We all know how important subtitles are when you are watching a movie that’s in a language you don’t understand.
Chinese actor-host Yang Di, 37, was recently on an episode of Chinese infotainment show Informal Talks when he brought up an interesting observation about movie subtitles in Malaysia.
According to Yang Di, who caught biographical thriller Oppenheimer in a cinema during a visit to Malaysia, the show’s Mandarin subtitles were “not bad”.
Not perfect, but not bad.
He then explained that the subtitles neglected to take into context the meaning of “doctor” in the show, which in this case, meant professors who held doctorates.
“In English, doctor also means professor. However, in Malaysia, the subtitles were simply translated as ‘Doctor (医生) Lee is here’ instead of ‘Professor (博士) Lee is here’,” he said.
In Mandarin, it makes a difference when addressing someone as ‘Doctor’ (医生) or ‘Professor’ (博士).
Yang Di admitted to being “slightly confused” when watching the film.
He asserted that the show’s subtitles were done by a software, and said that he found the method “strange”.
“Sometimes, being too good at English is a mistake,” he joked.