Welcome! Nice to meet you here!
I was so glad to work with Iris, Mina, and Paul on this project. This was the very first time I tried the dub thing. At first, we worked so hard to find a suitable video for us to translate. Our goal was not only to find a clip that is spoken in Chinese and has only four characters in it, but to find something that is truly fun and familiar to everyone. We want the audience of our work to be broad, something everyone can enjoy and resonate with. After reviewing a number of videos, we finally made up our choice. It had to be the Huajia Family.
We had so much fun trying to be the characters in this popular well-known cartoon. We think it’s more difficult because every character really has their own personalities, which took us much time to perfect. And I’m glad we finally did it in some time around the corner. We really want this project to be fun, and everyone can really jump into the story and enjoy the moment.
I truly believe English is not only a subject for tests, but a tool for us to explore knowledge and different cultures of the world. By using English to dub a video that Taiwanese people are familiar with, full of Japanese culture, and played in many Asian countries, we are not only teaching English anymore, we are exporting Asian culture to the world. The content, the sound effects, the voice — we truly believe we were doing something that can last.
Another fun part of this project is the recording rehearsal. We tried different tones, different intonations, different vocalizations to perfect the project. The grunts, sighs, gasps, giggles, and groans — everything we show on the stage and video was not something that happened in a sudden. Although it took time, in the end, we really love our work.
Through this dubbing task, I think my pronunciation and confidence in speaking improved the most. Trying to match our voice to the character’s tone and emotion really pushed me to be more aware of how I sound, and to practice repeatedly until it felt just right. Collaborating with Iris, Mina, and Paul also helped a lot. We gave each other feedback, encouraged one another, and practiced together to make the lines flow more naturally. From Phase 1 to the final presentation, I noticed that my speaking became more fluent and expressive. At first, I was stiff and unsure, but by the end, I could speak with more rhythm and confidence. The most challenging part was definitely the rehearsal phase. It took time to get our timing and emotion just right, and syncing with the animation wasn’t easy. In the future, I would definitely consider using dubbing in my own teaching. It’s fun, engaging, and helps students practice language in a creative and meaningful way. Plus, it’s a great way to combine cultural learning and language skills in one task.
Finally, if I want to say something to the future students trying the dubbing project, I would recommend a few things:
Try to find something most people can resonate with.
Try your best to mimic the emotion of each character.
Enjoy the process and remember: this is something your future students can watch and learn from, so try to do your best! The pronunciation, the grammar, and the word choice — all of these are really important if you want it to be a video material for your future classes!
– Be bold, and always remember our dreams.