How to Watch College Classes with Closed Captions in Different Languages: A Student's Guide
Mar 27, 2025
As a college student, accessing closed captions for your classes can significantly enhance your learning experience. Whether you're watching lectures online or attending in person, subtitle technology has advanced to meet diverse needs.
Who Benefits from Class Subtitles?
Language Learners
If you're studying in a non-native language, subtitles can be incredibly helpful. Research shows that foreign-language subtitles (in the language being spoken) generally lead to better learning outcomes than native-language subtitles. However, if you're a beginner, you might need subtitles in your native language until you become more comfortable with the foreign language.
Students with Hearing Difficulties
Captions are essential for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, providing equal access to educational content. More than 100 empirical studies document that captioning improves comprehension, attention, and memory for video content.
All Students Can Benefit
Captions improve comprehension and retention for everyone. Studies show that captions help students:
Improve reading skills and vocabulary
Enhance focus and attention
Process language more effectively
Recall facts better
Understand complex terminology
Realtime Class Captioning Solutions
Realtime Subtitles
Website: realtimesubtitles.com
Realtime Subtitles offers real-time translated subtitles for any application on your computer in 30+ languages. It can be used for online classes or in person. Realtime Subtitles is flexible to be used with any audio or video.
Price: plans starting at $9/mo with a free trial
Pros:
Most cost-effective solution for real-time streaming subtitles
Can be used discretely
Does not require specialized training to use
No credit card needed for free trial
Works with every application on your computer
Cons:
Does not currently offer speech-to-speech translation
Does not offer video editing capabilities
Otter.ai
Website: otter.ai
Price: Free version available with limited minutes; paid plans start at approximately $8.99/month
Pros:
Excellent live captioning feature that works with Zoom
allows sharing transcription links with others
can provide transcripts for recordings
Cons:
Only works in Zoom
Does not support live translation
Requires professor to allow meeting bots in class
Free version has limited minutes
accuracy may vary with accents
Pre-Recorded Class Captioning Solutions
For advanced users with video editing skills, there are plenty of video editors that provide captioning for pre-recorded classes. These solutions do not have realtime caption features.
Kapwing
Website: kapwing.com
Price: Free version available; paid plans start at approximately $24/month
Pros:
99% accurate AI-generated subtitles
supports over 100 languages for translation
allows customization of subtitle appearance
no registration required to start
Cons:
Free version has limitations
only supports SRT format
Typito
Website: typito.com
Price: $8/month billed annually (Solo Plan); $21/month billed annually (Pro Plan)
Pros:
Cloud-based with no downloads required; supports subtitle translation in over 100 languages
allows customization of font, style, and position; offers pre-animated themes
Cons:
Free and Solo Plans have limitations
primarily designed for video editing rather than just live captioning
Vmaker AI
Website: vmaker.com
Price: Free plan available; Starter plan at $24/month; Team plan at $39/month
Pros:
Auto-generates subtitles in 35+ languages
translates into 100+ languages
offers 20+ preset subtitle styles
includes text animations
Cons:
Subtitle translation not available in free plan
web-based only
Working with Your University
Many universities offer captioning services through their disability resource centers. If you need captioning accommodations:
Contact your university's disability services office
Inquire about CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) services
Ask about remote captioning options where professional captioners connect to your class audio
Check if your school has licenses for captioning software that you can access
Tips for Effective Use of Captions
For language learning: Use subtitles in the language you're learning rather than your native language when possible
For online classes: Position your caption window where it won't block important visual content
For recorded lectures: Download transcripts when available for later review
For technical subjects: Look for captioning solutions that handle specialized terminology well
For multilingual needs: Use tools that offer translation capabilities like Realtime Subtitles
By utilizing these captioning solutions, you can enhance your learning experience regardless of your specific needs or class format. The right captioning tool can make a significant difference in your comprehension, retention, and overall academic success.