Lao Subtitles Delivered as SRT Files
Discover a whole new world of viewers when you add Lao subtitles to your content.
Anyone who thinks English is a “universal language” clearly hasn’t been to Laos, a Southeast Asian country with one of the lowest rates of English proficiency in the world. Most people in Laos have little to no proficiency in English, particularly if you venture outside the country’s capital of Vientiane. So, what should you do if you have your eye on the Laotian market for your video content—whether it’s a movie, TV series, game, documentary, or online video? Lao subtitles are your only option.
At TranscriptionServices.com, we pride ourselves on producing high-quality, reliable subtitles for various languages, including underserved languages like Lao. By hiring a diverse selection of passionate Lao subtitling experts, we bring you the best the industry has to offer in terms of Lao subtitles, making it easier than ever to connect with your Laotian audience. To make your life even simpler, we deliver all our subtitles in SRT files, which you can embed quickly and easily into your video content.
Would you like a quote for our Lao subtitling services? Just reach out and ask for one—they’re free!
Lao subtitles help you capture an audience far beyond the borders of Laos.
You probably could have guessed that Lao is the official and national language of Laos, used in education, media, and governmental matters. But you might not have known that only around half of the population speaks it as their first language, although most other Laotians do learn it as a second language. However, you’ll find more Lao speakers outside Laos, with as many as 23 million people in Thailand speaking a form of Lao known as Isan. Even more Lao speakers live in Vietnam. The estimated total of worldwide Lao speakers lands at around 30 million.
Want to know what’s really great about Lao subtitles? Not only do they give you access to the 30+ million people in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and beyond who speak Lao, but they also allow you to reach the many Lao speakers who suffer from hearing impairments and therefore can’t enjoy content with Lao audio. Many Lao speakers who don’t have auditory difficulties also watch videos without sound, so adding Lao subtitles or closed captions can help you engage this audience as well.
We’d like to tell you a bit more about the Lao language.
Lao hails from a region that exhibits particularly high linguistic diversity. Not only does Laos house more than 90 indigenous languages, but many of them are entirely unrelated to Lao. Indeed, as a language from the Kra–Dai family, Lao is entirely unrelated to neighboring Vietnamese and Khmer, which stem from the Austroasiatic family, as well as the Chinese languages to its north and the Hmong–Mien languages throughout the region. However, Lao is related to Thai and is even, to a degree, mutually intelligible with it.
The Lao script may look identical to the Thai script to the uninitiated, but it’s actually different, just very similar. Lao grammar also closely resembles Thai grammar, with both languages considered highly isolating. That means Lao features little to no inflection, with nouns not changing even for plural forms. Similarly, Lao verbs aren’t conjugated for tense, mood, person, or anything else, with tense generally inferred through the use of time reference words like “yesterday” or “tomorrow.” This lack of grammatical markers doesn’t necessarily make Lao easier—it often results in more ambiguity, which means you’ll need to rely on bona fide professionals to ensure your Lao subtitles accurately reflect your script.
Conquering the Lao-speaking market with our Lao subtitles
Whether you’re eying a target audience in Laos or northeastern Thailand (or both), our Lao subtitling team is here to help. As native speakers from around the Lao-speaking world—including from Vientiane, elsewhere in Laos, and all across northeastern Thailand—they’re well acquainted with the nuances of Lao, and their experience working on various other subtitling projects has equipped them with the skills they need to help you make your TV series, documentary, film, game, or online video a success in the region.
In the event that your script contains technical jargon, don’t worry—our Lao subtitling team can even handle esoteric language! Simply let us know what discipline you need an expert in, and we’ll match you with the right Lao subtitler for the job.
You can start your Lao subtitling adventure today by sending us a message—it’s that easy!