BA Spanish and Linguistics Graduate, Joe Dobinson writes subtitles for ITV programmes to make television content accessible to wider audiences. He opens up about his campus life and how his final year module defined his career aspirations.
The benefits of the Avenue campus community
The languages department at Southampton is a close-knit group where almost everyone knows everyone, and this creates a great environment for learning and socialising. Our lectures and seminars involved a discussion or debate, making it a really personal experience.
It was impossible to walk into the campus cafe without seeing someone you knew, student or lecturer.
Joe Dobinson, BA Spanish and Linguistics Graduate, 2023
However, things didn’t go to plan because my course was disrupted by COVID in my second year. We all studied online for a period, and I decided to take a year out to work in the UK before my year abroad.
I received a lot of support from my Personal Academic Tutor during that time. A lot of my course mates and friends took the year out, too. This meant there was a good group of us heading into our final year together. This made a real difference.
My final year module taught me skills for my career
In my final year, the Audiovisual Translation module I took was invaluable. I’d never really thought of subtitling as a profession before, but the course not only introduced me to it, but it gave me the skills I needed. I learnt how to use subtitling software and the sorts of things you have to take into consideration when creating subtitles.
I work in the same role I got after graduating, as a subtitler for ITV. This involves providing subtitles for pre-recorded and live television. On a typical day, I’ll be working on two or three pre-recorded programmes, interspersed with a couple of live news broadcasts.
I occasionally get to use my Spanish if I’m working on something like a travel show. The strong understanding of sentence structure and grammar I gained from my course is a huge advantage in my role.