The golden way of editing ... Or is there one?

It’s not that much to ask, when you think about it. We are just used to not asking for anything.

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@glykeria @irmar @lutra For the drama where I am bosslady, I actually am “abusing” the lolspeak language to write down formal vs. informal. I did this for a whole episode.

Irmar you are right. Once the formalities are set, they pretty much don’t change. But…there are exceptions so I list those in TD.

These charts and things I don’t know how to use. However at the request of a language moderator I used my elementary tertiary language skills to type short descriptions for that team.

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It wouldn’t have to be a table, since it seems Team Notes has only the basic text functions. But for example:

Person A to Person B - formal (F)
A to C - F
B to A - informal (IF)
B to C - F
C to A - IF
C to B - IF

or All persons to person C - F

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Apologies, but I did read your post and I am now confused.

This is still a volunteer site - and absolutely no one can force me to work on a drama against my will. No one has interesting photos of me eating donuts while jet-skiing, or anything they would be able to use to compel theoretically not only my presence, but cooperation on ANY drama I am not willing to work on!

I have worked on and completed some non-historical dramas - friends asked, I helped, and other languages got the good of it, I see no reason to worry this, it was my own choice! How could it not be? Was I into the story? no. But must we all be in love with a drama to complete it, to see our word made good? NO.

It is easier when this is the case, yes.

It is possible you have me confused with another and am paying me a large compliment most likely. :slight_smile:

At any rate - well, I have editing to do - so I shall take my leave. :slight_smile:

Some episodes await my unseen hand to make them ready to view.

GeNie of the Lamp Nine Yin True Classic Manual Restoration ritual now COMPLETE! JIA YOU!

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You did?!?! That’s awesome!! How did you eat while jetskiing? Can you jetski with one hand?!?! Jet skiing is considered an “extreme sport.” I want to do this too (jetskiing).

Ι had made a thread here asking for formality level guidance some time ago!
https://discussions.viki.com/t/ko-en-subtitlers-please-put-formality-level-in-team-notes/12036/6

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I recently encountered a “bi-currency-case” worst case scenario for me. Dollar in front Won at the end … I guess 5 million Won. I really don’t like such subtitles.

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Can you link it, please?

Hahaha! That must be a typo :smiley:

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Must be a pre-edit version. Prob from a newbie subtitler too.

@jadecloud88
I guess you will be shocked, but this is a drama from summer 2014 …

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What? Really? You’re right. In that case, I am :astonished:

PS: I think it was an oversight. I don’t think it would have been left unedited if ‘seen’.

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Unfortunately, there are other “oversights” too, the drama had 5 editors and later in the episode, or an episode later, the amount mentioned turned into 5 000 Dollar.

It’s not the only thing I saw and I am not even a native English speaker, but when in sentences the subject is “it” and the next word “that”, and in this case only can be the subject as well it is confusing. Or a pronoun standing before a verb and after it.
…me xxx me, of course I can overlock something like that. I know.

Idk about that team (or even WHAT DRAMA), but when you do notice an error like this DO TELL THE ENGLISH TEAM! Even though we as a team looked over the subtitles 4x, I still found errors!!! So those were corrected.

I really appreciate when these errors are brought to my attention, and I noticed other editors on the English team do too!

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@lutra @sophie2you

I don’t know which drama this scene came from either. I understand it can be confusing. I understand there are oversights (and will continue to have) no matter how many are in the editing team and have looked over each and every sentence. Not to mention the vast experience of the team or the number of projects the volunteers have taken on.

So, I agree with sophie2you. Whenever we see ‘errors’ as we watch the dramas, it is desirable to notify the team concerned, be it the CM, language mod, or editing team. Or, to ensure something is done, notify all of them :wink:

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I usually don’t mind when editors improve on my subtitles to make it better. Although I don’t normally have time to go back to see how the subtitles are edited, when I first started subbing, I used to go back and see how things were improved so I can learn, too. This is before subtitles got locked. Now that they are locked once completed, I don’t bother going back to look. What does bother me is when editors change the words or sentences that essentially change the meaning. If the meaning isn’t clear, I wish they would ask instead of just guessing and changing the sentences.

As for currency, I usually sub in won and then put approximation of USD amount in parenthesis. For example, I’d put something like “500,000 Won ($500)

Since I live in America, I mostly translate for those who are familiar with USD. I don’t assume most people would know how much 500,000 Won would be, just like I forgot how much 500,000 Lira is in USD. Although I don’t calculate exact conversion using that day’s conversion rate, if I put in approximation in dollar, it will give viewers general idea of how much they are talking about.

I know that $ symbol is used for other countries, too. But it looks really strange to put in “500 USD” to me. So I just do what I can to cover what I know.

I’m assuming other language subbers will translate that amount into their own currency, either using the actual amount in Won or using the approximation of US dollar amount.

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Hi -

With regard to money - it is possible not all character sets include the Dollar Sign - so I tend to write out the word dollar or use USD as it is the international abbreviation if possible. In the case of ancient measures, I give the US and metric both - along with the ancient one - nothing wrong with teaching something to the studio audience.

I try to see it as both a viewer who does not know the history or customs might and anticipate questions if I can. I also try to keep an eye on “how on earth they’re going to translate this into say, GERMAN”>

That’s about all I have to say really - I haven’t read this thread close, because, yes. I am busy editing. And I’m in serious trouble if I haven’t got the basics down by now…?

Lamenting the unfinished elegy

I just watched this https://youtu.be/U0KSIZekyrs and I remembered your post.

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Good discussions such as this shouldn’t be buried.

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After reading most of the comments on this thread, I realized that being an English editor is no easy feat. I have been toying with the idea of working on a few projects as an English editor since that position seems to be hard fill and I want to help out, but now I am not so sure. I usually sub from English to Spanish, so I know how the subtitling process works. I am fluent in English and am currently pursuing my B.A. in Creative Writing, so I know the grammar rules and all that jazz. However, I am wondering if there is a way I could test as an English editor to see what the job is like? Many of the other editors in this thread have expressed that being an English editor is not only about knowing the grammar, but about knowing the nuances of the language and making a connection between the characters, their culture, and the English language. With this in mind, I wanted to see if I can do this in the form of a test.

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