Discussion Do you think it's okay to complain a novel's translation quality?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by baejoohyun, Feb 15, 2020.

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  1. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    It's important to be polite when talking directly to the translator... But if their quality is like... Super duper low, to the point it looks like unedited MTL, then I think giving some honest feedback to them that their level is English being so low is actively hurting your understanding of what happens in the novel.

    Or like, if you see a mistake in their translation, you can always point it out for them, or if you see them frequently getting a certain structure wrongly, it might do well to point it out that it seems to be something the translator has a hard time dealing with.

    Still, it's important to always be polite when doing such things. You're in their site and you're not forced to read their novels, if you wanna be annoying and start a super rant, then at least go somewhere else to rant.
     
  2. Darkcrow.

    Darkcrow. Foul Tarnished

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    translating a chapter take hours ,I personally don't feel like complaining because i know how much that dude has gone through to translate that chapter [i know this because i tried writing a novel (i gave up after writing a chapter) ]
     
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  3. Fuyuneko

    Fuyuneko winter cat

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    It can take hours to translate or edit MTL, but it would be hard to tell whether an MTL editor spends 20 minutes on a chapter or 2 hours on a chapter.

    And, what if they say English isn't their first language. Should they get a free pass from comments because they genuinely don't know how to fix the MTL into something better?

    For example:

    Raw text: 一个女孩子睡觉那么不规矩,一张床上滚来滚去,把人当抱枕还说抱枕耍流氓?

    Google Translation: A girl sleeps so erratically. She rolls around on a bed, treats people as pillows, and talks about hooligan with pillows?

    Edited MTL version: This woman slept so erratically, she rolled on a bed, treated people as pillows, and now accusing the pillow as the holligan?

    They made an effort to fix it, but grammatically and spelling-wise, it's worse than the pure MTL version. At the same time, the last part of their edited version is closer to the real meaning.
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2020
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  4. SupremeTentacle

    SupremeTentacle Well-Known Member

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    As a translator, I see no issue with people complaining, even if they just bitch and hurl insults. If they're being dumb, I'll flame them back. If I was being dumb, I'll fix it when I stop nerdraging and realize I was being an idiot. That's just how the internet works. I don't see any reason to hold back one's thoughts out of a concern for the translator's feelings. If they're bad at their jobs and stop because they're getting called out for being bad, then there isn't really anything of value lost anyway. If they instead look to fix their garbage, then everyone serves to profit.

    This is especially true given this community's propensity to dislike poaching, even in the case that it is entirely beneficial.
     
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  5. Villager Anonymous

    Villager Anonymous Well-Known Member

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    In my country we make a big deal out of free speech because it is necessary for change, to clarify offensive and vulgar language is considered unprotected speech. I agree with this view though personally I just point out specific errors or if that seems time consuming I just stop reading.
     
  6. Villager Anonymous

    Villager Anonymous Well-Known Member

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    Also if the is too low for me to enjoy it is better for it to not be translated because it would be a waste of time and there is at least some hope somebody else will pick it up eventually.
     
  7. imK

    imK Artful Dodger

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    If it's constructive and done as an obvious attempt to help the translator I don't find it offensive. Of course they have every right to ignore it and that's okay too.
     
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  8. ludagad

    ludagad Addicted to escapist novels

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    Yes. Especially if it's straight MTL... Even if they edited the MTL, it still comes out wrong and can drastically change the original meaning (most often - changing pronouns, wrong choice for word translations, negations where they don't exist or ignored negations when there should be, skipped over words, greetings that don't make sense in English cause they need to be adapted but the MTL takes them word for word, and many more annoyances). At this point, I rather take the straight MTL, cause I can at least grasp what it originally meant. The edited MTL on the other hand, already has a big loss of info. MTL is only okay if they also used a dictionary and checked the sentences word by word, and opened google to search for idioms, internet slang, and other cultural specific stuff that needs to be adapted to English.

    So, I say it's better to complain, but don't be an asshole about it. They probably have good intentions.
     
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  9. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Another shill. :facepalm:
    Pfft!! I am sure it was a Japanese translator :blobunamused:
     
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  10. BurgerKong

    BurgerKong Well-Known Member

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    It depends on the severity and frequency of the mistakes.

    If there's a little typo or two or the phrasing is a little awkward it's not worth thinking about, but if if it's a sloppy unedited mess with worse grammar than a sixth grader then the translator might need a bit of prodding to move back on-track.
     
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  11. Yamcha

    Yamcha Friendnemy

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    Is OK to point out mistakes. Ofc is NOT OK to complain.

    But guess what, in the internet there's all kind of people. If in real life there's people that complain about a gift card because they need to pay taxes for them then just immagine what kind of weirdos are there in the net.
     
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  12. rwxwuxiaworld

    rwxwuxiaworld Well-Known Member

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    Yes. However, there is always a diff. between constructive criticism and being an arsehole.
     
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  13. ATrueStory

    ATrueStory Villainesses, Historical Shit, Noble Circuses

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    It's okay to complain. It's also okay not to listen to those complaints. It depends on who is doing the work. If you're complaining just because you can and without substance, its a reader's freedom to do so. But if the translator doesn't care, teh reader has also teh option not to care or exhaust themselves complaining.

    If it's paid, it's a different story.
     
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  14. Yamcha

    Yamcha Friendnemy

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    It is the opposite lmao, you can complain if you are paying for it. If something is free then or you liked it or just pass, no one forces you to read something for free!!!!
     
  15. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I have to correct you there friend.
    That is a myth.
    There is no assembly line churning out translators like many seem to think.
    All the good translators are quitting or getting jobs at companies like J-novel club
    and getting replaced by MTL crap
     
  16. Villager Anonymous

    Villager Anonymous Well-Known Member

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    I never said the chances were high just that there was hope, which is better than nothing.
     
  17. Yamcha

    Yamcha Friendnemy

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    No translation at all is literally nothing.
     
  18. ATrueStory

    ATrueStory Villainesses, Historical Shit, Noble Circuses

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    Kindly read my last line. If it is paid, it's a different story. People who pay will complain and those who receive those complaints are compelled to address those complaints. Heck, even paying customers with little to substance sort of complaint gets at least a spin reply. People who think themselves they are entitled to a complaint can do so while they turn into blue or harass the publisher and maybe, just maybe it might gain traction.

    Browse any comment section of any release and you can already see the sea of salt and words that are better ignored.
     
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  19. ATrueStory

    ATrueStory Villainesses, Historical Shit, Noble Circuses

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    I dare you...read the comments on that release and I assure you the salt mine would have been working overtime.
    Re: loss of info. I guess it depends on the reader. Some readers would only like the basic plot points just to follow the story. Others might be more than happy to nitpick and analyze the context/situation. Nevertheless, the reader is at the mercy of the translator when it comes to quality and for my part, I really don't expect beyond basic plot points. I'm grateful for more robust info but since it's free I manage my expectations every time.
     
  20. Villager Anonymous

    Villager Anonymous Well-Known Member

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    Possible future translations are something, nothing is something I can't read after it is translated.
     
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