I want to translate but sadly dont know Japanese, korean, or Chinese lol

Ok so i want to translate mostly due to the fact that the novels that i am reading or have read at some point get dropped by translators because they are long or their schedules prevent them from continuing, there is also the odd a**h**e that just drops from the face of the earth with out so much as a goodbye. The problem is that as the title here says i dont know JP/KR/CH, so would it be fine to use google translate to get the general gist of it and try to use my own English comprehension to try and clean the mess it gives, or should i just cry in a corner praying that someone picks them up? Any advice would be appreciated and insults, if funny enough tolerated.

 

My advice? Give up. I'm the kind that likes good English, or I'll get tired. Fast. If you try and translate using MTL, you'll miss a lot of things, especially if it's one of those novels that machines just don't make any sense of.

Most likely, novels aren't getting picked up because it's not worth picking up. There is no money in it or readers are very rude, and a lot of them are. Very. It's like they want a TL-er to drop.

At the end of the day, if you do, do this, you'll get tired and drop it altogether, becoming those who stopped your precious novel to begin with.

 

Thats what mtl is and plenty of people do it. Honestly, do what you want.

 

Do it, maybe some people will read your novel, gain popularity and a true translator gets motivation to really translate it, it's helpful.

 

Do you want to mtl it so that others can enjoy it too or would you rather just read it yourself? There’s no need to become an mtl “transator” (more like editor) if you can just read the mtl.

If you would like to share and try at it, I just hope you put in the effort, transparency, dedication, and the perseverance. I’d suggest you try out actually editing one chapter of an MTL for yourself before you decide to go with it. “Good” MTL takes a lot of time and effort even more sometimes than normal translations and editing. Even then, there will still be flaws with the MTL. You also have to ask yourself if you have the will, skills, and time for such things.

If you truly have commited yourself to the work, the I’d suggest you start with a simple JP web novel. I’d also suggest you download a translation aggregator to help compare MTLs. Also have a note that allow proper translators who want to pick it up to do so. Also check the NU rules and communicate with readers and respond to constructive feedback. Ideally, also try to start learning the language. In addition, please be transparent that it’s MTL and don’t become one of those half-ass deceptive MTL profiteers.

 

I can only speak for Chinese. You will not be able to translate anything beyond simple Chinese correctly via MTL without understanding the language due to its reliance on metaphors, idioms and requiring context in order for a full statement to make sense. MTL has improved over the years but it is nowhere near accurate enough to be used as a translator substitute if the writing level is above, idk, maybe junior high level writing? You'll get the broad strokes, but you'll miss subtleties and various types of things that don't translate well to another language (puns, jokes, idioms) which can critically change the meaning of a passage.

This is of course dependent on the type of novel you want to pick up. The more complicated a novel, the harder it is to translate. Of course, generally speaking, the complicated ones are the ones worth translating.

 

An MTL translation is not something that a good editing would suffice to fix, but if you are confident in your english you could try to apply to translator websites that need good editors.

Just to name one, xantandminions.com has a backlog of 60 KKKBear chapters, but because of their lack of active members they still can only release 1 chapter weekly.

 

This ^ and also please make sure you upload the chapters on a site that wont lose them, I like to reread stories or certain chapters but then I find they disappeared, you can also learn the language bit by bit like I am

 

Why not try mtl and see if it is to your liking.
If you speak good English, then the novel will be readable(as in 'it doesn't hurt reader's eyes when reading the novel ' haha)

You can use different translation websites and dictionaries to help when you're not sure of a term or when you think you are missing some informations. You can even ask the readers for help.

After a few chapters, you'll have feedback on your work and you can decide if you want to continue.

 

If you want to MTL for other readers, you'll most likely need to do atleast some minimum edits to make it 'better', because if it's the same quality as they can MTL if they want to read the novel, why should they visit your site?

If you just want to MTL for yourself, that's not a problem.

 

Ohh what a conundrum
Less talking more doing.
I can't speak Korean/Chinese/ Japanese.
If I had a nickel for every time I see such threads like this.
You underestimate yourself.
You can setup a Patreon, go fund me, etc and hire a translator.
You don't even need to have any money

 

Ask yourself: why not? It may take time and perseverance if you want to improve, but it’s possible. Yolo after all. Plus, from what it seems like, your goal is to be able to understand the story and read it yourself without having to wait for the translator. So if you don’t mind missing some subtleties and making mistakes, then nothing is stopping you. Sharing the translation after being done is just an option. If you like the novel that much, the hurdles shouldn’t stop you.

 

So basically you want to become a QI translator? kappa

Jokes aside (though honestly there are a lot of mtlers afoot), take a look at lnmtl & comrade mao.

You could take a random chapter from some novel and see how well you could edit it. If it seems like something you think you could do an at least decent job of, then go for it I guess.

I will say though, if you're not going to spend time to actually look stuff up and take your time, I don't see why anyone would read your "edited" MTL and still have to wait for chapter updates when they could just use google translate and read the entire thing right away.


Basically, you don't compete with Mache Translations with speed, so unless you're actually going to put some effort into it I don't see the point personally.

Maybe you could just pretend like it's "totally not MTL" and get some of those readers that can't read for shit but have a stigma against MTL. (I'm getting flashbacks of the absolute irony from seeing comments talking shit about MTL while reading some of the shittiest "edited" MTL I've seen.)

Honestly, I would agree to this. But, morons that can't even tell that they're reading MTL probably can't even tell the difference anyway. Instead, you might even say that they can be blissfully ignorant.

Informing them that they are in fact reading MTL would mean that they won't like it anymore, thus negatively affecting them for no reason.

 

Hey guys, I want to jump 50 storeys building without any safety equipment like chute and stuff, but I don't want to die, what should I do?

 

quit playing fortnite

https://nextshark.com/chinese-mom-blames-pubg-teen-son-jumps/

 

Do it! DO IT!!

 

KKK? Is it a racist novel?

 

So MTL is fine aslong as im honest about it, keep the editing sharp, and make sure that i keep it open for people that truly know how to translate?

If so i will try to get i touch with the groups that have the novels right now and ask them if i can pick them up for MTL. Also where can i find the rules for how long a novels has to be inactive for someone to pick it up with out asking the original group?

 

You can make a spoiler thread here in NUF. That way, you can make a summary of what you read on mtl and help the community. Also, your spoilers don't have to be perfect. Instead, it has to make sense.

 

Spoken like a true entrepreneur !