Ever since I started watching Kdramas on Viki, I’ve noticed that the translation teams sure love to use their adverbs well, in a way that I had never encountered before.
“I will eat it well.” “I will wear it comfortably.”
Normally, you say thank you when someone gives you something. That’s common courtesy, without actually committing to anything since you might not like it. Saying that you will use it well, though, is an unfamiliar concept to me. I’ve never heard anyone say it like this, especially in English. No one likes to commit to anything, after all, even if there are no strings attached.
Is this part of Korean culture and the desire of the various teams to maintain this particularity? It’s a bit strange, but I appreciate it, of course, especially since Asian culture fascinates me.
While it may not be natural in English to say to someone “I will enjoy the meal”, in Korean culture this is the equivalent for “Thank you (for the food)”. This way the viewer (yourself) is learning a bit of Korean culture as you’re watching your favorite shows. Plus, if you’re learning Korean, you’re able to do it much faster this way. It’s a win-win really.
On Viki we try to keep everything as authentic as possible without losing to much details. That’s also why we do use Oppa, Hyung,Unni etc but also the things you mentioned.
Last week I went to the cinema again (went to Robin Hood which was quite boring) and I realized once again how different our subbing is on Viki. So many details where dropped and sometimes there where cases where the actor said A. but it was translated as B.
Really once you are a segger or subber on Viki going to the cinema can become less fun because you keep thinking “I can do that better or the translations on Viki are so much better.”
Yes, it’s like when my Korean friends tell me to “don’t be sick,” (I know the Korean variant as well, but they tend to tell me it in English) when I tell them I’m feeling under the weather.
It’s weird seeing it in English, since you’d usually say something along the lines of “feel / get better,” but they say “don’t be sick” instead, meaning they don’t want you to get sick and be healthy instead. Still, I chuckle when I see it
If I am an editor I keep those Koreanisms to a bare minimum.
“You worked hard” instead of “Goodnight, see you tomorrow”. Especially when it’s an inferior who says that to the superior, it sounds totally ridiculous.
Or “Where are you sick?” (Odi appa?)
Or “Have you come?” (when the person is obviously in front of them)
Or “I will go first”.
I do keep oppa, seonbae etc. but not these. They make no sense in English.
At least “Thank you for the food” is unusual but it’s not weird, it makes sense.
The one that makes my blood boils is when the person is unconscious and obviously hurt, and they say: Come to your senses! really? Recently, I saw a drama and they put: Are you all right? The person is completely knocked out and they are asking, Are you alright?
Another one that raise my blood pressure when they start a job and as their introduction to workers they say: ‘‘Please, take care of me’’ I think in English it should say I hope we can work together well. If they are so concerned in the co workers liking them, I suggest they say: I hope we get along.
I find it annoying on Netflix when they always put the persons name instead. It makes it a completely different feeling and it’s an incorrect translation. They could at least put big sister or big brother. It’s kind of insulting to the audience. No, I didn’t know what those meant at first but then I got the gist and eventually looked them up and it’s a big part of the culture.
You don’t like it? This expression is common throughout Asia, not just Korea, and it’s used in any new environment, like your first day of school or work to show that you’re inexperienced and could use some help. I’m not sure how valid it is, but I love the concept: Taking care of the newbies who look up at you.
No, I really don’t like that expression because it makes no sense to me at all. Of course, the concept is normal and acceptable in Asian countries (I see the Japanese saying the same thing) but in the workplace, everyone’s for themselves, and you must take care of yourself (always watch your back), not your new co-workers.
If anything, if you are really good in the job, the last thing they’ll do is take care of you. They’ll talk, criticize and try to find faults in you, and even attack you with the other joining workers (not all but some will).
This things happens in every country, and there are no exceptions. Why bother saying that and getting backstabbed? I’ll stick to Hi, my name is Wanda and I hope we can work together and get along well. That was always my introduction at my first day at the job.
When I think of ‘‘please take care of me’’ I hear their inner voice saying ''yeah right, you think you are going to be better than me? Not happening. Over my dead body. hahahahaha…
This year that is not in the plans. It’s horrible post office, Doctor’s office, you name it, and we have horror stories to tell.
Driving is a russian roulette, you don’t know if you will get home alive. My niece had an accident and she never had one in 15 years that she started driving at 16 years old.
We already have 4 people killed/ hit and run. We have people attacking others with no reason whatsoever 1 died from the punch, a lady was killed while crossing. You can say this year they are getting away with murder.
This is the worst year when no one smiles or says Happy Holidays nothing all you see is the GRINCH face on them. I don’t even dare to smile anymore.
That one… yeah, you can tell none of these people had first aid training, since in some cases you really shouldn’t be moving one’s head or body (which could lead to a more serious injury and a lawsuit - I mean, obviously, if the person is in danger, for example the middle of a road, then I get it, but if not…).
I have theories about why they do it, but haven’t checked their validity yet
To be honest, I do get why they do it. I’ve watched some dramas with VIki with the comment on before and people always get confused between who is and isn’t related (they obviously skip parts of the episode or didn’t pay enough attention).
Also, for example in Dutch, it would be really weird to call someone big sis or bro, I don’t even think you call your big bro / sis that, just their name (I mean, it’s also very common for children to call their parents by name instead of mom and dad - which personally I could never do).
So I usually put something in the translation notes for the first time when someone is using those terms instead of their name (and when they use *senior to address someone), but use the name for the person going forward. I’ve worked with editors who prefer to keep the terms hyung / ge / unni / jie etc in the dramas in Dutch and those who argue against it.
I remember the days when I was one of those depressed, grouchy ppl. during christmas. I’m paying for it now. Today, I went to the hospital for my appointment and was insulted bc I told an old man the elevator was going down, not up ( he was cursing bc he had missed the elevator).
He even told me I wasn’t going to get to old age (that I was going to die). I told him I may not get to old age but I know you will go to hell bc that’s where you belong. Now it seems so funny but my blood pressure was 174/92. They cancelled my procedure and rescheduled me for Wednesday. Maybe something bad was going to happen. Some things (even bad ones) happen for a reason.
So I’m not the only one who thinks that old people are simply the worst.
Nah, just kidding. Those who were nasty young are nasty old. Those who were kind young are kind old. The soul never ages and its qualities remain the same.
Mmm… You’re not like them, though. Whenever someone asks me why I’m constantly proclaiming my love for the United States, I say it’s because people like you, dear Wanda, live there.
Honestly I strugle a lot when translating this, 'cause it gets used in different contexts as well. Like idols introducing their new song and than addressing the viewer with this sentence. “I hope we can work well together” is obviously not appropriated in this case. ‘‘Please, take care of me/us’’ seems weird as well in this situation. So I come up with stuff, probably no native speaker ever says, but brings accross the message like: “Please look favourable upon it/us/me”. No idea if this ever raised the blood pressure of anyone for beeing totaly weird
