Doña Quixote

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The closed caption system needs to match the excellence in content. 1) When someone speaks in another language, the captioning runs a note saying the speech is in another language. It superimposes that box on top of the on-screen translation, thereby rendering the translation unreadable. PBS NewsHour has an automatic system that closes the captions whenever a box of translation appears onscreen. 2) When the on-screen text does present words of a speaker, that box with a black background covers almost all of the speaker's name and title. I have to turn off closed captioning,see the text, and then turn CC back on. The captioning needs appear flush right at the lower edge. 3) The voice-to-text translation has errors. Sometimes the captions are phonetic approximations, and often lines are simply dropped as the software hastens on to the next speech.

Anyone who dislikes Chaucer should check the animations by Russian artists and British voice actors at YouTube. It would be impossible to watch these film clips without laughing at the human dilemma--which has not changed overly much over the past six centuries. It is a pity for anyone to miss the humor and humanity of Chaucer. Yes, the language has changed drastically since the 14th century. Yes, interlinear translations are primarily for the benefit of those studying Middle English.Non-specialists need to begin with a good prose translation. Chaucer made the English language into an artistic medium separate from the Latin and French that dominated England at the time. A writer who takes the language of the street, as Dante did with Italian, and converts it, through artistry, into the language of a nation truly possesses a deserved eminence.