Good day Tabiji,
Most of the series already come with the subs translated. What many moderators are doing are recruiting for Translation Editor.
The academy is a very good start to show your knowledge and ability in the language. Remember the moderator is looking that you are translating/editing the message closes to the original dialog. Don’t put your own twist on the dialog.
Also, continue applying to every serie or movie you find interest. You can always also email the moderator of the serie to see if they are still recruiting or will consider adding you to the team.
Good luck!
2 Likes
So that’s why many subtitles are so bad.
Even the test translation has errors in English, and then it’s impossible for the translation to be good in another language. I’m learning Korean and I immediately spotted some wrong words.
Even so, I would like to change the subtitles to English, French, or even Spanish, because many of those translated into Portuguese are terrible. But there is no option to change them.
I thought about applying, but I think it would be in vain. I don´t know, I am hesitating…
Click on
in the lower right corner
I tried but only see pt, I’ll look again. Thx
What’s the backend process of contributing like? Can someone describe it? I could possibly do English to Portuguese (European), or proof/edit the English ones (Ex. A menu is a list of foods, not a food! You don’t cook a menu. sigh Ex. You’re leaving first? It’s not a competition! You’re leaving now or you’re leaving early. Colloquially, UK says “I’m off” and US says “I’m going to take off.” sigh again), but I’m only interested in potentially helping out in one particular genre so it might not be that helpful…
The process is that the new shows come already segmented (synchronized) and subtitled and the English team, after checking the synchronisation of the segments (basically the exact placement in time of the written text to match the voice), does the translation editing (usually by a native in the original language) to make sure there are no errors in meaning. Then an English editor goes in to ensure it follows Viki formatting guidelines and sounds like proper English, trying to eliminate grammar, punctuation, syntax mistakes, including literal translations of original language idioms like in your examples.
Once the English is done, the other languages can translate from it. Again there is the translator and then the editor.
In the last few months, there has been a change in this workflow.
- Other languages like Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian also come already translated, so the teams only edit the subtitles.
- To appease impatient viewers, Viki insistently asks that the other languages start translating before the English is edited. They start translating while the English editors work, and when the English editors are finished, then the other languages do their final edits too, to incorporate any changes made.
It is rare that a new person with no experience at all on Viki is asked to become an English editor, unless mentored or otherwise recommended by a senior experienced editor.
There were plans for an English editor course, but they have been thwarted, so some of us do that privately. Even if you’re already super-good at it from the language point of view, there are other things to learn, such as the quirks of the original language that you may encounter, cultural items, and of course Viki formatting, how teams work here etc.
(As for Portuguese, I think the norm here is Brazilian Portuguese, as most Portuguese language viewers are from there. But I’m not 100% sure, I will leave this to someone who knows better.)
1 Like
Hello everyone! I am a beginner and I would love to help with subtitles, I can sub from English to Portuguese.
You left out the GE.
Brazilian is the norm. Speakers from Portugal or elsewhere are usually expected to adept to that.
@ irmar Thanks for the response! It sounds like I wouldn’t be a good fit -slash- I am not needed. I really appreciate everyone else who is working on this and I will continue to rely on them.
What makes you say that? That’s not what I meant at all. Editors are sorely needed here.
I simplified it. Yes, it’s two editors. But Viki often pushes for only one, too. I’ve seen teams where they even skip the translation editor - which is terrible.
1 Like
@ irmar It sounds like I wouldn’t fit as an English or a Portuguese editor. Did I miss something?
That doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. As long as you are willing and able to adept to American English or Brazilian Portuguese, you could be trained by experienced editors.
For English, we have editors from America, from other English-speaking countries, ánd from countries where English is not the official language.
The majority of the Portuguese-speaking volunteers is from Brazil, but there are people from Portugal too. They just have to learn to work in Brazilian Portuguese.
In all cases, of course, the editor should be highly skilled. But being native is not by definition better. Although the subs need to be in a specific kind of English/Portuguese, we also need to take into account that Viki has a global community and that the English subs are not only being watched by native speakers and that other-language subtitles are translated from English.
Therefore, we try to work in an American English that is suitable for everyone around the globe, i.e. free from too much slang or things only Americans would understand.
1 Like
Hi! I’m Lia, and I’m new to the Viki community. I’d like to express my interest in subtitling from English to Spanish. I’m looking for a team to learn and start collaborating with, so if you need translators, I’d love to participate. Thanks!
I guess the follow up question would be what does the editor training process look like?
I’m also new to Viki, and I would love to be a subtitler. But I still need to learn languages.
As there is not one standardized course, each one of us offering courses has his or her own method and curriculum. If you want details of the one I do, I don’t want to jijack the thread here, drop me a message.
1 Like
Hello! I’m looking for projects to sub from english to portuguese. I contributed to projects a few years ago as a gold qc, and would love to contribute again.
Hi there, I can help subtitling in hindi and punjabi. please suggest me some.
Hello everyone,
I’m looking for Arabic moderators to help me start my journey on Viki.
I would like to be a subtitler (english to arabic) and i’m currently looking for a project to gain more experience.
I’m a big fan of korean, chinese and japanese dramas and I’m excited to meet and work with people who share the same passion as me.
Finally, I’m looking for Arabic moderators to work together on (OUR GENERATION).
Thank you for your help.
Mariem 