Pointing Out Errors?

[paraka]

I was wondering how useful it is for podficers to have listeners point out when they've made a mistake?
I know with fic many author's are ok with having typos or spelling errors pointed out, but how useful is it for podficers? It's a lot easier to edit an LJ entry then it is to go back and edit a podfic then re-upload and all that.
I could see it being really useful if it's a mistake they're likely to repeat in the future, like mispronouncing a common word or fandom specific term. But what if it's just a one off mistake?

As a follow up question, will mistakes stop you from listening to a podfic? Either by making you stop or by stopping you from listening to it again.

Personally, in the last two days I've re-listened to podfics that had mispronunciation errors. In one fic it's of a fandom specific term. I haven't really examined if that has made me listen to the podfic less, although the word is used often and I haven't listened to the podfic as often as my love of the fic should cause. In the second case, it's a podfic I really love, but a podficer I love and it's a one off word unlikely to ever come up in her other podfics, however it bothers me so much that I started cringing 5 minutes before the mistake happened in anticipation, the mistake was memorable enough for me to be able to anticipate it 5 minutes in advance and it prompted me to make this post.

Comments

[aethel]

Pronunciation mistakes can't make me stop listening unless I absolutely can't understand the reader...and I've never encountered a podfic like that. (I did stop listening to a podfic where the reader sounded like she had too much saliva in her mouth. I kept thinking "swallow, goddammit!" and lost track of the story.)

A possible exception: mispronouncing a major character's name. I probably wouldn't mention it to the reader, but maybe they'd want to know?

The only type of mistake I'd really want to point out is an editing mistake--where the reader re-read a line and then forgot to remove the first take. It can be fixed without re-recording, unlike pronunciation errors.

[monanotlisa]

"Ronan" instead of "Ronon" would make me stop. Just, y'know. ;)

[paraka]

Pronunciation mistakes can't make me stop listening unless I absolutely can't understand the reader...
Pronunciation has only made me stop listening once in recent memory (although there are a few that I'll never re-listen to, due to accents) and actually it wasn't a mispronunciation in that case but an alternate pronunciation (according to the dictionary, I had never actually heard anyone say the word that way before). It was a word that was being used repeatedly in the fic, otherwise I would have just gritted my teeth through it.

A possible exception: mispronouncing a major character's name.
I have actually come across podfic where readers have done that. I think too I'm also more sensitive to fandom specific terms. The first example I gave in my post, the reader kept mispronouncing naquadah. Or I've listened to fics where the reader couldn't say Athosian or Sateda. Those are words I can't assume the deviation is due to different dialects or accents since those words only exist in one form, on the show. So while I'd be ok with John saying "tomahto" if the reader isn't North American, it's going to be weird for me if Teyla calls her people "Athuseeans" or if Ronon says he's from "Sadea"

It can be fixed without re-recording, unlike pronunciation errors.
Yeah, I can see that. Which is why I'd be a lot more hesitant to point out a one off error. The one off error I was thinking of above had the reader mispronounce an OCs surname. It happened once in the fic and it's unlikely that she'll ever have to say that name again in podfic. Is there much value in telling the podficer? Probably not (although since she said she'd like to know I did tell her). However if they're someone who's planning on podficing a lot in a specific fandom and they consistently mispronounce common words, or fandom specific words, wouldn't it be beneficial for them to know? So that they don't make the same mistakes in future podfics?

[aethel]

Concerning fandom pronunciation issues, I think there's also a distinction to be made between book and tv/movie fandoms, where anyone familiar with the source text for the latter knows how certain words are pronounced, but the same isn't true for the former. Who's to say what the "correct" pronunciation of Aziraphale is?

But yeah, pointing out fandom mispronunciations could be very useful for the reader.

[paraka]

That is very true. And even in TV/Movie fandom it can be hard. In Stargate, how many different pronunciations of Goa'uld made it into canon? Or, like in Torchwood, where it's canon that the pterodactyl is named Myfawny, but they've never actually called her that in the show.

[pandarus]

::whispers::

The name's Myfanwy, not Myfawny. It's a fairly well-known Welsh name, and in English it's pronounced, afaik, Miff-ANN-whi. (Or you could make an argument for writing it Mivv-ANN-whi, I suppose.)

Sorry! Sorry, not trying to be a dick - just, we're embracing the pedantry, right? And you sound a bit bemused about the name?