Dubbing as a teaching workshop
Dubbing works on reading aloud, diction, listening, rhythm and speaking in front of others, all with a picture that makes people want to join in. Teachers, youth workers, speech therapists and trainers already use it. Here’s what the activity brings, and how to run a one-hour session.
What the activity works on
Behind the laughter, dubbing draws on several skills at once, without participants feeling they’re “doing an exercise”.
- Reading aloud and fluency: the lines scroll at a set pace, so you have to read ahead and anticipate.
- Diction and articulation: a badly articulated line doesn’t “fit” the picture, and you hear it straight away on playback.
- Speaking and intonation: the same sentence changes meaning depending on the intention. Participants experience first-hand what “putting expression into it” means.
- Foreign languages: dubbing a scene in French or Spanish, say, forces you to pronounce, to place the stress, to respect the rhythm of the language. Short single-voice scenes are perfect.
- Listening and cooperation: in co-op, everyone answers the other, so you have to listen to come in at the right moment.
- Self-confidence: speaking in front of others, but behind a character. Going through fiction helps the most reserved.
Preparing the gear and the scenes
You need one device with a mic per participant or per pair (tablet, computer, phone), a modern browser and, ideally, earphones. A projector or a big screen lets the group watch the results together.
For the scenes, Creator mode lets you build your own packs from videos you’re allowed to use: a short sketch filmed with the group the week before, a clip under a free licence, a short film made by the school. It’s the simplest way to control the content, the length and the language level. Avoid clips from commercial films and TV series, which can’t be published without permission, and prepare the packs before the session.
Aim for scenes of ten to thirty seconds, with one or two characters and dialogue whose vocabulary suits the group. For a foreign-language session, choose short, repetitive sentences.
Running a one-hour session
A plan that works from age 8 to adults, to adapt to the group.
- Warm-up (five minutes): breathing, sirens, a tongue twister said faster and faster. See the guide on warming up your voice.
- Discovery (ten minutes): watch the scene with sound, then without. Work out together who speaks when, and what each character wants.
- Reading (ten minutes): in pairs, participants read the lines aloud, slowly at first, then at the pace of the picture, without recording.
- First takes (fifteen minutes): each pair records its version in solo or co-op. Listen back, note one thing to keep and one thing to change, then do another take.
- Group listening (fifteen minutes): the versions play on the big screen. Comment on what works (an intonation, a silence, an idea), never on what’s “wrong”.
- Wrap-up (five minutes): what was hard, and what did you hear change between the first and the last take?
Tips for leading the session
Give constraints rather than instructions: “play the scene as if you were in a huge hurry”, “this time your character is lying”. Constraints free people up; instructions freeze them.
Let participants choose whether to publish their dubs. On TryToAct, nothing is shared without an explicit decision; in a school or club setting, the simplest is to publish nothing and keep the recordings within the group.
For participants who don’t dare, first offer a role with no text (a laugh, a scream, a sound effect), then a line, then a scene. Progress matters more than the result.
Keep minors in mind: an account is needed for multiplayer, and the site’s terms of use apply. For a group of young children, solo mode on a device held by the leader, with no account or publishing, is more than enough.
Variations
Dub in the target language, then translate: each pair dubs the scene in the language being learned, then the other pair re-dubs it in their own language by “translating” what they heard. The gap between the two versions gets the discussion going.
Dubbing in reverse: hand out the text, and participants have to invent the scene that would go with it, act it out on camera, then dub it. A writing session and an acting session in one.
The TV news: with a silent, copyright-free news video, each group writes and records a commentary. Perfect for working on register.
Frequently asked questions
From what age?
As soon as reading is fluent, around age 8, with very short scenes. For younger children, the leader reads and the child repeats or improvises.
Does each participant need an account?
Not to play solo. Yes to join a multiplayer room. In a school setting, solo mode on the leader’s device avoids creating accounts.
Which videos should I use with a group?
Videos filmed by the group, clips under a free licence or from the public domain. The guide on clips you’re allowed to use details the sources.