Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

English is my first language.
However, that being said, whether I am watching something that is in English, mixed languages, or another language altogether, I watch everything I can, with subtitles.

Is anyone else follow this train of preference?

I'm not sure if it comes from playing too many RPG's, or reading too much, or a lack of paying attention to when people are audibly speaking – – but regardless of whatever reason there may be, subtitles make every film, animated or live action, television show, or anything entertaining on a television screen, that much more entertaining.

I suppose if a movie is hard to hear or understand then I probably like subtitles fairly well. Overall though I prefer to do without them if possible as I find it distracting as I try to concentrate on the movie.

I turn subtitles on when I'm playing video games and when I'm watching foreign language films. I appreciate closed captioning when I'm in a lobby or restaurant that has TVs, but otherwise I don't need or want captions.

I turn them on for video games, as often times there can be dialog that's hard to understand as there's so much going on. Movies, usually not, unless it's a foreign language film. And generally I prefer subtitles to dubs in that case.

Video games, I use subtitles when available, mostly because I don't exactly have the greatest speakers in the world and I'm used to them, having played a few Sierra adventure games in the 90s when the games did subtitle everything.

Movies, not so much. When I used to work in the electronics department at work, they did make us turn subtitles on when we put a DVD in the big ol' wall o' TVs. This is how I discovered Star Wars: A New Hope has two subtitle tracks-- subtitling Huttese when spoken, and subtitling everything. [In case you're wondering how that would handle Han and Greedo's little "chat" in the Mos Eisley cantina, the subtitles read "(Speaking Huttese) Going somewhere, Solo?" "(Speaking English) Yes, Greedo, I was just about to tell Jabba that-" (Speaking Huttese) It's too late for that." and so on.]

I always enable them in video games if it is an option. I know some people don't like them but it doesn't bother me. When it comes to movies or TV shows, I only like them on when they are in a different language. I also watch a lot of anime that require subtitles since I don't speak Japanese. I love me some anime.

I know one movie I'm probably going to watch sometime with subtitles on though is the first Expendables movie. I've watched it a few times already but I don't understand what exactly is happening most of the time since everyone talks really quietly, and when you turn up the volume an explosion pops out of nowhere threatening to blow out your speakers.

If available, always on video games. Sometimes the audio is kind of low, or I simply do not understand some things (my first language is Spanish, so there are still pronunciations I do not get).

I am mixed on shows or movies with pronunciations I get. Sometimes I find myself reading the subtitles for things I understood just fine. So I try to not use them if not needed. Or to ignore them if they are there but I can understand the audio.

Good to see I'm not the only one.
I didnt even think to bother to mention in Videogames, but yes in those too I prefer subtitles. In fact in most, I prefer subtitles and will shut off the voice acting. I'm quite picky about voice acting in games, as there is a plethora of bad acting out there, and then in addition, there are inaccurate or unfaithful translations, such as Working Designs games who did use good actors, but still ruined the dialogue.

In the case of games with faithful, accurate, and good voice acting, like Killer 7, or even Ys Book 1 & 2 for Turbo Duo, then I can settle for both text and the audio dub. But I find this rare.

In films, I do find that even in English I get bored, and my mind will frequently wander off screen, so the text lets me stay more focused on the plot at hand. Usually.
And in anime I prefer the Japanese dub over bad English dubbing, with subtitles for the reason of voice acting quality and staying focused.
There is a lot of anime that I havent and won't watch in English.

Of course in a film where there is little dialogue, subtitles aren't quite needed, since usually the music can carry the film. Conan the Destroyer comes to mind. Even in the Japanese animated film, Robot Carnival, with the minimal dialogue in Japanese, the music can carry the animated film, so subtitles aren't a must.
Not too many films come to mind with this shared quality, animated or not, of any language.

Subtitles : I use them too ! When I can of course !