamese. An assignment in Los Angeles for Clark Construction Company involved translating English into Braille for signage and instruction materials. Our accuracy and expertise with instructional materials also led to a contract for the Orange Unified School District, City of Orange, CA for whom we completed a high school level Algebra textbook.

For over a quarter of a century, American Language Services ® has worked with the Braille language as well as hundreds of others from around the world. We offer comprehensive language services 24 hours, 7 days a week worldwide by providing Braille translation and transcriptions services along with hundreds of other languages and dialects. Our linguists are native speakers and writers who are screened, credentialed, certified, field tested and experienced in a number of specific industry settings.

CART “Translation”: A Common Misnomer

CART Service provides instantaneous translation of what is being said into visual print display so that it can be read (instead of heard). CART is also referred to as realtime captioning. CART Service is one means of communication access for deaf or hard of hearing individuals who read English fluently.

There has been some controversy over the accuracy of the term CART. Although CART is acknowledged as an acronym for “Communication Access Realtime Translation”, there is no actual translation included within the service. Skilled linguists transcribe the spoken word into English text using a stenotype machine, notebook computer and realtime software. The text appears on a computer monitor or other display. When spoken language is converted into written text, the service is called transcription. Translation is a service in which written text in one language is then converted into written text in another language.

Although Communication Access Realtime Translation may be a misnomer, the benefit of CART services for the hearing disabled community is undeniable. The Americans with Disabilities Act specifically recognized CART as an assistive technology which affords "effective communication access." Communication access aptly describes a CART provider's role, distinguishing CART from (for example) traditional stenographic reporting in a courtroom setting. A CART provider is sensitive to the varying needs of consumers and has training in conveying a speaker’s message, complete with environmental cues.

Onsite CART can be provided for meetings, classes, training sessions and events and requires the CART writer to travel to the event’s location. In this increasingly interconnected age, CART is now being provided remotely via the Internet or a telephone connection. Remote CART requires the CART writer to be in a remote or off-site location. The individuals requiring the CART services will only need a computer with Internet connection in the location of the event so that the text can be streamed directly to that computer. The delay time is generally less than 3 seconds.

The versatility of CART has proven to be very successful in a variety of settings. CART services can be used one-on-one or in groups of any size. CART equipment is easy to set up and easy to use for both the writers and the participants. American Language Services not only provides top transcription talent, but also rents CART equipment on a per-event or longer basis. The popularity of CART has grown at an exponential rate in the past several years and is one of the only services available today that allows those with hearing disabilities to be 100% involved and an active participant of an event through live captioning and technology.

American Language Services’ CART Services can be provided for meetings, classes, training sessions and events that require the CART writer to travel to the event’s location. This can include all manner of transactions, such as corporate training, conference calls/Video Conferencing, web conferences & seminars. Public events as diverse as government meetings, retirement communities, religious services, ceremonies, and funeral services have called on CART transcription. In the legal arena, hearings, courtroom appearances, depositions, or meetings at lawyer or public notary offices may require CART services. Medical professionals may seek help communicating information about doctor appointments, rehabilitation centers, and counseling. CART applications in entertainment and the arts include theater, cultural events and concerts.

Although many factors come into play with dealing with transcription projects, there is one thing that remains constant. Transcriptions should be done by experienced, professional transcriptionists with the proper and necessary equipment to ensure the best quality transcription service possible. We at American Language Services have provided just that for over 26 years. ALS is happy to assist you with your CART needs. Please contact us at the numbers listed below for more information or to schedule your next event.