Okay,this question is for all the peoplein non-English speaking countries:
When you watch movies/ TV shows that were originally produced in English,do you get the original language with subtitles or are they dubbed?
In Germany everything is dubbed (without subtitles) and I think this is very sad. A lot of times the dialogue just loses quality or humour when it´s translated.
Also, you don´t get to hear an actor´s real voice.Some of the German voices are just weird,however some do sound better that the original

I'm very happy to say that all movies and TV-shows here are shown in their original language, whatever language that may be. It's all subtitled.

When the original language of a movie/TV-show is German or English I don't need the subtitles. I listen to what is said, but still kind of scan the subtitles just out of habit.I'm often annoyed by their quality. So much is lost in translation or simply left out!

We actually even get subtitles on Flemish shows () and I always think the Flemish are getting revenge on us by subtitling Dutch shows as well. The worst thing about this is, since I'm used to automatically reading subtitles when I spot them, that I even read subtitles when I'm watching a Dutch show on Flemish tv! It's just the force of habit.

Since I'm a little hard of hearing my mum has always been very happy with the fact that we get subtitles and no dubbing. I don't have to turn up the tv, I just read the subtitles or the people's lips (which would have been impossible had our shows been dubbed).

I think the main reason that our shows are not dubbed is a financial one - it's cheaper to subtitle than it is to dub. One of the big advantages of subtitling is, in my opinion, that you get much more fluent in foreign languages. Of course you could always watch shows on foreign channels, but for a lot of people that would be too difficult. Subtitles are just that confirmation when you're not sure whether you've really heard what you think you've heard.
I once was asked by an American friend why I knew all these weird random English words. The answer: television!

Here in France I receive several languages in terms of programming. The majority of the programs are dubbed which I hate but as Leau says it is expedient.

I watch the Italian and German stations here where I live, most things are dubbed into the language of the country.
Some are subtitled which is preferable.

I remember my first stay in France, watching "Les ducs de Hazzard" or whatever they called it in French. Or Starsky and Hutch..speaking French. I was rolling on the floor laughing.

I don't know which I prefer. I think I like having a choice between the two! Like someone said, sometimes the dubbed voices are just sooo bad. The woman's voice for "Murder, She Wrote" in France is just terrible! I think her voice is lower than Bea Arthur's!

As for the subtitles, yeah - you do lose some. I have some copies of "Voyager" episodes with German or Dutch subtitles and sometimes it seems like only half of the sentences are in the subtitles! (By the way - I'm learning to read Dutch because of these subtitles!

I once saw a movie in a Belgian cinema. It had subtitles in both French and Dutch. Talk about confusing! The upper line would be the French translation, the lower line the Dutch one. I'm used to start reading at the top, so I got totally confused and I missed the first five minutes or so, because in the mix-up I forgot to listen to what was said.
Since there was only one line for the subtitling, you had to read very fast, because the subtitles had to make way for the next line every few seconds. Phew, that was not the most relaxing night out!

LadyM, which is it, Dutch or German?

Leau - some episodes I have have German subtitles, the others have Dutch.

I can already read the German!

Well, if you already know German Dutch is not that difficult. I once knew a few sentences in Bahasa Indonesia, because of the subtitles on some movie I watched. Not very useful though, since I've never left Europe...

I've just remembered a few funny things you'll hear with the dubbing thing.
Ever watched the Nanny? Well in French, as she's employed by the guy there, technically most employees use the formal tense or vous with their boss. Yet, at one point Fran has a wild night with him..then they go back to being boss and employee, and finally they get married and have kids.
When they have their fling they use the tu form, then they have to go back to the vous!
It drives me crazy. The same goes for Tony and Angela.

Then, we have a French canadian series here with a few detectives, yet they've dubbed it with a French accent rather than a quebecois accent, which makes it look ridiculous.

I wondered if anyone was using the close captioning where available like my father? It's quite good actually, I had a good time seeing how they did it, if they left stuff out etc.

