English subtitle amendments/ changes

Contributing
1

Firstly, thank you to the wonderful translators etc who work so hard to produce subtitles for the shows on ViKI!

If I notice an error in grammar or word choice in English subtitles, how do I go about submitting changes?

Also, I’d be very happy to contribute to the process but English is the only language I speak to a high enough level to be useful. Is there a way I can volunteer in a proof reading or similar role for the creation of subtitles?

2

You can always message the CM or editor (if they have one) with the timecode and episode and what the mistake is, but usually, if an editor is present, they will correct those mistakes when they review the episodes :slight_smile:

I don’t think you can correct changes if you aren’t part of the team.

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3

If it is an on-air drama, you can see on the main page if episodes are free for other languages. That means the procedure of final edit is done, if you still see mistakes afterwards I would contact one of the editors. Try to be nice, they get a lot of hate these days it’s a harsh world out there.
I wouldn’t contact the editors before that point.

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4

And with regards to your other question about volunteering, you seem to be a candidate for the English language Editor. You can start off by contacting some of the more established ENG Editors (take a look at the channel wall of the more popular projects/series) and offer to help out on their next project. This way you can learn the ins and outs of the position, as well as generally how teams work on Viki, which is quite important.

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5

If you want to contribute with only English, there are two things:

  1. Caption. Write the English subtitles when it’s an English-language movie or series, or if there are hard-subs printed on the copy.
  2. Edit. When the Korean-English or Chinese-English subbers have finished their work, then the Translation Editor comes to check whether the translation is right, and then is the turn of the English Editor, who takes care of the English spelling, grammar and syntax, as well of continuity (of spelling, titles, nicknames etc).
    You could also do a third thing, which has nothing to do with English:
  3. Segment. Create, on the video timeline, the specific placeholders where the subtitles are going to go so that they are synchronized with the speech. This is a specialized skill, you have to undergo training (it typically takes from 2 to 3 months), but the trainers are few and overworked, so the waiting list is long.

Since it’s your first time, I strongly suggest you look at older shows, as moderators are more likely to hire an unknown person. There’s another reason as well, if you don’t have vikipass, you won’t even be able to access on-air shows. When you will have completed 3000 subs, you will be a Qualified Contributor and you will get a free vikipass, enabling you to access the majority of shows.
So find a show which has finished airing but is not yet completely subbed, look at the cover page (that ridiculously long image on the drama’s main page) where they list the team members and see whether they have an English editor or not. Then write a p.m. to the moderator. If the moderator’s name is not a link, note that the format is
http://www.viki.com/users/hereyouputthename
You’re more likely to find work in a Chinese or Taiwanese drama because they are not as popular as the Korean ones.
Ah, and you may want to add your name to the English editor thread I just created today.
https://discussions.viki.com/t/english-editors-thread/23078. I included some useful resources too.

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6

Thanks so much for your replies! They have given me a good idea of how to offer my services. :slight_smile:

7

Great introduction for a newbie :slight_smile:

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