No, I edit in the Subtitle Editor. I don’t watch it in the video player
I’m always amazed how they translate only half of the stuff said and with as little gusto as possible, and still get away with it.
I heard that they’re supposed to keep the subtitles short and therefore are expected to do that.
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I know. It has to be read by slower readers. But sometimes they kick out the most interesting part of what someone said. More often than not, the depth of the true meaning is lost. Or they skip something in the first half of the movie and refer to it in the second part, forgetting they didn’t mention it all thus far. And so I feel sorry for the folks who have only those subs to rely on to tell the story.
Luckily, with internet streaming, this is no longer an absolute prerequisite.
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I totally agree!
That’s always an issue, even with edited on air dramas…
Latest example I saw is this one:
English subs: Why has Buddha left his Temple today?
origin sentence: She never leaves the house. Why is she here today?
Using a religious term when it is just a simple: Why is she here today? for a story without any spiritual/religious context is just terrible… especially since it changes the atmosphere… and Chinese figures in dramas do not carelessly speak about religions as lame metaphors; they’re usually only talking about Buddha/spiritual metaphors when it is either a fantasy or old mythic story so for whatever reason the English team just changed the content and gives a wrong expression within a modern age story.
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As an English editor, I would ask the origin translator to clarify if that’s the proper meaning. When something makes no sense and seems inserted or planted out of the blue, I have a hard time just letting that go when it’s my task. Fortunately, I volunteer with people who are as careful as I try to be.
When I find myself editing a drama I’m watching, I use positive self-talk to my critical mind:
Just breathe, relax and enjoy the show.
It’s okay. Nobody’s perfect.
Let go and let the universe’s Higher Power be in control.
All you have is now. Live in this moment.
You can’t always work. It’s time to play 
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I really hope that those subtitles were eventually corrected, if the shows are still on Viki 
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Sometimes it is necessary to not want everything to be ‘perfect’ otherwise you’ll never be able to finish something 
When I see something like that I’m always unsure if I should contact the English team or not bc some may get angry when an ‘outsider’ says that the English line is not what’s said in the origin language.
So when my native language’s subbers ask me if they have to stick to the English sentences even when they know the origin language says something different I tell them they should translate from the origin language if they’re able to understand it and know it’s wrong.
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I choose to be humble and teachable so if you ever see that on something I have edited, please bring it to my attention. Thanks! 
My self-talk goes like this: How can I love until I’m 100% lovable? How can I do the job until I have all qualifications in the world? Be kind to yourself when you fall. Most people spend their life still in the nest, choosing to dull their wings until they forget how to fly. If you had COURAGE to leap, hooray! You tried, and there is always a next time. As long as we’re alive, there’s another chance! The only job where you start at the top is digging a hole.
Golf balls were made smooth, then they found after a ball had been roughed up, you could get more distance from it. So they made them dimpled! It takes rough spots to go farthest! Touching down after 211 days in space, two cosmonauts had dizziness, high pulse rates, heart palpitations, couldn’t walk for a week. In 30 days, they still needed therapy for atrophied muscles and weakened hearts. At zero gravity, body muscles waste away from NO resistance. Soviets invented a “penguin suit” laced with elastic bands to resist every move the cosmonauts make, forcing them to use muscles. We long for days without difficulty, but stamina and strength grows from use!
Harold Wilson — ‘He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.’
I believe we all live and learn 
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I love your philosophy!
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The ones where I was the editor, yes.
Nowadays they are all in shows where I am also in the team, since you cannot visit S.E. anymore if you’re not part of the team.
But sometimes I am English editor and I happen to see what the Italian team is doing or the French, or the Greek. I tend to avoid this, because it makes me angry.
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I wish you lived near me and that we could be friends in real life.
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I have a question
It’s about 14 years that korean drama Yeon Gaesomun aired by SBS, but there’s no English subs for this great drama after this one and half a decade. Why?
I just learned some Korean just by watching dramas (mostly historical) and I can read, but my vocabulary and grammar is lacking a lot since I have not been taught regularly and academic.
But I can edit some subtitles, segmenting,…as I did for Jumong subtitles that weren’t made for the Netflix ripped version I downloaded from AvistaZ. 5 years ago a member of Viki said to me: be patient, we will sub Yeon Gaesomun, but I came a week ago and and still no news about the subs and that QC member doesn’t exist anymore.
Please do a lot of people a favor by subbing Yeon Gaesomun by an expert team in Korean sageuk dramas. Because I remember there were some talking that Queen Insoo subtitles needs to be edited.
Thanks
I searched Yeon Gaesomun and it is no longer on Viki. The best I can recommend is that you request the show on Viki using this form:
If Viki would license it, then a new team would be assigned to subtitle.
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Hi! I’m new to subbing too, and how do I find a mentor or someone that has time for me?
- Go into ten recent dramas (from 2020) and find the moderator for your language.
- Make a list of the moderators to send a message to (3-5).
- Write a message in your native language about:
- who you are
- how you want to contribute (not in which dramas, but in what way - as a subtitler, editor, etc. Mention you want a mentor.)
- what is your previous experience (if any) and
- what is your motivation for contributing.
Make sure the message his written using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.
- Wait for an answer from those moderators for at least a week.
- If after a week you don’t get any response, which is unlikely, send a message to another 3-5 moderators.
My advice is to always be polite in your communication and not to be picky with your first drama/project. You don’t need to like your first project since your aim right now is just to make some contributions.
Good luck!
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Wow, thank you so much for this! I’ll try it out!
thanks, but it’s been years that i’m requesting here and also 2 years on NetFlix. i have the videos with 1080 quality, but no sub and it’s disappointing, besides that The Empress of China also needs subtitle on the 82-Episodes or 96-Episodes version, since the 74-Episodes mainland release is a cutted version and beside cleavages there are lots of Scene that’s been removed.
Also a great drama played by Sun Li “The Lagend of Mi Yue” 2015 drama also has no subtitles and it’s weird, because normally Betty Sun dramas are so popular
Most volunteers on Viki have several projects they are doing because new shows arrive daily. I don’t think you will find volunteers who wish to take on 74, 82 or 96 episodes. One historical show on Viki has only one episode subbed and stayed that way. Our Chinese subtitlers are very, very busy. Look elsewhere. Though our volunteers are unpaid, they are working constantly. NF pays their subbers.
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Do you mean the drama ‘Dae Jo-Young’ from 2006? It has a character named Yeon Gaesomun in it. I’m watching it on another site and when I saw your comment I thought you might be talking about that one. Having this drama on Viki would be nice for the viewers, but I’m not sure if the volunteers would like it because it is a huge drama with 134 one-hour episodes.
EDIT.
I have seen there is indeed a drama called Yeon Gaesomun from 2006-2007 that you were talking about. However, that one has 100 one-hour episodes so I still think
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