Question What about machine translators sites that claim that they are translating?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Mlaser, Oct 9, 2019.

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  1. Mlaser

    Mlaser Well-Known Member

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    I was reading the fanfic Bleach Secret Intentions on the site. I think the author claimed that english is not his first english, because this the translation is terrible. But in the last chapter:
    https://web.archive.org/web/2019100...tentions/bsi-chapter-166-unexpected-visitors/

    there is a link to https://www.uukanshu.com/
    that i assume is for that fanfic original page.
    But the problem is he have a patreon. How is he claiming to translating but he forgets to remove this link?
    I think he is just MTL without any effort and gaining money with patreon. Someone have a method to verify if is that true?


    Edit: Looking at his patreon page he really says that is MTL, but i seriously think nobody edit it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2019
  2. Juno

    Juno Well-Known Member

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    U can tell pretty quickly if it’s machine translation. Besides, barely any people donate to people who translate for real, the chance of someone donating to obvious bad translations is pretty slim. The amount donated prob wouldn’t be too much anyways.
     
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  3. KukiAme

    KukiAme Well-Known Member

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  4. IceLight303

    IceLight303 Well-Known Member

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    I don't know. Maybe the link is just to show where he got it from. Telling if some is just bad at english vs MTL is hard to do. I know cause learning a second language is hard and more so with english. I'm never quite sure about Grammer rules. I've been told the Microsoft Word isn't always right.
     
  5. forecast

    forecast [Batoto Veteran] [sakurahana veteran]

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    I can't really tell people how to spend their money so I just ignore it. He does say it upfront and unless he locks all the chapters under a paywall it won't matter. It is optional
     
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  6. ATrueStory

    ATrueStory Villainesses, Historical Shit, Noble Circuses

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    Same. also up to the person to read and investigate before they want to part with their own money. I can't blame the creator for putting up a Patreon page and people are free to donate to what he's offering. Plus with a good look at TOS.
     
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  7. Mlaser

    Mlaser Well-Known Member

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    Yes. It can be the case, if this isn't in the middle of a phrase.
    I might be angrier that i should be with all this situation. And blowing things out of proportion. But i am not acessing his site anymore and reading in another page MTL.
     
  8. Not Red Yet

    Not Red Yet Well-Known Member

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    Paying for MTL? Hmm I've leave my opinion to myself since some people can't handle opinions.

    Nice boat though :blob_coffee::blob_coffee::blob_coffee:
     
  9. Ai chan

    Ai chan Queen of Yuri, Devourer of Traps, Thrusted Witch

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    If you think it is a machine translated without effort, you need to make a report on NU. That way, @runsing or @Tony can decide whether or not to ban it.

    Frankly, there has been so many cases of people using the clause 'edited machine translation' to give crappy unreadable 'translations'. We should change the standard from 'edited' to 'readable'. Just because people can eat a seahorse, doesn't mean it's edible.
     
  10. AliceShiki

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

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    As Ai Chan said, if you think it's unedited, report the novel and the mods will compare it to multiple MTL platforms to see if they can mimic the result.
     
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  11. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    It's capitalism 101
    MTL are also faster too so people like them.
    Ignorance is bliss as they say.
    Especially, willful ignorance.
    Cheers!
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Refulgent

    Refulgent Member

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    ^ I don't know if people like them so much as tolerate them, because they appreciate the speed more.

    There's no way that one person going through normal process of translation can keep up with what is "produced" from MTL, though... Even if you use MTL as a tool while doing normal translation to try and speed it up, it gets so much stuff wrong you end up just ignoring over half of what its produced anyways.

    You can certainly edit what it gives you, but if what the MTL produced is wrong in the first place, no amount of checking over grammar or making sentences flow better will fix that. :facepalm:
     
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  13. lighterxx

    lighterxx Hoshi stan before a human °^°)

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    even if you are a real translator you have no right to gain money from patreon by translating another person's work without giving them a part of the payment

    but

    idea of patreon is not ethicality but for people to support who they wish
     
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  14. Defiring

    Defiring Well-Known Member

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    I find that Translation Aggregator really help gives structure to the text. Spares me some trouble. I used to get so confused about the organization of paragraphs etc.. when translating sentence by sentence.
     
  15. Defiring

    Defiring Well-Known Member

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    Meh, you have to consider that translations, even when done through normal means, don't really bring that much money to the author. Translating a novel (from Japanese to English) can get expensive as hell. (Around 300-400 $ for an average chapter of a japanese novel, sometimes more)
    So it's usually more of a marketing thing, except for really popular novels, or for the ones that can fit with western culture seamlessly.
    Then again, you really should communicate with the authors, even if it can get really troublesome. Just keep in mind some of them get scared the second they see anything foreign and will not let you do anything, even if you pay them for it.

    If there's already a manga/anime adaptation of that novel and it's already been translated, then probably you'll never get to talk to the author and he won't care about your novel translation so... Yeah, it's complicated.
    But trust me, you'll feel much better when you have their authorization. Plus you'll even get to ask them when you're not 100% sure about how to translate something, it really helps.

    Edit: I'm speaking about Japanese authors by the way, for Chinese novels, I think it's easier to contact the author since there are people who'll handle that for you from what I've heard.
     
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  16. lighterxx

    lighterxx Hoshi stan before a human °^°)

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    Thats why authors release rights when book gets popular, imagine it like company shares, a popular book gets to bid and the highest paying would earn the translation rights

    Don't misunderstand me tho, I simply support both sides doing what they wish, I mean as long as author is not against at least, so both you and @Wujigege don't have to get sad over it o.o I think if they can earn money and if there are people who are willing, it sounds great to me already

    I just don't understand getting mad at machine translators over earning money out of it, like

    Get mad at them for logical things instead, like not editing properly, instead of having patreon lol
     
  17. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I wondering when I would get mentioned lol

    You and @Defiring are forgetting one thing: you can put the author in legal jeopardy by requesting permission when you are not offering a contract. Especially when the author already signed up with a Japanese publisher. I am not going to explain further.
    It is just to satisfy one's ego to be honest. If you want to license, get authorization, do it with a contract.
    Also, translation is actual work. Compared to what people here seem to believe.
    The Patreon pays for the translation. There is a reason book companies/ publishers need to sell thousands of books to make a profit and rarely do. Translation and publishing is expensive.
    This is the 21st century, slave labor should not be worshipped
     
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  18. lighterxx

    lighterxx Hoshi stan before a human °^°)

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    AH im talking about most Web novels, ofc if they already have contract it would be plain stupid to ask for permission

    Its same as when I open art commissions, people requesting free art

    Also I only mentioned you bcs you liked other person's post ;-; I didn't intended any rudeness im sorry
     
  19. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I am not calling you rude. I expected to be mentioned.
    Let me give you an example
    I translate this webnovel : http://ncode.syosetu.com/n6613ck/
    It has a Japanese light novel
    The Japanese light novel has stopped publishing I believe but the webnovel is ongoing
    So the author has or rather had a contract but the webnovel is still freely available.
    Unlike Korean and Chinese novels
    The webnovel is freely available, I am not translating paid works
     
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  20. lighterxx

    lighterxx Hoshi stan before a human °^°)

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    Which is logical but i dont expect everyone to be as sensible as you honestly i inow some books that even have their drama anime made yet still getting translating despite obvious ban on them
     
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