You can learn the art of subtitling yourself in your own time and at your own pace with our course book and the accompanying free subtitle software and videos. The price is 50 euro. Never before has a vocational training been this cheap! You have access to our server to download digital video files and practice with them.
Why do this the course?
If you do our course you can become a professional subtitler. In this course you familiarise yourself with all the basic techniques and you will learn to produce subtitles with time codes. Whether you translate from one language to the other, or you make subtitles in the same language as the source language, it’s all covered in our course.
Frequently asked questions
Please read our FAQ as you will certainly find all the answers to the questions you have. There’s information about the software we use and the way the course is set up.
An individual course
Basically the course is a self-study program. You can learn to produce subtitles in your own time and at your own pace. We have the course book itself, as well as videos to practise your newly found skills. We have videos in English, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian and more. We also have some educational videos to show you how it is all done. Subtitling is actually much easier than you think.
In the course you work with subtitling software (at no extra charge) which saves 25 subtitles. We sell a full package of professional subtitling software for 179 euro. It works on both Mac and Windows.
Gerard van Loenhout
Course leader en former managing director inVision
Request information or order the course & book
Send an email to info@subtitling.nl or fill in this form if you want extra information about the course and the costs. With our course you can set your own time and pace. You first learn the theory and then practice as much as necessary.
Purpose of the course
Familiarise yourself with all the basic techniques and become a professional subtitler
The aim of the course is to familiarise yourself with all the basic techniques and to be able to work as a subtitler, as a freelancer or perhaps even as a permanent employee at a subtitling company. You first learn the theory and then practice as much as necessary.
Without a course you have little (if any) chance of getting a job in subtitling because translation companies only train if they can’t find new subtitlers through this course or through the circuit itself. If you have successfully completed the course, you are three steps ahead of applicants without professional knowledge.
To be able to work as a freelance subtitler at home, you don’t have to invest too much. Of course you need software and a PC or Mac. During the course you will work with Spot. It’s the most user friendly software around. We provide a free version of Spot with which you can practice. Our students can buy Spot (or Subbits) at a 20% discount. You can also work with other (free) subtitle editing software. It actually works all the same. Subbits works on both Mac and PC.
Frequently asked questions
about the subtitling course
How much support and feedback do you get from the course book?
- You get subtitle software and a lot of (practice) material. If you follow the instructions you will be able to make great subtitles in your language.
How much time do you spend on the content of the course book and the exercises?
- Count on spending at least fifty hours on theory and practice. But in the end you decide that yourself.
Can you keep the subtitle software?
- Yes, but you can’t save more than 25 subtitles at a time. There is no ‘expiration date’. If you want to purchase the full working package, you will receive a discount via the course. This applies to Spot which is Windows only.
What kind of equipment do I need to practice at home?
- A computer. There is not always a transcription of the dialogue so you might want to use a headset to listen, but speakers are sufficient. An internet connection is needed as well.
Is there subtitle software for the (Apple) Mac?
- Yes, there are few subtitle applications available for Apple computers (Macs). We have one for the course. It only costs 179 euro. See www.videotoolshed.com
Does it matter which language you master?
- Subtitles are used all over this planet. For the course it does not matter what your source or target language is. Because you have to shorten a lot, it is very useful if you are creative with the target language, so you will have to be a (near) native speaker. For the source language, you must of course understand every word that is spoken. And you must be up-to-date with spoken language and jargon.
Do you also learn subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing?
- The step from ‘open’ subtitling to this teletext subtitling is very small. So if you do the course you will also learn to produce subtitles for teletext.
Do you get a certificate or diploma?
- If you want to receive a certificate we will send it to you, but there is no standard diploma in the industry. There is only one thing that is important and that is that you can show a client that you have mastered the translation and subtitling technique. If you want to buy Spot with a 20% discount, you need the course certificate.
Do you think I can do it and do I find work?
- This question is often asked, but of course we don’t know how much talent you have. So first do the course and then you’ll know.
How do I get in touch with clients as a newcomer?
- Use Google. You can also search for clients via the Internet.
What is the situation regarding fees?
- It’s fine if you make at least two hundred subtitles a day, and anyone can do that after a while.
Give me one more reason to do this course.
- We give a huge discount at the moment. The course has been machine translated from the Dutch course which has been a huge success since 2006. Of course this English translation has been post edited, but me being Dutch, you never know if there are still some crooked sentences 😉