Question about Adding Italian Subtitles from a Mobile Device and How to Subtitle Dharma talk videos in any language

Hello dearest friend Francesca @francesca_trippa francesca_trippa :pray:

A few minutes ago I received a question from you. If you don’t mind, I would like to create a new thread for your question, so that friends with the same problem can follow this thread too :herb:

Your original question was:

Goodmornig Tuyen, and thank you a lot to have make first sign on my “introduce yourself”!
This early morning I started to work in Sr. True Dedication “15 minutes guided meditation on body scan” on Amara, additing italian subtitels. I don’t know if I can ask you…I am working with mobile (I have pc but not so easly I can use)…and on Amara it appears me on left part of the screen, the english subtitles and on the right I have started the first “bozza” in italian subtitle. I have some dubts…the english version on the left appears to me, not so complete as in the youtube video, and if I try to add some words in italian on the right closer to the words in the video, the program doesn’t me allow to do it…
Maybe in Italian should be a shorter version than in English? or from pc might be better? Maybe from a little mobile screen I jump some passage…
Thank you for any help or advise, anytime you can, to suggest me how I might rightly continue. Thanks a lot! Enjoy your day,

very grateful,

fancesca

I understand the problem you’re faced with. In fact, I tried to use Amara from a mobile phone a few times before. Compared to a desktop computer or laptop, Amara is not friendly for mobile users and Amara mobile interface somehow never shows everything there is to show on the editing screen as you would from a computer screen. I found many buttons were lost and many properly functioning features also disappeared when trying to add subtitles from a mobile device.

I have just taken a look at the video “15-minute Guided Body Scan Meditation | With Sister True Dedication” on Amara here (https://amara.org/videos/UmSqTOk0k3NP/it/4713598/) and I can already see Italian subtitles have been created and done until the minute 01:55 :sparkles:. I don’t see any problem and everything is so far so good! :+1:

To answer your question:

Maybe in Italian should be a shorter version than in English?

It’s been my observation over the years that the Italian subtitles can be longer than the English ones, too, so you have all the freedom and flexibility to work on the Italian subtitles however long or short you’d like them to be.

I’m really sorry to know the PC you have has not been easy for you to use. I wish there was another way to work around this issue but it seems to me that adding subtitles from a PC will be most helpful for you at this moment.

If your PC has been unbearably difficult to work with and there’s no way to finish your first-ever subtitles, I have another idea! What about this: You can share with me the Italian subtitles that you translate from the English ones and type in a document in your phone (such as Notepad or Microsoft Word), and I will help you upload these subtitles to Amara?

I understand this way is quite inconvenient, takes a bit more time to finish, and doesn’t allow you the full sense of agency, but this is the only solution that comes in my mind right now :thinking: I’m still thinking if there’s any better way… If you have any better idea, please don’t hesitate to let me know, we can try that way instead!

If, in my response, you find that I misunderstand your question, do let me know! I’m very happy you can start your first subtitles today and hope to assist you in your first attempt!

Thank you very much for your time and dedication in this work, :brown_heart:
I hope to hear from you again.
Bowing in gratitude,
:pray: :lotus:
Tuyen

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Goodmorning dear Tuyen!

and thank you to answer me in time so quickly and with very important detailes! Very usefu for me! And you encorage me to continue. I red your email last evening, sorry if I could not answer before. Now I have an half hour free before starting work. I appreciate very much your suggestions, all very good, and I was thinking since this video is short, to continue as I start with Amara but before maķe the subtitles public, I will try also to do a file on word more coerent with the one in English as you suggest me, and I will share with you trohw email. So, you will be able to decide wich one can fit better!
So, do you think may be a good idea? So, I’d like to undestand better how amara is working. I am sorry that I have no so much free time (now I am on the train to go work). At home I hace a pc but when I am home always a lot things to do left. Anyway it is a pleasure to comunicate with this app and to have such support! Nice to meet you! Enjoy your day,

fully grateful
francesca

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Dear francesca_trippa,

If this works for you, it works for me, too. It sounds like you have a lot to do, and I appreciate your time doing this with us,
I hope life is kind to you today,
:pray: :lotus:
Thank you very much for writing back to me and letting me know,
All the best,
Tuyen

Dear Tuyen,

thanks to you,
I am very glad to do something for Plum Village Sangha amd comunity. I am glad to receive helpful suggestion from you. Thanks a lot for to day. I feel quite lucky for my work and life to have the opportunity to meet a lot of people and interacte with them, and to see so much beauty around me, not so easy in other situation or part of the world where povertry and wars happen…as we know…Practice zazen is my only true autentic soustain way to across all this around. I feel very grateful to all the incredible people I met in my life to let me lighter what it is really matter. Thanks Tuyen! Have a good day you too,

Care, and gratitude
francesca

1 Like

Dear Francesca,
I’m very happy to know you’re happy! Your message makes my day! Thank you so much!
Sending peace and care your way,
:sparkles::smiling_face:🩷 :pray:
Tuyen

Goodmornig dear Tuyen,

thanks to your kindness and care, I worked last night a little on the video subtitles always from mobile, and I did some change, maybe now it is closer to the english version, I am trying. Maybe next tusday in my free day I can work from home with pc.
Today, in 5 minute will start the memorial for Master Thich Nhat Hanh, I will start soon my turn on work, maybe there will be possibility to see the registration in a second time.

