High 1 · Reading series
Lesson 19 · Captions for Everyone
Audio track 19
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
Our media club was preparing a short video about the school festival. At first, we planned to add music and upload it. Then Yui asked whether we could include captions. She sometimes found it difficult to follow speech when several people talked at once.
We began by using automatic captions, but the tool confused names and missed words spoken near the stage. Two students checked the video line by line. We shortened a few captions so viewers had time to read them and added a note when a loud sound mattered to the story.
The finished video helped more people than we had expected. A student watched it on a crowded train with the sound off. Another used the captions to check a club name. Yui could follow the interviews without guessing what had been said.
Captions did not replace clear sound. They gave viewers another way into the same story. Making them well required us to listen more carefully to the people in our own video.
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
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Our media club was preparing a short video about the school festival.
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At first, we planned to add music and upload it.
-
Then Yui asked whether we could include captions.
-
She sometimes found it difficult to follow speech when several people talked at once.
-
We began by using automatic captions, but the tool confused names and missed words spoken near the stage.
-
Two students checked the video line by line.
-
We shortened a few captions so viewers had time to read them and added a note when a loud sound mattered to the story.
-
The finished video helped more people than we had expected.
-
A student watched it on a crowded train with the sound off.
-
Another used the captions to check a club name.
-
Yui could follow the interviews without guessing what had been said.
-
Captions did not replace clear sound.
-
They gave viewers another way into the same story.
-
Making them well required us to listen more carefully to the people in our own video.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
媒体社正在制作一段介绍学校节日的短片。起初，我们只打算配上音乐后上传。后来，结衣问能不能加字幕。几个人同时说话时，她有时难以听清。
我们先用了自动字幕，但工具弄错了人名，也漏掉了舞台附近说的话。两名同学逐行核对视频。为了让观众有时间读完，我们把几处字幕缩短；当响亮的声音对故事有作用时，我们也补上文字说明。
成片帮助的人比预想中多。一位同学在拥挤的列车上静音观看；另一位借字幕核对社团名称。结衣也能听懂采访，不必猜测受访者说了什么。
字幕不能代替清晰的声音，却为观众提供了另一条进入同一故事的途径。要把字幕做好，我们还得更仔细地聆听自己拍摄的人。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- caption
- 字幕；为短片加上的文字。
- follow speech
- 听懂讲话；多人同时说话时较困难。
- automatic
- 自动的；先由工具生成字幕。
- confuse
- 弄错；工具混淆了人名。
- line by line
- 逐行；同学一行行核对内容。
- viewer
- 观众；需要有时间读完字幕。
- sound off
- 关闭声音；在列车上静音观看。
- guess
- 猜测；结衣不必猜别人说了什么。
- replace
- 代替；字幕无法取代清晰声音。
- require
- 需要；做好字幕需认真听录音。
Background notes (Chinese)
字幕可帮助听不清语音的人，也能方便静音观看或核对专有名词。自动字幕可能错写人名或漏掉关键声音，因此需要人工复核。