Video Dubbing Module

Reflection

      This dubbing task helped me improve the most in English intonation and emotional expression when speaking the language. Our group was dubbed SpongeBob SquarePants, and I played the role of Squidward. Squidward is a challenging character to imitate because he has a very strong nasal voice that is difficult to mimic. My voice is not as deep as his, so matching his tone was also a challenge. To sound more like Squidward, I even looked up tutorial videos online. After practicing many times, I realized I couldn’t perfectly imitate Squidward’s voice, so I started focusing on improving my English intonation and emotional expression instead. By repeatedly observing Squidward’s intonation and emotions, I figured out a pattern such as he speaks slowly, sounds cynical, and dislikes SpongeBob. By focusing on these features, even if my voice didn’t sound exactly like his, the intonation and emotional tone felt like Squidward. Although it was a big challenge, it truly helped me improve my English intonation and emotional expression.

Because imitating Squidward was a big challenge, I wasn’t sure if my voice sounded like his. Therefore, I asked my group members for feedback and improved my performance based on their suggestions. Their comments helped me get closer to Squidward’s voice. I also learned from their dubbing performances how to express emotions while imitating a character.

      At the beginning of the practice, I focused too much on imitating Squidward’s voice and trying to make it sound exactly like his. As a result, I overlooked some important aspects like pronunciation, intonation, and emotional expression. When I first delivered the lines, I was just speaking forcefully without paying attention to pronunciation details or emotional tone. After recording and listening to myself, I realized that my intonation lacked variation and there was no clear emotional expression. Later, I started focusing more on practicing intonation and conveying emotions. Because the pace of our dubbing video was quite slow, intonation and emotional expression became even more important, since any lack of variation or feeling would be more noticeable to the audience. After practice, I was able to successfully use intonation and emotional expression to make the dubbing sound more vivid and engaging.

      I think the most difficult part was Soundtrack Creation. This stage focuses more on pronunciation, fluency, and voice performance. However, Squidward is a very challenging character to imitate. Even after many rounds of practice, I couldn’t make my voice sound exactly the same every time. The hardest part was dealing with Squidward’s strong nasal voice. It is his signature, so I couldn’t leave it out. However, this nasal tone made some of my pronunciation unclear or inaccurate, which was the most challenging issue for me. After making several adjustments, practicing repeatedly, and getting feedback from my group members, I think I made some improvement by the time of the final presentation.

      I also asked ChatGPT how to imitate Squidward, and it gave me some suggestions, such as using a nasal tone and lowering my voice. Since ChatGPT has a voice interaction feature, I recorded my imitation and asked it for feedback while I was practicing. I also used ChatGPT to help me check whether my pronunciation was correct during dubbing practice. However, I wasn’t sure how accurately it could judge my pronunciation, so I mainly used its suggestions as a reference. For unsure pronunciation, I searched for other sources to confirm the correct pronunciation.

      In the future, I will consider using dubbing activities to help students practice English speaking. I believe this activity gives students the opportunity to work on different aspects of speaking, such as pronunciation, intonation, fluency, and even emotional expression. Before starting the dubbing task, I would show students a sample video and let them work in groups. I would also choose videos that match their proficiency levels and make sure the video length is the same for each group. Then, I would ask students to create their own dialogue based on the video, which can encourage creativity and allow them to adjust the content to fit their level. Finally, students would present their dubbed clips to the class. I believe this activity not only makes speaking practice more engaging but also inspires students to use English in a fun and creative way.