BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to providing subtitles based on language proficiency, and more particularly, to methods and systems for selecting or modifying subtitles based on a user's language proficiency.

SUMMARY

Media devices may be configured to display subtitles for media assets. Subtitles for a given media asset are frequently generated in multiple languages in order to improve the viewing experience of viewers who may not understand the language of audio content (e.g., dialogue) of the media asset. By displaying the subtitles, the media devices enable such viewers to read the subtitles and thereby follow along with the dialogue included in the media asset. The desire for subtitles is particularly strong among viewers who are completely unfamiliar with the language of the dialogue of the media asset and thus require subtitles in a different language to understand the dialogue. Such viewers may wish to select subtitles in their native language. However, conventional subtitle generation systems often do not generate subtitles for a given media asset in every language, which may require viewers to select a subtitle language that is not their native language. Further, the single set of subtitles generated in each language by conventional subtitle generation systems often requires the viewers to be fluent in the language of the subtitles in order to understand the subtitles. For example, a viewer may wish to watch a media asset with English audio, but the viewer is fluent only in Italian, and also understands some French. The media asset may have subtitles available only in French and German, thus requiring the viewer to select subtitles in a language (French) in which the viewer is not fluent. In another example, a viewer may be learning a language but may not yet be fluent in the language. The viewer may therefore wish to display subtitles either in the language of the audio content or in a different language to follow along with the dialogue of the media asset. In each of these examples, while the viewer may be able to understand some of the subtitles, the viewer's experience of the media asset will be negatively impacted by the viewer's lack of understanding of some of the dialogue corresponding to subtitles that the user may not understand. There exists, therefore, a need to improve the viewing experience for viewers who view subtitles for media assets in a language in which the viewers are not fluent.

Accordingly, to overcome such problems, methods and systems are described herein for providing subtitles based on a viewer's language proficiency. In particular, the embodiments described herein provide for selecting or modifying subtitles to tailor the subtitles to the viewer's proficiency in the language of the subtitles. In some embodiments, multiple sets of subtitles are generated in each of a plurality of languages, with subtitles of varying levels of complexity (and thus designed for viewers with different levels of proficiency in the language) for each language. The methods and systems select, from among the multiple sets of subtitles for each language, a set of subtitles matching the viewer's proficiency in a selected language. In other embodiments, the methods and systems modify (such as by replacing words or phrases with synonyms matching the viewer's proficiency in the language) the subtitles to suit the viewer's proficiency in the selected language. This greatly improves the viewing experience of the viewers of the media content by allowing the viewers to follow along with the dialogue of the media asset even if the viewers are not fluent in the language of the subtitles.

In one illustrative embodiment, a system receives a request to display subtitles. The system selects a language for the subtitles, and determines, from a user profile, a user's proficiency in the selected language. The system then selects, based on the user's proficiency in the selected language, a set of subtitles from a plurality of previously generated sets of subtitles in the selected language. Each respective set of subtitles is stored in a database and corresponds to a different proficiency level in the selected language. The system then generates for display the selected set of subtitles. For example, the system receives a request to display French subtitles for a media asset. The system then selects “French” as the language for the subtitles, and determines from a user profile that the user is only moderately proficient in French. French subtitles for the media may be available in “beginner,” “intermediate,” and “fluent” proficiency levels. Based on the user's moderate proficiency in French, the system selects the intermediate-level subtitles and generates for display the selected subtitles.

In another illustrative embodiment, a system determines, from an electronically stored user profile, a language proficiency level. The system then identifies a word in a subtitle with an assigned language proficiency level that is higher than the determined language proficiency level and replaces the identified word with a synonym that has an assigned language proficiency level that is not higher than the determined language proficiency level. The system then generates for display the subtitle having the synonym instead of the identified word. For example, the system receives a request to display French subtitles for a media asset. The system determines that the user is only moderately proficient in French based on a user profile. The system then identifies a word, in subtitles for the media asset, that has an assigned proficiency level above moderate (e.g., a word that is assigned a “fluent” proficiency level), and replaces the word with a synonym that does not have an assigned proficiency level above moderate (e.g., a synonym that is assigned a “beginner” or “intermediate” proficiency level), and generates for display the subtitles with the word with the fluent proficiency level replaced by the synonym with the beginner or intermediate proficiency level.

In some embodiments, the system may not be able to find a set of subtitles matching the user's proficiency level in the selected language and may instead select a set of subtitles in the selected language and modify the selected set of subtitles based on the user's proficiency level in the selected language. For example, the user may have a beginner proficiency level in French, but the only subtitles available for a given media asset are assigned a “fluent” proficiency level. The system may then identify, in the fluent level subtitles, words that are assigned a proficiency level above “beginner,” and may replace such words with synonyms that are assigned a beginner proficiency level.

In some embodiments, in addition to replacing individual words, the system may replace entire phrases or sentences with alternate words, phrases, or sentences that match the user's proficiency level. In still further embodiments, the system may omit words or phrases for which synonyms or alternate words or phrases matching the user's proficiency level are not available.

