Reading novels by translator

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by IceLight303, Oct 27, 2019.

?

Dropped series

  1. Yes, I have translators I don't like

    33 vote(s)
    75.0%
  2. I don't really care, just want to read

    9 vote(s)
    20.5%
  3. Hasn't happened but I might

    2 vote(s)
    4.5%
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  1. IceLight303

    IceLight303 Well-Known Member

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    I think I both apply. In general I'm really happy with the translators. However there are some groups/solo translators that I don't like because of their online behaviours. For example being really aggressive with advertisements. I hate when I have a lot of ads pop up and I can't even read the release because there are so many adds. And some of them are imbedded in the text so I click on them when scrolling because they are invisible. I am too afraid of getting a virus to be comfortable with that. Also don't like it when people pick up translations that are already being done. I had a group drop a series because other people kept picking up the series. It made the translator and editor feel bad. There is a difference between a dropped series and a translator slowing down for a little while due to life.
     
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  2. mir

    mir Well-Known Member

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    *looks at 'Show Ignored Content' button*
    Yes.
     
  3. adorkablehiko

    adorkablehiko Ryuunosuke Tsunashi’s Hoe

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    I avoid any novels on a translator’s site if:
    • Their site isn’t reader and/or mobile-friendly
    • They add their TL notes in the middle of the story
    • Keeps な, です, わ or any other similar stuff in their translations (mostly because it breaks the immersion)
    • Too many ads, especially those that redirect and/or open new tabs. That’s just asking for a virus.
    • Keeps the rest of the story behind a paywall (aka they don’t release it for free ever), which I rarely find tbh
    • Or just has been involved in a lot of translator drama
    • Preachy
    On the other hand, I have translators that I trust with all my heart. If a novel sounds interesting and they’re translating it currently, I wouldn’t hesitate to read it.
     
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  4. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    I avoid poor quality. Abysmal grammar, barely edited MTL, stuff like that. I usually do that by seeing it first, but I guess I know a few translators or groups to expect it from.
     
  5. Junweizhu

    Junweizhu Well-Known Member

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    I had a reader who commented in broken english that he wanted to kill me because he couldn't understand my translation. It was in pretty decent english though.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2019
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  6. kobatochandaisuki

    kobatochandaisuki Well-Known Member

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    when u see the novel you loved and translated becoming bad...it just cuts you the motivation
     
  7. Rumby

    Rumby Rumbly Tumbly

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    I tend to avoid/drop tl that turn chapters into images or TL who post' I hate aggregators stop stealing 'after every sentence esp if it curses (I use a text reader on sites cuz I listen to novels and multitask so I'd rather not scroll)
     
  8. TheJudge

    TheJudge Well-Known Member

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    As long as the tl is better than mtl I'm usually fine with. However i do have certain tl groups/sites i tend to avoid reading from and its not due to a grudge like webnovel, they actually release chapters very quickly and most of them are fairly decent in terms of edit/tling.

    I have stopped reading jp novels whole and rarely read any cn novels as they are all the same and have moved on to k novels. The problem with these novels is that the tl speed is too slow for me to keep my interest up or so slow that the translator themselves stopped translating. I'm not going to name the groups but i just wished they would up their tl speed from 1 chapter a week to at least 3.There is a group which has some amazing novels, but are notorious for dropping the novel half way in after a year or two or work and the novel falls into oblivion. I hate nothing more than spending dozens of hours reading a novel that I love cut off and never finding out what happens in the end. I avoid jp novels becare 99% of them are too childish with a beta mc or ignorant one, cn novels because they pretty much have their own stupid cliches but pretty much all end up having a similar rushed/boring ending. K novels has the most variety, but the translating speed on them is either very slow or gets dropped due to money issues.

    In short as long as the novel has a steadly amount of releases per week and isnt as bad as mtl I'll give it a try.
     
  9. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    In their defense, some stories turn to crap midway. If the translator had continued, you as a reader might have dropped the series too.
    I guess that is why for profit translations are better, since companies will usually continue a story to the end even if the author retcons the crap out of it and the protagonist becomes a totally different person and a huge hypocrite.
     
  10. TheJudge

    TheJudge Well-Known Member

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    Yes, the novel sucking half way in could def. be one of the main reasons why it gets dropped, the other is the tl does it to improve their english and for fun. This is one of the reasons i like webnovel, ww ect; because they are stable on chapter releases. Totally understanable because people need to earn money to survive, so they have to translate, even if the novel turns to crap 200 chapters in. One of the authors mentioned that on the novel they were working on for WW.
     
  11. simdimdim

    simdimdim Well-Known Member ,「Degenerate」

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    personally I find Google Translate bearable compared to other works. Unfortunately, we haven't seen a new chapter in the raws for 9 months now :<
     
  12. Defiring

    Defiring Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, had that happen with one of my projects.
    Turned real weird around like chapter 35. Didn't know that would happen.
     
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  13. jintingmei

    jintingmei Well-Known Member

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    I've had fellow translators insult my language skills even though they're not great themselves. I usually won't like the stuff they translate anyway, if I do I just read it in Chinese.
     
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