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Comment by mihaelm | Hacker News Reader

Subtitles all the way. Only advantages of dubbing I can see is accessibility for vision impaired and employment opportunities for local VA talent.

But dubbed live action media is such a horrid experience for me.

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I mean, I also prefer to consume subtitled content, but sometimes it's nice to have the option to look away from the screen and not miss dialog. Some video content can even be consumed as audio-only content and not much will be missed.

Dubbed content is ok for young children I guess.

I'd probably say that most of my early English was learnt by reading subtitles and listening to American cartoons and shows on TV while eating breakfast before school. If it was dubbed, probably once I got my first computer I'd have a way harder time understanding at least the tiny bits I did understand.

> reading subtitles

So you were already reading. What about younger children?

That said - I fully agree, I’m surprised I don’t speak with a Star Trek accent given where I had most of my early exposure to English.

I dunno, younger than 5-6 I think most children don't really understand plot lines or whatever anyways so it matters less, a cartoon in English is probably as fun and engaging as one in the native language.

The only reason not to dub a cartoon is that you're an adult who cares about quality and the dubbing is usually done for a smaller audience so it is going to be worse.

There's no reason not to be dubbing cartoons for kids. That's a dorky debate for grown-ass adults playing animu purists.

> younger than 5-6 I think most children don't really understand plot lines or whatever

My experience has been the opposite :) but hey.

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