Netflix, Disney+, Amazon: 8 reasons why you should stream in the original language

In Germany, some film and series fans still have the question: synchro or original sound? The answer is so simple – because of these 8 reasons, it is always better to stream Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon in the original language.

The German dubbing industry is one of the best in the world and has shaped many viewers – it is still being watched the majority of the audience in this country watch films and series in their dubbed version, instead of selecting the original version on streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon (source: Statista). However, there are 8 very good reasons why you should stream your series and films in the original language.

One of the biggest advantages of original versions is obvious: you can develop and deepen your language skills in an entertaining way, by streaming films and series in the original sound. Even if you only have content to run in the background, this can at least have a positive effect on your passive vocabulary and listening comprehension. And if you’re not confident enough in the language to understand enough, you can turn on subtitles for most content on Netflix and Disney+. Speaking of subtitles…

Some viewers shy away from original versions because they don’t want to read subtitles or find them distracting – there’s that the useful feature is simply a matter of getting used to. Over time, it’s easy to flexibly shift focus from text to action without missing a thing. It also ensures you don’t miss any dialogue, even if it might be drowned out by mediocre audio recordings, background noise, or other circumstances.

Of course, the subtitles also help you with language learning. Depending on the content and platform, you can even train your reading comprehension in other languages. On Disney+, for example, you can watch over 30 seasons of The Simpsons in the original language with more than 20 different subtitles – from Finnish to Korean.

The original soundtrack of a film or series also contains a great deal of information about characters and the world in which they move that is lost through dubbing, however good it may be. This particularly affects slang, dialects and accents, which are often used in the original language much about the origin, social conditioning, social classes and upbringing of characters statements and conveys the corresponding characteristics much more impressively than a comparatively neutral synchronization could.

Especially in the case of films and series with a strong local connection or clashing cultures, the original sound provides a completely different and in any case better experience than dubbing. From Trainspotting, Blood Diamond, Rush Hour and The Banshees of Inisherin From all films by Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino to Derry Girls, Family Guy and Ted Lasso, countless films and series benefit from the subtleties of the original sound – and these are just a few English-language examples, because the list can be continued almost endlessly.

Anyone who only watches films and series dubbed not only misses important character traits, but also reduces the recognition of the acting performance. Due to dubbing, viewers miss out on a large proportion of the character portrayal that actors do through speech melody, emotional expression and other vocal tricks be transported.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s about Voice icons like Morgan Freeman, Alan Rickman and Meryl Streep or other actors – if you only stream films and series in the dubbed version, you can never fully understand the performance of the original actors, even if you don’t understand the language.

Especially with sitcoms and comedies, even the best translators reach their limits. In many cases, certain jokes, especially puns, simply cannot be translated because they would not make any sense in the target language. This is made even more difficult by the need to adjust the translation, at least roughly, to the movement of the lips in the picture.

Whether it is about Friends, Borat, South Park, Anchorman or The Incredible Journey in a Crazy Plane (Airplane!) turns – comedy just works better and better in the original sound. And by the way, horrible German film titles are another problem of their own.

In films and series, the dubbing must not only reproduce the film as precisely as possible, but also pay attention to the lip movements in order to make speaking appear natural – while this is already difficult with languages ​​from at least a related language family, it fits the movements of entirely unrelated languages ​​are never basically perfect to each other – and immersion suffers as a result.

In addition, however, you are then also at the mercy of the translators’ skills, who sometimes simply miss the mark and thereby destroy the film’s atmosphere. For example, whoever thought of it back in 1988, Bruce Willis’ legendary quote “Yippie Ka-Yay Motherfucker” in Die Hard as “Yippie Ya-Yay Pig Cheek” to translate certainly had understandable intentions, but the tone was completely off the mark.

Even if the arguments already mentioned for the original sound could be circumvented by perfect dubbing, this would also require perfect working conditions and, above all, more time than the industry usually allows.

At least since the flood of new content produced year after year via streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, the time pressure in the translation and dubbing industry has intensified, and this is often the case unsurprisingly negative impact on quality. As a result, suboptimal synchronization cannot be ignored in many projects and is no longer a question of taste, even with the best will in the world.

In the meantime, streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ have some content that is simply offered without synchronization or is initially broadcast unsynchronized parallel to the US launch. These include, for example, the latest episodes of Rick and Morty as well as numerous Stand-up specials by comedians like Ricky Gervais, Bo Burnham or Ali Wong. Also, I Think You Should Leave, one of the best Netflix series ever, is only available in the original English.

Anyone who watches content in the original sound – no matter what language it may be – has it easier than ever before in the streaming ageto discover new favorite series or films.