Page 1 of Welsh Subtitles

Has anyone ever seen any Welsh subtitles on UK R2 releases?

I`ve checked all mine and none have them.

Are there any Welsh speakers out there who would like to see Welsh subtitles put onto UK R2 releases?

Should we start a petition.

I`m not Welsh BTW, just fighting injustice.

Why not contact the Welsh Language Board :

http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk/html/index-e.html

Let`s not start a petition.

Is it really an injustice not to have Welsh subtitles? Can`t the majority of Welsh speakers speak English anyway?

Localising yet another language will push up the costs and seems arcane and pointless. Unless it`s a homegrown Welsh production, then I would say no to Welsh subtitles.

I agree.But not with you Anil - I think Welsh subtitles when they can be made available is a great idea (and not just on `home grown` welsh productions) - how much more patronising can you get without trying eh? About time my `other` language was promoted rather than dismissed out of hand by non-speakers. As for arcane.....hmmm, a little behind the times there, buttie :-0). Cost is also a moot point - far cheaper to use subtitles than different language tracks. With you all the way Toby!.....and funnily enough, someone posted much the same sort of request on March 1st this year, although perhaps not as well put..

http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/forums/thread.asp?Forum=113&Thread=83554

This item was edited on Friday, 16th August 2002, 10:34

Well Anil, how about we don`t have the Hindi or Arabic subtitles either? Anyone living in Britain and buying a British R2 DVD should have to learn English only.

For someone who must have dealt with racial issues in the past, you don`t have a very enlightened view of tolerating a minority in Britain.

And no, there are quite a few Welsh people out there for whom English is totally foreign to them.

Toby

Just out of interest, if you`re not a welsh speaker then why does it bother you so much?
That aside, I think you have a very valid point. I`ll sign ya petition.

P.S. I`m not welsh either - but then neither was Vinny Jones.

Im a welsh speaker and couldnt care less weather there was welsh subtitles or not on a dvd. You could have the same argument about VHS films with subtiitles, What would be the point, welsh is a minority language around here anyway.

This item was edited on Friday, 16th August 2002, 14:03

Toby,

So you`re not Welsh, but nevertheless you feel entitled to speak on the behalf of Welsh people (or, rather, the minority within Wales for whom Welsh is their first language). Ri-ight!

Put your Guardian reader politics aside for one moment. As far as I can tell, this issue boils down to simple economics - are there enough Welsh speakers to justify the translation costs and bandwidth - particularly on a disc which may have to include subtitles in dozens of other languages? Look at it this way, from census data there are a little over 500, 000 Welsh speakers in Wales - how many of those are going to buy a particular DVD? How many more would buy that DVD if it had Welsh subtitles on it? Probably not enough to be worth the effort, in most cases.

As for the point about Arabic subtitles, I think you`ll find that they are provided for the benefit of DVD buyers living in Arab countries, not the small Arab minority within the UK (most of whom speak perfect English anyway). Unlike Welsh, Arabic is a major language spoken by millions of people worldwide, which is why it`s often available as a subtitle option.


Mike

As a civil servant, I am obliged to provide Welsh translations on the part of the website I deal with, as all Govt departments have signed up to the Welsh Language Act 2000, which states that as much Govt website material as possible should be translated into Welsh.

I`m dealing with a piece of litigation that affects over 48,000 people and one of the key decisions we had to make was should the final court judgment be translated into Welsh, as there are only about 1,200 cases in Wales.

The number of Welsh speakers that would benefit from translating a 101 page decision was so minimal that the executive decision by the management board was not to bother. Their attitude was that at the end of the day, most Welsh speaking people are fluent in English anyway.

Irrespective of your point of view, however, I still think that this is a valid petition : it`s no more irrelevant than closed captioning subtitle for the deaf, which again only affects a small minority of people. Sign me up !

This item was edited on Friday, 16th August 2002, 14:30

This is a tricky one, being a welshman who doesn`t speak a word of the language (and don`t know anybody who does) I`d have to say who cares about the subtitles.

But then again if you leave the big city there are plenty of Welsh speakers who I`m sure would apreciate the subtitles, not sure if they would buy the films, but they would be greatful none the less.

Sign me up