I’m currently direct translating from English to Malay for Korean Movie Horror "To Sir, With Love. I’ve watching YouTube for this film (i don’t like horror movie, so i don’t watch it normally, but since i was stranded with this one, i notice some problems.
First example,
01:12 “it’s very pretty.-I made it for you.”
“You” here referring to “Seon-saeng-nim” which mean a teacher in Korean so in Malay the correct words is “Cikgu”. So Mrs. Park should become Cikgu Park. But direct translation (from English to Malay) for Mrs.Park is Puan Park. “Puan” in Malay are referirng to a married woman. So "you " in malay is “awak” which usually use when talking with peers or equal status.
So for literally translating (English to Malay) it become “Cantiknya! Saya buatkannya untuk awak.”
(For your information when praising someone/something, normally we will use exclamation mark (!) after the words.)
but when i’m comparing with Korean dialogue, it should be “Cantiknya!-Saya buatkannya khas untuk Cikgu.”
So if i translate back new Malay sentence above in English it should be “It’s so pretty!-I’ve made it just for you”
Second example,
06:11: Kere? Arasso .
In malay it should be “Betulkah? Ya, saya faham” but but direct translation (from English to Malay) for “Really? Thank you” is “Betulkah? Terima kasih.”
So if i translate back new Malay sentence above (Betulkah? Ya, saya faham) in English it should be “Is it true? Yes, I’m understand” or “Is it true? Yes, I’ve got it.”
So should I just directly literally translating English to Malay for Korean Movie/Drama or should I improvise the current subtitle and choose the closer words that accurately describe or conveying the Korean dialogues according to words/scene/situation that takes place?
And is it okay to use colloquial words for dialogues? For example : “Tidak” which mean “No” in english as (“Tak” colloquially)?
The mistake I sometimes see is that people translate too literal causing translations that doesn’t make sense and are never said like that in daily life. The key is not to translate literally but to translate the line into something you would use in your language which does mean the same. Also if there is a long sentence cut in various parts I always check the full sentence first and then translate. Causing the translation not always matching to the segment translation but does match the entire sentence. That’s why I don’t really like the one liners tool…
If you know Korean, it’s always better to go directly from the original language (Korean, in this case) to Malay, rather than relying on English translations if Korean.
When we translate from Korean to English, we sometimes lose authenticity or subtle meanings due to cultural or linguistic differences.
If you understand some of the Korean words, use Malay translations that are close as possible to the meaning of the original language. I think most of the English subs closely follow the sentence structure of the original language. But for subbing in Malay, as a guide, I think capturing the essence of the English translation or producing a translation that captures the nuances in Malay are more important rather than trying to closely follow the sentence structure of the English translation as each language has their own rhythm and rhyme and soul. It’s a matter of discretion from the subber’s point of view so we’ve got to find that balance not to make it too literal while at the same time getting the nuances right in our native language.
I think it’s fine to use colloquial words with a certain limit. “Tak”, “lah” is fine. “Je” is not so good, in my book.