The novel I am translating has been taken by another

So I have been translating the 1st chapter of the novel The Daily Task Of Preventing My Disciple From Turning To The Dark Side but I just saw on NU that the chapter 1,2 and 3 have been translated by another person.So in a sense,they “took” the novel I was translating.I'm not mad, I'm just confused.I'm not mad because I wanted to translate this novel because I wanted to read it since I'm not that good in Chinese.So by translating it I was able to read the chapter in English.So if another person translate it,I can still read the novel but without me having to translate it.It's fine by me,it's just that I was going to release the 1st 1/2 of the chapter then the second half.What do I do with the translation I did?

The other translator said they use machine translation so I could help them check their accuracy by sending them the translated chapter? Idk

The only thing I'm not too happy about is me having wasted time by having translated the chapter if another has already done it (mind you when I took this project it has been untranslated and no one picked it up). I could translate with them but I prefer working by myself and editors,TLC so I don't think I could.

I don't know what to think,I finally found a TLC and editor and then I discover that another translator has translated it.

I just wanted advices and idk someone to talk about this situation.So any thoughts?And now that I think about it,I still want to translate a novel so I'll have to look for another projects which will take time,so I'll have this to do too.

 

Normally they wouldn't do that, if they aren't disrespectful. I heard that one can have the right to be the sole translator of a series somehow but don't know how sorry...

 

it looks like the other guy is faster at translating. If your only real wish is to read the novel, i say pair up with him. He may be able to TL by machine translation and just run it by you before release, check if there isnt something he missed, and it can help improve your chinese too. I see no reason to work seperately or just give up the translation when you can work together instead, if thats fine with you

 

Well, basically what we are doing here is a Fan Translation.
We translate as a fan.
If you think the translation is no good, then, of course, you can help correct the translator. Or if you think it was really no good, you can retranslate from the beginning.
Of course, you can alternate the translation.

 

Firstly thank you for translating, well about that since you know theyre doing mtl why not release your own version which is more accurate or you could cooperate with them which is going to be hard since theyre mtl while you are not

Btw is it qidian novel? If it does find another one that isnt

 

hmm @Yukkuri Oniisan @Ai chan @lygarx may can give you some good advice~

 

true, but then again did he know someone else was doing it? sometimes they dont and it causes problems, but it wasn't clear whether or not it was known, OP didn't really specify on that point.

 

Oh, I didn't think about this point. You are right, thank you.

 

Normally this wouldn't happen.

If you want to continue the project, do so. MTL is mostly bottomfeeding anyway; the quality and accuracy are both very low.

That's how I feel anyway.

 

kumo desu ga nani ka goes to similar one~ re translate~

 

cant deny that, the majority is pretty low qulaity. However, i have to say that if the person actually knows some chinese in addition to using good MTL techinques and tools? It can make a decent translation with above average speed. Wont be WW quality, but not that bad either.

 

I really want to retranslate Kenja no Mago...... The translations after Japtem's one irked me greatly...

 

Have you talked with the person tling ?

 

At least you were only on chapter one. And didn't waste more time like if you were on chapter 5? I know it's not great but it's something

 

you can~ after you focus on your main project~

 

It's not a qidian novel, I also don't know for sure if they knew I was translating it.Weeks ago,I made threads looking for Chinese BL novel recommendation to translate,then after having decided on a novel I made a thread asking for advices and tips for translators.I don't even know if they have a NU account.

 

they do....

 

No I just found out today,this morning.I don't spend a lot of time checking which novel chapter have been release that is not on my favourite so I did not know.

You know who it is?

Is it something like BustingChe... Something something

 

yeap ..i pmed her o/

 

Exactly!

The only real solution that you can find is through doing the above, contacting the person currently translating and describing your circumstances ploitely.

1. Walk away and just read his translation. And just feel bad about what could happen,or some other regret.
2. Talk with him and come to a decision.
3. Or, without talking to him just launch your own version of translation.

I think that is about all you can do here.