Annoying subtitles that bothers Me/Myself and I/ to see them here at this site

General Discussion
454

The thing is you are putting words here that you yourself are saying to yourself.

What do you gain from blaming me from not using the word ‘it’’ like it’s such a crime?

mirjam_465
I know my worth when it comes to languages and there is nothing you can say to make me feel insecure in that area.

If that statement in your heart was true; you wouldn’t take everything that I wrote here, personally like if I was saying it ONLY to you. On the other hand, you are the one finding fault with everything I do here. You have the right to your opinion without accusing me or Portuguese people of doing something that’s very common to do which is missing a word here and there.

I discussed in the other thread a method I used, and you can be against it, but you have to respect what I wrote there even if you don’t agree with it, not debating it throughout like what I’m doing it’s all wrong, and I have no right to even make a mention of it.

455

This is an example where in my English sentence I didn’t use the word it, and me, myself and I, will explain the reason why I did it.
https://discussions.viki.com/t/abuse-of-forum-functions/54115/23

angelight313_941
That’s exactly what I want to happen: that no one can flag anyone’s post

The above statement I want to keep it as PRESENT/FUTURE. The next sentence supports that; quote/unquote : ‘‘That no one can flag anyone’s post.’’

If I wrote: That is what I want it to happen. Logically, the it would make it sound like it was a past tense statement, but I want readers to know that me, myself and I, 1,000% want right now; for the flagging comments feature to be eliminated from RVIKI site.

456

My dear @choitrio posted this link in October 2023 but I just found this great info today so I want to share it with all of you.

Most People Use Slang, Even When Unsure of Meaning | MultiLingual

A common rule of thumb that translation and localization professionals are bound to hear at some point in their career […]

Est. reading time: 3 minutes

Quoted by @choitrio
Unfortunately, many translators make this mistake.

IN CASE you don’t want to read the whole article this is interesting to know.
Source: Preply

Perhaps unsurprisingly, parents tend to find slang a bit more annoying than adults without children — about 66% of parents said they found it annoying compared to 46% of non-parents. This makes sense, given that young people tend to be the most prolific slang users and inventors — it can be hard to communicate effectively with your teenager if you’re unsure of what words like “low-key,” “ghosted,” or “on point” could possibly mean.

457

@Swedish subbers out there.

If you have the time. Do you see anything wrong in this Swedish sentence?

  1. Hyeongnim. Vad kan finnas i det tomma huset nu när den gamla damen är död?
  2. Jag är trött, ni får plocka maten själv.

I put it through several translation tools, and the English sentence don’t make sense to me, but I would love to have any input from ppl. that know Swedish and are subbers here at Rviki.

458

You’re probably not looking for my answer since they are subs that I made. But it is yet another case of: context is everything, and GT is unreliable.

For the first sentence, the English subtitle was,

  1. Hyeongnim. What could be in the empty house now that the old lady is dead?
    Context: The character is looking for something in an empty house after the old lady that lived there had passed.
    I put my Swedish sentence into GT and surprisingly got the same exact sentence as the English subtitle (for once lol).

For the second sentence the English subs were;
2. I am tired, so feed yourselves.
Context: The tavern owner was reluctant to giving the characters food and a place to sleep. In the end she gave up, offered them one room and said “I am tired, so feed yourselves.”
My Swedish sentence gets translated in GT as “I’m tired, you can pick the food yourself.” This indeed does not make sense in English, but if I were to translate “feed yourselves” literally to please GT, the phrase in Swedish would be “mata er själva.” This makes no sense in this context. “Mata” means feed as in feeding a baby or feeding a child. The tavern owner is saying “feed yourselves” when she means “help yourselves [to the food].” In this case, “Plocka maten själva” is a better choice as that means they will have to grab the food themselves (the tavern owner will not serve them the food.)
“Plocka maten” gets translated as “Pick the food”, pick as in picking something up, not pick as in choosing. This translation doesn’t make sense in English, but can be said in Swedish, though mostly used when you get food from a buffet/feast, as you “pick” various dishes.
(But I did just notice that I wrote “själv” instead of “själva”, a typo on my part)
There are honestly multiple other ways to translate “help yourselves”.
a) “Ta för er” - I chose not to use this as it has a positive indication and the tavern owner was not happy with the characters she spoke to.
b) “Ta maten själva” (Literal translation: Take the food yourselves) - This sounds wrong in English but is another viable option in Swedish that could replace “Plocka maten”, and perhaps a better phrase
c) “Hämta maten själva” (Literal translation: [go and] Get the food yourselves) - This works in English too, but could indicate that the food is rather far away, when it is almost in front of the characters. The Swedish phrase is another viable option that could replace “Plocka maten”.

I wrote these subs at 2 am last night and have not gone over and edited them yet, which I always do once I’m done with the episode. But hopefully you can see just how unreliable using GT can be, no matter how well trained it may be. The translation itself can be correct, but because AI doesn’t know how to take context into account or its lacking vocabulary/understanding of phrases, relying on it yields inaccurate results.

