Videos needing English subtitles added faster than we complete them

[Matthew]

Good afternoon/morning, Plum Village App Team,

As you know, the subtitles page provides a general count of the number of videos that we need to provide English subtitles for.

I notice that videos needing English subtitles are being added faster than we are completing them!

I was looking at Order Automatic Captions as a way to increase the rate at which we can complete subtitles (though clearly they would still need adjusting by hand before they were ready). However, it seems I cannot order automatic captions for videos outside my “workspace”.

If there is a way that we can order automatic captions (to provide a base from which we can continue to subtitle) then I would be prepared to donate to help cover some of the costs (if that is useful/helpful).

Best wishes,
–Matthew

[Tuyen]

Hello dear Matthew,

Thank you very much for your kind offer to help speed up the subtitling work.

Please kindly correct me if I’m understanding your concern wrong. Do you mean the number of talks added to the list of videos that need English subtitles increases too fast, faster than the speed we can subtitle them?

I’ve just had a few careful looks at the list and found that although this is true, many of the videos added have already had burnt-in subtitles, like the videos by Sister True Dedication. Videos like these shouldn’t be much of our concern.

I also notice that a number of other videos are not available to be subtitled, and yet another number of videos show up as “The requested item does not exist”. It’s also my observation that every time a new video is up, it seems that it always gets subtitled within 24 hours or so.

So, from what I see, the speed of volunteers subtitling these videos seems to be faster than the videos being added.

As Thay often said, “Happiness is the way” and “Peace is the way.” I’ve been subtitling these videos like everyone, and it dawns on me every time I do this is that the meaning of this work lies in the process. It’s a chance to stop and look deeply, to meditate and to heal along the way as the teachings in the videos sink in. If machine does everything, machine doesn’t have feelings, such as pain and joy, like us and hence won’t benefit from this work like we do, don’t you think?

I hope you won’t treat my response as the whole team’s response, it’s rather an honest personal sharing from a friend on the same path of mindfulness, understanding and love with you who only wishes you all the best!

I’ve found this video the other day where Thay shared that Thay had this habit of wanting to do things fast and efficiently too: https://youtu.be/gQt93veV7N0. I realize Thay was very honest and lovely! If you’ve already watched it or you don’t find it appropriate, I sincerely apologize, please kindly forgive me and ignore this video .

Thank you very much for your dedication in this work, dear Matthew.
You are therefore we are,

Tuyen

[Matthew]

Dear Tuyen,

Thank you for your observations on the subtitles.

I have been focusing on the Qigong videos (by Thich Man Tue) at the moment, and did not realise that some of the videos uploaded, such as those by Sister True Dedication, have burnt-in subtitles. I also did not realise that some are not available to be subtitled or are glitchy.

As you say, with these things in place, my worries about subtitles being added too quickly may be misplaced.

Thank you for the video link. I’ve not seen that one before, and have now watched it. Though I have not seen that particular video, I have read “The Miracle of Mindfulness” and do understand (to some limited extent!) the concept of “washing the dishes to wash the dishes” though I am far from perfect on this point.

Thank you,
–Matthew

[Tuyen]

Dear Matthew,

Thank you very much for your sharing and being so kind. I’m nowhere near perfect in my practice, and I sincerely apologize if I came across as if I was already perfect in my practice in my last message.

I’m not sure if I remember correctly, but when you first emailed us your concern about some subtitling issue you had with a video, it was early March 2023. Now it’s mid-September 2024. It’s a little bit over one and a half years you’ve been doing this. It was because of these first questions from you that this forum came to be. Thanks to them, many volunteers have received the help they need from other volunteers.

Your efforts, diligence, and dedication in this work cannot be unseen and we all sincerely appreciate you, dear Matthew. Thank you very much

Since my memory is not very reliable, in case the Matthew I talked about wasn’t you, I’m sorry. You are still appreciated like anybody here, dear Matthew.

Sending lots of our care and appreciation your way,

Tuyen

[Matthew]

Dear Tuyen,

Thank you for your message.

Rest assured that you did not come across as insinuating anything in your message…
I was also not trying to insinuate anything in my message either.

According to Amara I “joined Amara on March 4, 2023” so it seems I’ve been subtitling since then.

Thank you for creating the forums and for helping me with word puzzles.

Best wishes,
–Matthew