Somewhat Silent

Subtitles and signing

9 Responses to “Subtitles and signing”

1. barakta (User Verified) :
   October 3rd, 2006 at 7:10 pm

   Hello, me again.

   Interesting that so few programmes in South Africa have subtitling as it is quite popular in the UK and US, and there are lots of campaigns to keep the level of subtitling/captioning high and of good quality.

   I’m not sure how to reduce the stress of watching DVDs with subtitles as it seems to be a thing one gets used to with practice. I am okay as long as I pay 100% of my attention to the programme that I am watching. I can’t do what some of my deaf friends do, which is to half watch TV programmes with subs. I get a headache or end up not processing half of what is happening on the programme or other thing if I try and do more than one thing at once.

   I’m wondering if it would be worth installing an induction loop into your TV watching room. Your Cordelle has an inbuilt induction loop receiver in it (http://www.entific.com/BahaProductDetail.asp?ProductID=81) and it is really not difficult to install. I just don’t know how easy it would be for you to obtain the equipment in South Africa - but it must be possible.

   An induction loop system works by having a small amplifier box (about half the size of a VCR or DVD player), around the area which is to be looped (usually a whole room) a wire is just laid (in our house we have wire blu-tac-ed around the perimeter of the living room) around the desired area and connected to the back of the small amplifier box.

   The amplifier box is also connected to the TV/VCR/DVD/Sound system etc etc by a variety of methods - I’m not sure what South African standards are (I can ask an engineering friend for you)… then all you have to do is leave the little amplifier box turned on (or turn it on when you turn on the TV) and sit yourself somewhere inside the perimeter of wire.

   You should be able to tweak the volume and some of them have tone controls for bass, mid and treble (low, medium and high) tones which you can tweak either to compensate for poor frequencies you have, OR can be tweaked to reduce in poorer frequencies (if amplifying doesn’t do much for you) and emphasise useful frequencies. You would have an independent control of your volume as well which means you could have it DEAFENINGLY loud without every ‘hearie’ in miles complaining

   The other advantage to an induction loop system would be that you could isolate the external room sounds so that all you hear would be the TV stuff or music or whatever you are picking up through the induction loop.

   Now I’ve done a quick google and found it very difficult to find a South African supplier for induction loop amplifiers which weren’t charging silly money (4,500 Rand or £320). I’m going to email a friend of mine who is a South African engineer and see if he knows of anywhere which would be likely to be able to see you an induction loop amplifier.

   An option may be to ship one from abroad, maybe Australia or UK. My partner and I were able to find an induction loop amplifier on ebay for £30. They are usually £60-90 new in the UK depending on specification. The wire used is just normal electrical wire with a single core….

   This also may be something you should ask your local audiology department about, they may have suppliers which don’t have websites. Or local deaf/HOH organisations may have ideas…

   Basically what I’m saying is this shouldn’t be expensive, and it might make a difference to having to rely so much on the subtitles. It may be that you’ve tried various options with the TV and that they didn’t work…

   It may be that like me you have limited stamina for watching TV, I can only watch for a very few hours, maybe 3 at most and I definitely need breaks. You could try having a break an hour or so into the film, just for a few minutes for a bathroom break and splash water onto your face and rest your eyes for a few minutes…

   I’ll post another comment if I come up with the answers to my unsurities or come up with better solutions for you.

   Natalya

2. mela (User Verified) :
   October 6th, 2006 at 7:38 am

   Hi Natalya,
   Thanks for the suggestions. Going by what you have said about the loop it sounds like it is just what I need. I tried getting one before without any luck. I have a lot of problems blocking out background noises, my men always start these long debates while the shows are on and then I may as well forget watching as I get very fed up with them and battling to hear. It would be so nice to watch TV without all the extra stress.

   Thank you for passing my e-mail address to your friend I look forward to hearing from her.

   Mela

3. lette :
   October 7th, 2006 at 8:05 am

   well I dont watch TV I usually dont, but were lucky here a lot of our channels and main programmes have subs if required, we have 2 daily news slots with signing, 1:30pm and 6pm.
   I am a movie watcher and I always read subs while watching movies, I do get tired on ocassion but I find it just depends on how heavy the movie is!
   I agree that it is very wrong for a lot of ur main shows not to have subs or signing, they are totally going against the people with disability act!
   would you not write or send an email to your main TV station?? im sure your not the only one with a hearing difficulty in South Africa!

4. mela (User Verified) :
   October 7th, 2006 at 10:24 am

   I get really peeved that there is so little done to make life easier for those of us who are hearing impaired. I always say it is because in most cases our disability is not visable. Then you have the people who are aware and take it over the top and still make it difficult to follow what they are saying. I have e-mailed a number of places where I feel there are things that can be done to make communicating easier and where we can also get to enjoy watching TV shows. So far I have had no luck but I intend continueing my quest.

5. lette :
   October 7th, 2006 at 2:30 pm

   yeah im in college at the moment, and some are very good about my deafness and others totally ignore it!

6. SubsLover :
   October 28th, 2006 at 2:09 pm

   Just a thought:
   i’ve been a great fan for the live translation for quite a long time, until one day, when suddenly I realized that I prefer watch an english speaking movie, with french or russian subtitles, which actually allows me to practice my french or russian, while enjoying the movie.

7. mela (User Verified) :
   October 31st, 2006 at 3:30 am

   There you go now how many hearing people can have the advantage of doing that.

8. athina (User Verified) :
   November 3rd, 2006 at 4:22 am

   Subtitling in Philippine TV is not yet popular. We have a senator who’s
   advocating for the cause of the disabled (he had polio)trying to pass
   a law about subtitling but it seemed his proposals fell on deaf ears.
   Or, it is not a top priority in our legislature.

   It was only when I read about Lette’s super headphones that I
   had the idea I can use headphones to help me hear. In my case, even if
   I hear the sound of speech thru headphones, I will never understand the
   words unless I lipread or unless there are subtitles I can read.

   Natalya- I’m amazed at the great amount of energy and compassion you
   put into your replies so you can inform and help us. I am thinking of
   buying a new hearing aid for myself after being encouraged by the tons
   of info I learned from you and from other members of Somewhat Silent.
   I really get along fine even without a hearing aid. I just stay at home
   to minimize the amount of communicating I have to do daily. But I miss
   the world outside home especially my teaching job.

   I think if ever I will use a hearing aid again, it should be the best
   and the latest model for my type of hearing loss to minimize the
   discomfort I experience but it costs so dear out here. It’s good, in
   first world countries the government takes care of the disabled. In
   the Philippines, government help is non-existent. There are charitable
   organizations that try to help but the hearing aids they give are the
   ancient ones, or surplus products from first world countries.:)There
   is the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office that give financial
   assistance but you have to prove to them first that you are an indigent
   or destitutely poor.:) I am not poor but I am not rich either. If I work in a first world country
   and be paid in dollars or pounds, life would be really rosy.:) So you
   will get the scenario of our country’s economic disparity- a Starbucks
   waiter or barista in the US is paid twenty dollars an hour while a
   barista working in a Starbucks franchise in the Philippines gets a
   measely one dollar an hour for his blood sweat and tears.

   It seems the real problem is the Philippine economy, not my runaway
   hearing. Lol.

9. leah (User Verified) :
   January 20th, 2007 at 1:03 pm

   i live in the us and ever since i was little my tv has always had closed captioning, so my tv is always set to closed captioning. although, does anyone else have this problem? ill be watching a movie or show with my friends and they dont want closed captioning because it annoys them, but i need it in order to understand whats gonig on! it can get downright frustrating.

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