Last April an unknown Scottish woman by the name of Susan Boyle became an overnight sensation when she performed on the Britain’s Got Talent show. The less-than-glamorous 48-year-old defied expectations when she performed a stunning rendition of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from Les Miserables. Fifty million YouTube hits later, and she became a worldwide celebrity. Joining the ranks of Tom Cruise, Naomi Campbell and Michael Jackson, she was even invited to the Oprah Winfrey show – with one caveat. Despite being a fellow English speaker, American television bosses decided to run her interview with subtitles because they feared many of their viewers would not understand her heavy Scottish accent.
It’s not the first time subtitles in English have been used for English-language movies that feature strong regional accents. The movie Trainspotting was partially re-dubbed to make the Glaswegian accents more intelligible for American audiences. Ken Loach’s blue-collar comedy Riff-Raff was also subtitled because American studio chiefs feared the heavy accents of the British working-class would be impenetrable to stateside audiences. Same for the working-class drama Nil by Mouth – again, this time English subtitles were provided because the heavy South London accents were hard for some people to make out, even if their native tongue was English!
It should be a consolation for anybody trying to master the English language and who has been confounded by the bewildering array of different regional accents. From Glaswegian to Irish, Australian to the Texas drawl, the English language is not just about phrasal verbs and a set of grammar rules. Accents also help shape and colour the things we say, and even among us English-language natives, we sometimes have trouble understanding each other. So, next time you’re frustrated by someone’s accent, don’t lose hope, it may not be because your English is not up to par.
If you’re watching a DVD, you may be able to find subtitles. If you are trying to understand your new mate in a Scottish pub, you may have to ask him or her to repeat, because unfortunately we haven’t yet invented subtitles for real-life.
1 comment so far ↓
I love this article! I´m American and remember that the first time I had a chance to speak in depth with an English person and they used the word “rubber” it gave for an important misunderstanding and lots of laughs. We´re the same but not!
Pretty much the same happens with Spanish – Castilian v. other versions of Spanish. There are always words and expressions which are different.
Just to finish, I know that I would have needed a translator to understand Oprah´s show. I absolutely cannot understand the Scots´accent!
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