About Translation
I've seen a lot going around in the last day or so about people who do translations and whether or not they should be. I thought it was a very interesting discussion and I agree with a lot of the points, so I wanted to address a little as to why I continue to post my article translations here and a bit about the process of my translation, which to be clear, is very much not at a professional standard. The conversation wasn't about me and my blog specifically, but I still think it's important to reflect on.
I've thought about it a lot, whether I personally should be posting my translations publicly even though no one actually reads this little blog, particularly since my writing style needs so much work. There really is a lot more to translation than just understanding what you're translating; being able to write well in the language you're translating into is important, as well as style of speech, researching your material... it's not an easy job. Translating is not the same skill as foreign language ability, and it's one I've been working on getting better at and studying the workings of in order to do a better job at it. And I know that I'm not up to scratch yet! I deliberately don't post them to twitter etc because I feel like then I would lose control of my output even more - and that people would expect lots of quick translations, which I'm not willing to do. I do them when I have time, because they do take time and I want them to be as accurate as possible.
When it comes to translating articles, I follow a process which I will continue to refine. At the moment, the process looks like this:
1. I read the article in full so that I know what I'm working with.
2. I type out the Japanese, as is (I make sure it's identical in terms of kanj/kana). I type out all of it! It may sound crazy, and it obviously takes longer to do it this way. But for a start I feel like it makes me think about the words more carefully, and I personally prefer to translate alongside the source. It does wonders for my back to not keep bending over it the whole time, makes it easier for me to revise later. And it makes it extremely easy for someone else to check my work later.
3. Since I like to do articles containing the whole group (I only translate Sexy Zone at the moment because I have the interest, background context for the most part and a sense of their tone) I focus one translating one member at a time. Time is a resource I often lack, so this is a natural break in the material for me. I do one member, read back and revise my phrasing and then I do the next member when I next have a chance. Sometimes this takes more time because...
4. I research what they're talking about. If they are talking about somewhere they went, or a book, movie, co-star, I look it up and read about it. If they starred with that person in more than one thing, I want to know about it in case that becomes relevant. If they're talking about a place, it helps to know about it because that might give context that is lacking in what they actually said, but that could be useful to know when translating.
5. I also spend time researching their word choices. It doesn't matter that I understand what they're talking about - there is room for me to be incorrect, and room for nuances that I hadn't realised. I want to be as accurate as possible so I research research research! As far as I'm concerned, professional translators also research so why would I think I know better than them! There are occasions where I don't feel 100% happy with what I've written but need to move on - I highlight the parts I was unhappy with, keep notes on it and go back to these in the revision stage.
6. When I've finished translating all the members, I revise my work. I leave space between finishing and revising so that I'm doing it with a clearer head. It's too easy to get tangled up in a certain phrase otherwise. The revisions are to retain the meaning whilst refining the English translation and make it sound more natural.
7. Once I've finished revising it, it gets checked by a native speaker (my Japanese teacher). She is a qualified Japanese teacher rather than just a regular native speaker, and she speaks fluent English. She reads all of it alongside the translation to make it easy to spot errors or misunderstandings. If I'm particularly unhappy or unsure on something I leave it highlighted for her as well. We run through the translation together and discuss it piece by piece, allowing her to correct or go over anything which feels wrong to her. Being a teacher, she can explain very clearly, and it means that I improve further through her understanding and expertise. We also discuss what they are discussing which makes it more interactive and fun. The part with her is the part I like the most, because the rest is stressful haha.
8. I tweak the translation based on her comments, as part of the checking process with her. It means she is reading what I change it to and that I know she's happy that I'm correct.
9. I copy the text to a different file and remove the Japanese. I leave it an hour or so and then proofread it from an English perspective. English is my native language, but it takes me a number of revisions throughout the process to get my writing to sound more natural - because writing is also a skill, and one that I am always working on. This final step allows me to make sure I captured everything I need to rephrase (usually reorder the way I've phrased something, I don't really remove or change words at this stage) so that it sounds more natural.
10. I post it up here once I'm done, with a few thoughts on what they said.
It is only because my teacher thoroughly checks my work and discusses it with me that I feel comfortable to post it here. What leaves me less comfortable is my writing itself needing work, because writing is such an important part of translation. That said, I decided (for now at least) that I will continue to do so. If I were worried about errors, I wouldn't post them, but since they are checked by a native speaker (who speaks fluent English) I prefer to share them because SZ international fandom is not big and not a lot gets subbed or translated. And when things are translated it tends to be on twitter where future fans are unlikely to ever see it. It's a difficult fandom for people who don't speak Japanese, and a lot of the comms aren't maintained. In this instance I prefer to share.
I know I don't post the original source - and I'm not going to. I know a lot of people are happy to put materials like that on their blogs, but I'm not going to put up material that might get noticed by the publisher and have my blog get taken down. This is a personal blog and I don't want to make my translation posts friends only because that's just another barrier for new fans. I want people to be able to get into Sexy Zone with less barriers! So that's why I don't put the source material up or any of the pictures. It has however been checked every time.
