What Do Captions Mean To You? #WordsWorthWatchingNCI
October 15, 2022
Lorri Hatfield
We are excited to kick off our first annual Words Worth Watching Week ! We’re taking a week to celebrate all things closed captioning. Today we’re sharing stories on the PERSONAL IMPACT of captioning:
Want to share your story?
Make sure you’re following us on social media and tag your share with #WordsWorthWatchingNCI
A handful of viewers are getting us started:
I am Korean-American, born and raised in Chicago but living in Cusco, Peru for the 8 years. Closed captions have helped me tremendously with my language skills in Spanish and Korean.
When I first came to Peru, I had no Spanish. I watched movies and videos in Spanish with English captions. I also sing and I listened to songs in Spanish with Spanish captions so I could learn the lyrics. This helped me learn to understand and speak basic Spanish, that’s how I learned.
Both my parents are from Korea, so I am conversational in Korean. But I watch k-dramas with English subtitles. There are idioms and expressions that are particular to the culture. It’s interesting to me how they are translated. All of this has helped me improve and become more confident in my spoken Korean.
Jennifer Shin
Lost the hearing suddenly in both ears at age 33 - went 12 long years before my first cochlear implant - now at 63 have bilateral cochlear implants yet still rely exclusively on CC for television. Thank you and your staff for all that you do to allow me to stay informed and to be entertained and to lead a more fulfilling life. You do an amazing job and I am very grateful. Thank you!
Anonymous NCI Viewer
I have perfectly “normal” hearing but have ADHD-related auditory processing struggles. Captions make it easier for me to catch everything without having the volume blasting over every other sound my brain wants to focus on.
Jennifer Nielsen
I always promoted closed captions with parents of students. It promotes reading fluency. I also encouraged using the English setting to teach English for those whose primary language was not English.
Brenda Goff Hinton
I love closed captions. I’ve discovered that I don’t hear things clearly and instead read lips. CC means I actually catch everything being said.
Jennifer Watts-Horn
I use CC all the time. It helps me understand what’s going on. I have really bad ADHD, so reading the dialogue and seeing the scenes make it easier for me to focus.
Macy Elder
Closed captions are life! With partial hearing loss and tinnitus in one ear, especially when watching tv (or sports, trainings, events or concerts) with others or a crowd, it’s literally the only way I can keep up with things on screen.
Michelle Ferguson