I used closed captioning when I have the tv on mute - then I can still pay attention to the show. Sometimes, though, the closed captioning seems like it's just symbols. And not all shows have it, which (if I were deaf) I would find extremely annoying.

If closed captioning is what I think it is, I use it only sometimes when I watch BBC. I'm much more familiar with American accents than with British accents, so the closed captioning can clear up any misunderstandings, especially when someone is speaking Scottish!

In the Netherlands more and more shows have closed captioning, but only one of our soap operas. You just have to be an intellectual if you're deaf.

"I remember my first stay in France, watching "Les ducs de Hazzard" or whatever they called it in French. Or Starsky and Hutch..speaking French. I was rolling on the floor laughing."

I'll bet it wasn't half as funny as watching Hoss Cartwright on "Bonanaza" speaking in Japanese!

Our foreign language channel here uses subtitles which I prefer to dubbing. However, judging by the length of the speech and the brevity of the subtitles, I am sure a lot of the speech is being left out.

When we visited Holland, I watched a lot of Dutch television programs. I don't speak the language but with the aid of the subtitles, I found myself picking it up quite well. My cousins watch the Dutch version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (which was on almost every night it seemed) and, to my amazement, I found I was able to follow it and answer most of the questions.

Even while watching English movies, I just can't seem to do very well without sub-titles. Those strong American accents have me completely baffled as to what's going on; that is where sub-titles become my saviour.

Just recently I saw "Finding Nemo" without sub-titles, and I had to get at least half an hour through the movie to get used to those strong accents. And even after that, I would slip into a state of cluelessness, depending mainly on the video and catching the occasional word said, that I could keep track of the story.

Getting back to the topic, we occasionally have Hindi sub-titles for English films, and we also, but a lot more infrequently, have English movies completely dubbed.

Finally another German here! Welcome, Chris! (btw, I've been a huge fan of "The X-Files"...)

Well, there's nothing left to be said. Although I think that, bad as the voices may be when a movie is dubbed, dubbing is still less confusing than subtitles. Although I must admit that I sometimes sit there, wondering what the original line might have been. Sometimes it's just a bad translation, sometimes it's a voice which doesn't quite seem to match... Thank God we have an English cinema in Munich

Heather, I know what you mean about the "tu" and "vous" in "The Nanny". It was the same in Germany. At one point it was "du", and then they went back to "Sie". I haven't seen all episodes, though, so I don't know when they finally managed to remainon "du"-terms. But then, however, it must have been "Miss Fine" and "Mr Sheffield" in the original version as well...

Another example is "The X-Files". Only in the very last season did they change the "Sie" to "du" - which was pretty ridiculous, as there had something been going on between Mulder and Scully even before that. And even in Germany, I don't think that two people who work together so close and are such good friends would still use the "Sie"-form after 9 years! But this is always a problem with dubbing, because you never know when there's a good moment to change from Sie to du...

In Latinamerica the movies at the cinema that are in a foreign language go with Spanish subtitles. When they are shown on TV, the ones on cable are usually with subtitles and the ones that are shown on regular tv are dubbed.

I don't like watching dubbed movies, because you miss a big part of the performance of the actor or actress. Besides, I think that watching movies with subtitles can help you to learn new vocabulary. I have learnt a lot of new words by watching movies and TV shows in English.

For me Spanish movies are just not the same as an English movie, when dubbed a movie loses sound, and quality. I rather have a movie with captions than dubbed.

Another thing is that the voices they put when a movie is dubbed, they, either don't match the character or are way to silly. (sorry if someone here does dubbed voices, it's only my opinion, anyways)

Chrissy

Here in Spain, until the advent of digital TV, most movies were dubbed into Spanish. Occasionally, usually late at night you'll get a movie in the original language with Spanish subtitles. As has been mentioned, the subtitles leave a lot out! Years ago there would sometimes be a TV/Radio simulcast, with the original version on the radio, so you'd turn the sound down on the TV!

With digital you have the choice of VO (original version, which usually does not have subtitles)or Spanish. If the original is a language I don't understand, I can listen in Spanish, but for English-language films I take the easy way out and go with the original.