Enjoy your day, take care, :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::pray:

with sincere gratitude,
francesca

1 Like

Goodmornig Tuyen,

I hope your day is going well, a good new (I hope) I have end to insert subtitles! I just have to make shorter some frases and then I would ask you if I can copy the intere text in one page so I may red better, thanks a lot! It has been very amazing this work for me, id you’ d like I would share soon with you some impressions about! Thanks a lot,

with gratitude,

francesca

Dear Francesca,

Thank you very much for your message.

Please let me know if I understand you correctly, but do you mean you want to copy the subtitles and paste them onto one page so you can read better? My apologies, I’m a bit confused. :pray:

As long as all subtitles for the video are there, you can send me your completed file anytime you feel ready, so I can upload to Amara for you.

And if you’d like, please kindly share how the first attempt to subtitle went for you. I hope it’s not too difficult.

Thank you,
:smiling_face::pray:
Tuyen

Dear Tuyen,

:pray: thanks for your answer and yes, I would like to make a file to read better all the text and to send then to you, and I will appreciate if you would do any correction and then send it to Amara. I hope it will not take to much time to you…I am sorry if it can happen some misundertanding, while I am writing…I speak basic English, often I think I can’t use proprely words… and some ortographic mistake too…:sweat_smile:…but anyway!

…and sorry if only now I can answer at your question about your first message: “I would like to create a new thread for your question, so that friends with the same problem can follow this thread too”…
…I don’t know if is it still usefull now to share…
I would apologize with you for this delate to answer…I am not so used to be on web…I have only facebook but I use very rare…I use whatshapp and youtube firstall only to listen to music and Dharma talk! Of course …even if I can not interacte proprely through the web, I know it can be very useful, as for this Plum Village App…and I loved to traslate the Guided Meditation on Body scan…yrs, thanks, I will tell you next, better separate from this, because on mobile letters are very little…

have a good weekend, it is very important to me to partecipate to all this and thanks a lot Tuyen for all your work and care, I hope there is always light next to you even if outside it is raining! …but I believe that rain also can be very nice :wink::rainbow:

gratefully francesca :pray:

Dear Francesca,

Thank you very much for your share and clarification :pray: I understand now.

yes, I would like to make a file to read better all the text and to send then to you, and I will appreciate if you would do any correction and then send it to Amara. I hope it will not take to much time to you…

Yes, you can send the file to me so I can help you upload to Amara. Normally, after we create subtitles on Amara, we will need to sync the subtitles with the time bar. When you share that I would do correction, do you mean you need help with correcting the subtitles or the timecode?

If it’s correcting the subtitles, since I don’t understand Italian, I’m very sorry I can’t correct the subtitles for you, because you are better at Italian than I do, I am absolutely sure about that!

Luckily, even if you’re still afraid that your Italian subtitles have a few mistakes that need correction, submitting your subtitles on Amara will help other Italian subtitling volunteers see and correct the mistakes for you. Because Amara is a platform designed for collaborative effort, allowing one person to help the other.

If it’s correcting the timecode of the subtitles, it will take a lot of time and I’m afraid my hands are already too full to handle this.

I wonder if you know how to download the English subtitles file from Amara to your computer to work on your Italian subtitles based on the timecode already set in this file.

When you shared that working on the computer was trouble some for you, I offered to submit the Italian subtitles only, as the App team and the Plum Village sangha also need my help in other things, too.

If your current file doesn’t have any timecode now, I suggest that you take a look at the step by step instruction from this previous post to see how to download the English subtitles from Amara to create Italian subtitles based on the timecode provided in this file.

Because of this, in the other reply of mine, I shared that working on a computer is most ideal for you at the moment. If you have a mobile app that can read and edit SRT files, then this step by step instruction may work, but I am not sure, because I’ve never done this from a mobile phone before.

I also want to apologize that I can only submit your Italian SRTs file to Amara and cannot intervene in the quality of your work or fix the timecode for you because of the aforementioned reasons. I hope for your understanding :pray::lotus:

About other matters you mentioned in your sharing, don’t worry. I’m glad you can tell me again what you mean. And when I said:

friends with the same problem can follow this thread

What I meant was, other subtitling volunteers could see this question from you and answer from me, so if they had the same problem, they would know what to do and feel helped while subtitling, too.

This does not necessarily mean they will follow your profile online the way a Facebook profile works.

Since this forum is completely public and not at all like Facebook, everyone including friends who never participate in this conversation can see your question and my answer.

