"Language Density"

[kenny]

I watch a lot of films from around the world that are subtitled in English.
I don't recall which languages are easier or harder for me to "catch" but (after the article linked below) I'll probably pay more attention.

I think it's best-described by a hypothetical example.
I'll just arbitrarily pick two languages.
Let say one film is in German and the other is in French, and both display captions in English.

For me to keep up with the what the actors are saying, I'd have to pause the screen to read the English caption more often in the French film than in German one.
(Again, it may actually be the other way around.)

I'd call this quality of a language, language density.
I had no clue this was even a thing, let alone a branch of academia/science/arts for this.

Boy, I must really bee a dorky geek to pay attention to this.
Anyone else find this interesting?

What's the Fastest Language in the World?

Theansweriscomplicated.

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[LilAlex]

It's like the Aaron Sorkin effect.

I would have voted anything in Spanish!

Interesting that the information density (vs. the pace of the spoken syllables) is fairly constant across all of them. Maybe it's driven by the limit of how fast we can receive information and not deliver it.

 

[Bron357]

My weird quirk is that as I watch a foreign language film (reading the subtitles) I start to think I’m actually understanding what they are saying

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

My weird quirk is that as I watch a foreign language film (reading the subtitles) I start to think I’m actually understanding what they are saying

i love foreign language movies - to think there is the rest of the world out there all making movies, not just hollywood (i do watch lots of Aussie things on netflex too)
i always watch with subtitles because i hate the dubbed in English, i really enjoy the sound of Korean thanks to netflex

but in reference to what you say
if im reading an instruction manual and by mistake im trying to read the German thinking its English, i always think gee theses are really hard words, i have no idea what that word means -for a good couple of minutes before i realize my error

 

[Rockdiamond]

Lately, I've watched more and more shows with a lot of scenes in Mandarin . I find myself trying to pick out words using the subtitles...it's impossible for me....

Another thing is sometimes there are subtitles in English for foreign language shows that have scenes with English spoken...and sometimes the subtitles are really wrong

@Daisys and Diamonds ...that has totally happened to me!!! ( trying to read a manual and not realizing it;s in a different language so quickly)

 

[Lookinagain]

I can read a moderate amount of Italian, but I need it to slow way down when listening to actually get the true meaning. I can't understand Italian films without either rewinding or reading the subtitles.