This is my proposal for an Italian Subtitling Academy.
I have written an application to the NSSA heads asking to be made a sensei responsible of the NSSA Italian Subbing Academy (stating the reasons why I think I am the right person for this role), and I have also submitted a complete proposal of how I think such a course should be. You will find the link further on.
You may say, “But there already is an Italian Subtitling Academy, why change that?” Yes, there is something by that name, but if you study the details you will see that the existing so-called “training course” for subbers is not a course at all, just a series of tests with feedback.
For the Basic badge, you only have to translate three parts of a drama episode, and you get feedback from three tutors.
For the Viki subbing badge, you have to take part in four different dramas and you again get feedback.
Being tested on translation and getting feedback from more experienced volunteers is great, but before being tested, shouldn’t the subber be TAUGHT something? Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?
The next one, “junior sensei badge”, which means to become an editor, is along the same lines. You are the first editor in a number of dramas, an existing junior sensei (editor) comes and makes revisions to your work, and then gives you feedback, under the benign supervision of a senior sensei. That might have been nice, if the editors had the time to give the feedback after each part, before the next part comes. But in reality, the available senseis are so few and thus so overwhelmed, that often the 2nd editing is done and the feedback to the trainee editor is given long after the drama is completed - in some instances months or even years after.
That’s where my proposal comes in.
Why am I sharing it here?
- Because I like transparency. I don’t do things behind anyone’s backs. I want everyone to be able to read the exact words I’ve written and not learn about it by hearsay, probably distorted. And, by the way, I have voiced my concerns and proposed changes numerous times in the Italian FB group, over the past years, the last time being a lengthy post in February 2023. (See screenshots of that last post at the end of this). With no result whatsoever. So it’s not that I haven’t first tried to solve the question from within.
- Because the Viki community knows who I am and what I do, and I’m sick and tired of being the Cinderella of the Italian community because of power games, and I wish to finally take a role for which I am more than qualified.
- Because the newbie subbers who are eager to learn and contribute deserve to know exactly what’s going on and what kind of training is provided to them under the pompous title of “Academy”, and what they could instead aspire to.
- Because now is the time when moderators have been asked to compile their own applications and proposals for language academies. This might help decide someone who is still on the fence on whether to apply or not, because s/he thinks it will be difficult to come up with a good structure/curriculum for their language and doesn’t know where to start.
- Because I would like my fellow volunteers, not only from the Italian community but from all language communities, the existing senseis of language academies, the moderators/editors, the subbers, to have a look at my work and give their feedback and point of view. Someone might be inspired by something in it, someone else might give me a new/better idea to supplement or tweak or replace mine.
I heartily welcome civil discussion – I will not reply to personal insults, though, so don’t bother: keep those for your Messenger chats.
Here is the complete text of the proposal. The first part is the “history” of how the existing NSSA Italian subbing academy was formed, four years ago, the second is why I think the existing “percorso formativo” (training path) is no good. If you are not interested in those, you can skip directly to the third part, which is the proposed course itself (there is a navigation pane on the left for that)
And here is my last post on the subject on the Italian FB group, on February 2023; to prove that I have transparently and publicly stated my views and suggestions within the community in the past (it’s one of many posts I have made on the subject, but obviously I cannot screenshot all of them, neither the replies I got, because of respect of other people’s privacy).
In case it is of interest to anyone, here is also my application.
P.S.
Whatever the outcome with the NSSA, the important thing for me is to raise awareness, that this is read and discussed by the community. That alone for me is a success. As a keen gardener, I know that when you plant seeds in the ground it is foolish to expect them to all grow, or for them to grow into seedlings the very next day. You know that some of them will die, you know that you have to wait. And patience is not something I lack.
Or I should take into account this quote from Buckminster Fuller:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
@tony83n_283, @oriya, @enayssac, @cerejacult, @danylor, @anda64, @pilar_velasquez, @deval_chloe, @damiechan, @mirjam_465
. If Irene trained subtitlers on Viki, bravo! She can form her teams with the subtitlers trained by her. Why should interfere in a system we don’t like? I didn’t want to be part of this topic, but I was tagged. I don’t have any personal preferences from Italian Subbing Academy and I am sure that all this will be considered that I have something against someone. If my opinion can’t be accepted, I shouldn’t have been asked to give an answer.