The purpose of this is to help other friends who contribute subtitles like you, too.

With that, you can stay as active or inactive as you would like. You don’t have to be active online all the time when posting a question on this forum.

Your original question about creating Italian subtitles from a mobile device was posted in the “Introduction” thread of conversation. So I suggested creating another thread of conversation called “Question about adding Italian subtitles from a mobile device” (this one) so that the Introduction thread will only be about Introduction, and this thread will only be about issues you are having.

Thank you very much for sharing with me again what you meant. I admit that I have difficulties understanding your questions.

Your well wishes and kind words are much appreciated, thank you very much. :cherry_blossom:

May today unfold gently for you,
:pray::tulip:
Tuyen

Buongiorno dear Tuyen :blush:,

I hope your day is going well. I feel always very grateful for all your work and the possibility to feel useful for subtitling Plum Village video. I am continuing to work on Qigong youtube video, with Italian subtitles. Recently, I would like to start, to try, to add English subtitle to some Dharma Talk video that doesn’t have yet subtitles. Maybe it will be not easier for me but I really would like to try, knowing that I am sure (if you will agree with this new step) that I can ask to comuny app an help anytime it is possible.

If you have any suggestions, please, you can tell me, of course, all you think it is better! Thanks a lot!

with regards
un caro saluto, :four_leaf_clover::pray:

francesca

1 Like

Hi dear Francesca, :smiling_face:

Thank you very much for your kind words. I hope life has treated you kindly and well since the last time we were in touch. :herb:

It’s very heartwarming to know that you are working on subtitling a Qigong video and that you would like to add Italian subtitles to Dharma talks :heart_eyes:

Below are a few suggestions which you can try:

1. Start with short Dharma talk videos first

Dharma talk videos under 5 or 10 minutes are the best to try first, to familiarize yourself with the process and to get the idea of how translating a Dharma talk video can be different from translating other kinds of videos, such as Qigong videos.

Over a few weeks subtitling short Dharma talks, when you already find yourself comfortable adding subtitles to short Dharma talk videos, you can start working on Dharma talk videos with increasingly longer duration, such as 15 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, and so on.

2. Give yourself enough, if not lots of, time and space to do the subtitles

Dharma talks have a very important role.

They offer practical advice and tips for daily practices and the deep insights that Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and the monastic and lay Dharma teachers have from their own experience.

They have the powers to heal broken and weary hearts, help people suffer less, and give people hope, joy, and confidence in the goodness of humanity.

They carry messages of love, harmony, peace, and reconciliation.

If a Dharma talk video is poorly translated or done without due care, it will affect many people in very many negative ways.

Having said that, this can be avoided if you give a Dharma talk video enough time and space by:
(a) listening/watching a Dharma talk video for a few times to make sure you fully understand the messages in the talk,
(b) starting translating and adding subtitles to the video,
(c) stepping away from your work and then coming back to it with fresh eyes to check if there are changes you’d like to make in the translation,
(d) doing Step (C) for at least a few times until you are very sure that every word in the talk has been translated with care and accuracy,
(e) publishing your work on Amara

3. Deepen your daily practice

You can do this by doing one or many of the following:
(a) practicing mindfulness and meditation on a daily basis either on your own or with a practice community or both, to ‘feel’ the practice rather than ‘think’ about the practice
(b) reading books or watching other Dharma talks delivered by Italian Plum Village monastic and lay Dharma teachers here: https://youtube.com/@plumvillageinitaliano2009
(c) joining an Italian retreat in your place (through this website https://avalokita.it/) , Plum Village Monastery in France, or Plum Village practice centers in other countries

4. Despite all of the shares above, it’s most important that you feel relaxed and nourished in your daily practice and in subtitling Dharma talk videos.

Your wellbeing, inner peace, and happiness inter-is with the wellbeing, inner peace, and happiness of the people who watch your subtitles. When you can take care of your body, feelings, and perceptions, and frequently help yourself feel grounded and touch peace inside, peace outside will always be possible.

Translating Dharma talk videos is very rewarding because by bringing the message of peace and love to many people who speak in your language, you are at the same time bringing peace and love into your life.

These are tips for translating Dharma talk videos :smiling_face:

I hope the list above won’t scare you from doing this meaningful work. And I sincerely hope that you will have a lot of peace, joy, and inspiration subtitling not only Qigong and Dharma talk videos but any videos that you’d like.

And as always, during the whole time subtitling a Dharma talk video in Italian, if you run into any problem, please kindly do not hesitate to share here with me and other friends. As a community, we have each other’s back.

Please know that we all appreciate your work in subtitling Dharma talk (and other) videos and bringing mindfulness and messages of love and peace to everyone.

Wishing you a beautiful, wonderful day and night ahead :brown_heart: :blush:

Sending you much appreciation, care, and love,
:sparkles: :heart: :four_leaf_clover: :pray:
Tuyen