5 Likes
459
  1. Hyngnim, vad kan det finnas i huset, nu när den gamla damen dött?
  2. Jag är trött, ni får laga eran egen mat (or “ni får fixa maten själva”)

That’s what l would have written and it’s similar to @kristelrose but not exactly the same.

2 Likes
460

For this part, the food was being cooked or already done. But this just goes to show how important seeing the scene/knowing the context is (something an AI can’t do, yet.)
Your translations are great as always though! It’s interesting how there are many ways to translate the same thing, and at the end of the day it comes down to some personal choices.

5 Likes
461

Exactly, it’s hard translating or having a strong opinion on something we can’t see or have the full context of. The “fixa maten” could be feed yourself and in a show about old Korea or China that would have been a really really bad idea.

I’m seldom disappointed in your translations they are often on point, you and I know that there are really horrible Swedish translations here on Viki by people that might not care enough… :confused:

3 Likes
462

The example of a bad sub you showed me yesterday is worth mentioning in this discussion!

“Jag har blivit inramad” as a translation for the English “I have been framed.”
“Inramad” is a word used to frame a picture, yet if you don’t know Swedish and only look at the Google translation to English, the English sentence looks perfectly fine.

It’s sad that some show less care about the subtitles. I’m definitely not faultless, I have a lot to learn but I do my work with care, sometimes at the expanse of speed… but I’m still green and will hopefully find a balanced rhythm like you have :slight_smile:

5 Likes
463

No, don’t say that you are great and some that I have and will recommend to others when searching for a Swedish moderator. Being slow and really understanding what you are doing (and trying out different words) is better than fast and nonchalant. And 171544 subtitles according to Viki has hopefully given me some experience. lol

2 Likes
464

maria_lavendula_77 1. Hyngnim, vad kan det finnas i huset, nu när den gamla damen dött?2. Jag är trött, ni får laga eran egen mat (or “ni får fixa maten själva”)
That’s what l would have written and it’s similar to @kristelrose but not exactly the same.

Can you please be a sweetheart, and write to me in Swedish how you would have written these two sentence since they are not exactly the same as long as the meaning is the same. Since you know Swedish. Please… :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :hugs:

PS Don’t write Hyungnim which is obviously Korean (that’s irrelevant).

465

@maria_lavendula_77
I put your subtitle on GT, and it gave me this translation in English:

I’m tired, you can cook your own food (or “you can fix the food yourself”)

Jag är trött, ni får laga eran egen mat (or “ni får fixa maten själva”)

In my opinion your Swedish subtitles were great because the translation in English was the correct format in a sentence structure, and meaning which proves all along what I had said in the other thread.

If the sentence/subtitle in ANY OL is written correctly; the translation tool WILL give the person looking for a translation in English the correct English sentence. On the other hand, if the subber doesn’t know the proper grammar/syntax or makes a typing error the GT won’t be able to give a sentence that will make sense to us.

466

I vehemently don’t agree with you on this since when I put your subtitle in Swedish I couldn’t make sense of it, and when I added @maria_lavendula_77 Swedish sentence, not only it made complete sense to me, but it’s exactly what the character in the drama was saying to the people; NOT: so feed yourselves (incorrect way to say this in English). It may sound all right to you, and many others, but @maria_lavendula_77 PROVED to me that it can be written in Swedish correctly enough so that in English it makes sense to the English reader/viewer.

My theory that we can check OL (as Moderators/other) on any translation tool, and still get great results still stands.

PS. I’m not saying you don’t know Swedish since you do know Swedish except you, yourself admitted you had not done editing yet in the drama, and made a typo.

I’m not arguing here your proficiency in Swedish, but I am arguing that Translation tools can be a source of help when needed in certain situations. Like adding All Language Moderators in rare language so they can get to have the chance to work in dramas. Instead of the UNFAIR new rule that without a Moderator in their Language they can’t volunteer to do subtitles in dramas/movies etc.

467

I am trying to do a Swedish translation from English which I know it won’t work so here it goes…let’s see how it works out.

Today, I want to eat a full course meal

Idag vill jag äta en helrätts måltid

GT itself admits the word helrätts is wrong.

For you guys that know Swedish if I add this as a subtitle: Is it correctly written in Swedish?

My English sentence was: Today, I want to eat a full course meal.

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

468

You are right about that the English reader will be confused when watching the drama.

In English: “I have been framed.” In a crime drama would mean that someone put evidence so it makes the person guilty of the crime, but he/she didn’t committed the crime: He/She was framed.

excerpt: GS
What does it mean for one to be framed?

: to contrive the evidence against (an innocent person) so that a verdict of guilty is assured. He claims that he was framed for the murder. b. : to devise (something, such as a criminal charge) falsely.

470

This is the direct quote from the English subtitles, not from my translation. You may say the English is incorrect, but it is not what my translation produced. Maria’s translation is a different way to translate it, which would also work perfectly (if it would fit the context that she wasn’t aware of). I’ve been iterating that a translation that makes no sense when translated to English can still make sense in the OL and I stand by that.

I did, but the typo didn’t make any difference in the English GT translated sentence, so fixing the typo won’t change the GT outcome.

