non native english readers

Yeah but some native English speakers may not be fussed about the translation grammar quality. Others might get angry at the smallest mistake. Then you’ve got the in between people. So your answer doesn’t really work~

 

As long as it's not as bad as Google translation, then I have no problem with it.

 

As long as I can understand it, I guess.

 

thanks for all the feed back everyone! it looks like story cohesiveness and transitions are the biggest things that influence the reading experience. grammar is important but not a deal breaker.

 

I do not bother with it that much as long as it is understandable then its fine. I read a lot of MTL so it does not bother me.

 

MTL is horrible, I don't want to read that crap. You do get the general picture but all nuances are lost in translation and e.g. cultivation levels can be something awful.

Some translations by non-native English speakers are full of nonsensical sentences and even though they are intelligible it's a bit annoying, especially when new translator takes over and has worse English proficiency than the old TL'er. The good thing is they usually strive to get better over time or hire an editor and end up producing high quality translations.

So to sum it up, I'm fine as long as the meaning in original text is conveyed to reader. I also like translator's footnotes to explain things, like in Release that witch.

 

Even though writting too direct is quite dull, i hate when the novel is all about flowery bs. double hatred when even i can tell its attempt to stretch the paragraph.
by the way, mtl is pain :C

 

Imo translations get worse the further they are in the novel. In the beginning many translators put effort into it, but later they just want to get it done. Obviously I can understand their perspective, but for me it's annoying to read 10-20 "easy to fix" mistakes like typos or verb tenses.

It's also kinda annoying to read "their, they're and there" used as if the words mean the same interchangable.

The same with "was" and "were", "has" and "have",.... A poor translation has too many mistakes like this.

Oh, some translators even translate idioms like they are Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
"Muahahahaha, You've activated my "You can see, but can't see Mt. Tai" card, now you're in my domain and my techniques will yield "Twice the result, for half the effort". (Kinda funny that the last sentence just means double the result, instead of four (4) times the yield with the same effort, or 8 times the result for double the effort...)

My examples may not be good, but frequent Xianxia reader should understand what I mean. Idioms can be integrated, but shouldn't be used as if you work down a list.

If people who regularly apologize for their bad english can find mistakes in your translation: You're doing something wrong!

Most of the easy mistakes should be easy fixed by an editor/proofreader.

 

This. Good, natural English works best.
And keep the vocabulary simple. Unusual, difficult words may be good to showcase your expertise in English, but can be a pain for readers.

 

These are Amateur Translations. Some people have unrealistically high expectations but some also have very low standards when their 3rd or even 5th language is language.

People forget that stories are supposed to show and not tell.

 

AFAIK, there are actually more translators than editors. You would think that there would be more editors, but no... very few people have editors.

Therefore, stuff that could be spotted by proofreaders/editors never get fixed.