To be honest, no one reads this anyway and I don't exactly do it for likes and such, but if anyone does read this and has thoughts on translation processes or improvements, I'm always interested. I spend quite a bit of time working on it and learning about translation and what professional translators processes are, so I won't be offended if you have suggestions.
I've thought about it a lot, whether I personally should be posting my translations publicly even though no one actually reads this little blog, particularly since my writing style needs so much work. There really is a lot more to translation than just understanding what you're translating; being able to write well in the language you're translating into is important, as well as style of speech, researching your material... it's not an easy job. Translating is not the same skill as foreign language ability, and it's one I've been working on getting better at and studying the workings of in order to do a better job at it. And I know that I'm not up to scratch yet! I deliberately don't post them to twitter etc because I feel like then I would lose control of my output even more - and that people would expect lots of quick translations, which I'm not willing to do. I do them when I have time, because they do take time and I want them to be as accurate as possible.
When it comes to translating articles, I follow a process which I will continue to refine. At the moment, the process looks like this:
1. I read the article in full so that I know what I'm working with.
2. I type out the Japanese, as is (I make sure it's identical in terms of kanj/kana). I type out all of it! It may sound crazy, and it obviously takes longer to do it this way. But for a start I feel like it makes me think about the words more carefully, and I personally prefer to translate alongside the source. It does wonders for my back to not keep bending over it the whole time, makes it easier for me to revise later. And it makes it extremely easy for someone else to check my work later.
3. Since I like to do articles containing the whole group (I only translate Sexy Zone at the moment because I have the interest, background context for the most part and a sense of their tone) I focus one translating one member at a time. Time is a resource I often lack, so this is a natural break in the material for me. I do one member, read back and revise my phrasing and then I do the next member when I next have a chance. Sometimes this takes more time because...
4. I research what they're talking about. If they are talking about somewhere they went, or a book, movie, co-star, I look it up and read about it. If they starred with that person in more than one thing, I want to know about it in case that becomes relevant. If they're talking about a place, it helps to know about it because that might give context that is lacking in what they actually said, but that could be useful to know when translating.
5. I also spend time researching their word choices. It doesn't matter that I understand what they're talking about - there is room for me to be incorrect, and room for nuances that I hadn't realised. I want to be as accurate as possible so I research research research! As far as I'm concerned, professional translators also research so why would I think I know better than them! There are occasions where I don't feel 100% happy with what I've written but need to move on - I highlight the parts I was unhappy with, keep notes on it and go back to these in the revision stage.
6. When I've finished translating all the members, I revise my work. I leave space between finishing and revising so that I'm doing it with a clearer head. It's too easy to get tangled up in a certain phrase otherwise. The revisions are to retain the meaning whilst refining the English translation and make it sound more natural.
7. Once I've finished revising it, it gets checked by a native speaker (my Japanese teacher). She is a qualified Japanese teacher rather than just a regular native speaker, and she speaks fluent English. She reads all of it alongside the translation to make it easy to spot errors or misunderstandings. If I'm particularly unhappy or unsure on something I leave it highlighted for her as well. We run through the translation together and discuss it piece by piece, allowing her to correct or go over anything which feels wrong to her. Being a teacher, she can explain very clearly, and it means that I improve further through her understanding and expertise. We also discuss what they are discussing which makes it more interactive and fun. The part with her is the part I like the most, because the rest is stressful haha.
8. I tweak the translation based on her comments, as part of the checking process with her. It means she is reading what I change it to and that I know she's happy that I'm correct.
9. I copy the text to a different file and remove the Japanese. I leave it an hour or so and then proofread it from an English perspective. English is my native language, but it takes me a number of revisions throughout the process to get my writing to sound more natural - because writing is also a skill, and one that I am always working on. This final step allows me to make sure I captured everything I need to rephrase (usually reorder the way I've phrased something, I don't really remove or change words at this stage) so that it sounds more natural.
10. I post it up here once I'm done, with a few thoughts on what they said.
It is only because my teacher thoroughly checks my work and discusses it with me that I feel comfortable to post it here. What leaves me less comfortable is my writing itself needing work, because writing is such an important part of translation. That said, I decided (for now at least) that I will continue to do so. If I were worried about errors, I wouldn't post them, but since they are checked by a native speaker (who speaks fluent English) I prefer to share them because SZ international fandom is not big and not a lot gets subbed or translated. And when things are translated it tends to be on twitter where future fans are unlikely to ever see it. It's a difficult fandom for people who don't speak Japanese, and a lot of the comms aren't maintained. In this instance I prefer to share.
I know I don't post the original source - and I'm not going to. I know a lot of people are happy to put materials like that on their blogs, but I'm not going to put up material that might get noticed by the publisher and have my blog get taken down. This is a personal blog and I don't want to make my translation posts friends only because that's just another barrier for new fans. I want people to be able to get into Sexy Zone with less barriers! So that's why I don't put the source material up or any of the pictures. It has however been checked every time.
To be honest, no one reads this anyway and I don't exactly do it for likes and such, but if anyone does read this and has thoughts on translation processes or improvements, I'm always interested. I spend quite a bit of time working on it and learning about translation and what professional translators processes are, so I won't be offended if you have suggestions.