I agree that it is unfair, especially for smaller languages where finding an active mod is near impossible. I do think that working with a mod when you are new to Viki is really important if it’s possible though. Even though not everyone get to have a mod as wonderful and welcoming as Maria, I’m sure most people still learn a thing or two about how things work on Viki from working under a Moderator. Just having a person you can ask questions is very much needed. I do think some people tend to bend the rules in cases of very small communities where finding an active mod is impossible, but instead of basing it on GT translations you are pretty much trusting the person to not be an abuser, and removing/reporting them if you learn otherwise.

It’s not correct, we don’t have a word for “full-course meal” in Swedish, the closest we have is “Trerätters middag” (Three-course meal). If the English usage of “Full course meal” refers to a meal with more than three courses, it’s possible to replace the “tre” (Three) with a different number. But if we are not given the exact information on how many courses it has, then it’s best to use a different way to express it like Maria replied with.

I’m curious though, how did GT admit that the word is wrong?

4 Likes
471

kristelrose
This is the direct quote from the English subtitles, not from my translation. You may say the English is incorrect, but it is not what my translation produced.

No, no I’m sorry. I should have been more clear on that; I’m not saying your Swedish translation was wrong, I meant to say we don’t say ‘‘feed yourself’’ in English. PS. Since @kristelrose said the food was already done in the scene, I should have added here that in English we say: Serve yourself.

kristelrose
I’ve been iterating that a translation that makes no sense when translated to English can still make sense in the OL and I stand by that.

Yes, I’m aware of that, and that is why I never argue in any Language I don’t know, and I ask questions like I did here, and you guys answered me and cleared many things too.

kristelrose
I’m curious though, how did GT admit that the word is wrong?

GT underline the words, and in the bottom gives you the alternative word you can use. It says something like this: Did you mean “Trerätters middag”= Three course meal or helrätts måltid= Full course meal?
I don’t know if you see it bc is right next to the small microphone.
Since I don’t know Swedish I can’t tell the difference.
In your GT you have this feature? The microphone teaches us how to pronounce in OL too.

1 Like
472

deleting this

473

Laughter the best medicine from annoying subtitles on other places not here at viki

Male Lead tells his mom
The last person I want to marry is him.
He meant
The only person I want to marry is her.

The evil SL tells FL
Why are you the daughter of your mother’s family.
She meant to say:
Why you had to be the legitimate daughter in this family and not me?

ML tells FL
6 years ago the day my parents were born.
He meant to say:
It has been 6 years since my parents died (in an accident).

ML tells FL
Are you dead?
I’m guessing he meant.
Are you alright?

Ml tells nurse about his wife to save his mistress
Slap him Fast!
This one is hard for me because he wanted nurse to take her blood to donate for his lover.
Take out her blood fast!
Get her blood fast!

The male lead tells his Lawyer
Lawyer Zheng help me find out who owns Shi Gu’s children
I’m thinking:
Lawyer/Attorney Zheng, help me find out who is the father of Shi Gu’s children (they were twins).

ML to FL
Do you really say that?
Instead of:
Did you really said that?

Doctor tells FL (lately in all chinese movies all FL are dying of cancer)

Your condition has reached the advanced stage of Gastric Cancer.
Instead of:
Right now, your gastric cancer condition has entered the advanced stage.
(she’s been going to this Doctor when it was stage 1 only)

477

There is a Japanese Drama that is right now available in a very popular site NFX, and here at viki, and I always wanted to have the opportunity to compare subtitles in a drama because it gives an idea to viewers how subtitles are not better or worse just because they are in a popular site. They both (sites/Rviki) can be of good Quality as long as they keep as close as they can with the characters dialogue in the drama.

So it turns out that the meaning from different subbers/editors in both site were interpreted differently, but I also noticed something very important EMPTY segments are evident in both videos. It seems there is something wrong in the video as it was uploaded.on both sites.

Although on NFX some parts made more sense to me; it dawn on me that some parts here at RViki were also more clear to understand. Of course, we can be very proud to say that BOTH sites are giving their best as possible under the circumstances, and in my opinion there is a problem with the video quality or the placement of the segments. No matter what I will make sure to enjoy it once I choose to star watching again since I do love Japanese dramas. I’m just not in the romance mood these days.

Some funny subs in movies dramas on YT

The ML ask condition of FL

How about it?

instead of: How is she? This terrible subtitle was from a human since AI NEVER add question marks and this sentence had them at the end.

The Dr. answers the ML about the FL

She doesn’t have much to do.
INSTEAD OF: She doesn’t have much time.

So here comes the icing on the cake.
ML tells FL

You are still a citizen of my country. As long as we don’t divorce you still are my wife.

So the ML tells the FL

I will go to the Hospital and cook for you.
We all know where you cook is called: KITCHEN. Yes, he was heading to the Kitchen not the Hospital. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

The SFL tells FL
I just have to hook my finger (and he’ll come to me).
We all know the saying goes: I just have to snap my fingers… :rofl:

So SFL wants to remove a girl so she can sit where she doesn’t belong.

You don’t want to give my place to me? First, if it’s hers: why ask for it?

You don’t want to give your seat to me?