What's your Viki story?

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I have been a part of Viki since 2018. I discovered Viki when I was searching for a reliable app to watch dramas.
I have always noticed the opening of Viki app “Global TV powered by fans” and I knew that the subtitles are done by volunteers but assumed the volunteers do go to some sort of Viki office and have deadlines and are paid for their work and they log in through Rakuten ID (it’s on the log in page) for their subtitling and never knew that this discussions existed or the website is so much better than the app itself.

One of these days, I just wanted to change my username but had no idea how to do that from the app and it was then I went on website and I was surprised to see the vastness of the site.

Then again, I assumed that the volunteers need separate accounts to watch and contribute. So, I did that too. But I discovered, that I can get a free pass if my contributions are genuine and honest, so I started contributing not long ago. I am so happy for this, to have a Viki pass and contribute, both of them will make me happy.

In other words,what’s your Viki story?

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I also found Viki when I was searching for a app to watch dramas. When I saw that it was free I never expected that Viki would be this much awesome. I am very happy to be a part of this community where everyone have a common like:smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Me too, it’s so difficult to find a place where they give you the best for FREE.
I am happy to work here, and meet different yet similar people.

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apps like Viki are really difficult to find.

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truly meaningful

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@twinkling I’d like to comment on your story. It proves that the information provided by Viki sucks, if it took you two years to find out how the site works. (It’s none of your fault and totally theirs). They don’t have enough info on the app.

As for me…

MY STORY
It started on youtube. I watched KBS drama specials (still love them) and soon added dramas: House of Bluebird, Pinocchio. At some point, one episode was missing, and a kind soul in the comments said “You can find it on viki.com”.
That was the start of it! A few months after becoming a user I started to contribute and, as they say, the rest is history.

November 7, 2015 - Joined Viki
March 2016 - Started volunteering.
March 13th, 2016 First 2000 subs, first post in Discussions offering my services. Met mahoula who gave me my first jobs as subtitler and moderator
April 20th, 2016 First Italian editor job, on “Five Children”.
April 8, 2016 First time moderator of an on-air show (“Jackpot”, Greek mod)
July 2016. As co-mod of “W”, I devised the “continuous translation” method with the use of Google spreadsheets
November 2016 - Received my NSSA Ninja segmenter degree.
May 2017 - In Viki Discussions, badge for 500 liked posts
June 2019. Out of my more than 20 suggestions and ideas in Help Center meant to improve our volunteer experience, No regional restrictions for QC volunteers, in a few days gathered more than 3000 upvotes (3434 by August 2020) and sparked a site-wide protest, sadly without any tangible result.
Summer 2019 chosen, out of more than a hundred people, as featured Qualified Contributor of the semester, together with bjohnsonwong, cgwm808 and amypun. Here is the little interview I gave back then.
That same summer was also the summer of the Vikibot and the strike of the French community. I was one of the panel of volunteers invited to a Skype marathon discussion with Viki staff to discuss our complaints and our suggestions for a better Viki. Sadly nothing much came out of it. Maybe just a little more communication, which later brought the somewhat regular “Viki update” posts here on Discussions.
November 2019: Bachelor thesis submitted by volunteer @juliasreise majoring in Digital media, with the title: “Fan Practices, Commodification and Participation: How the fan subbing community on Viki.com voices its interests”. It’s focused on the matter of the licenses for QCs I fought for during the past summer, and includes many mentions of me and all the others who actively took part in this campaign. I don’t know if she would allow me to post the link here, so I don’t.

September 11th, 2020 - Discussions statistics:
1400 days visited 16d read time
4000 topics viewed 44400 posts read 3200 likes given
131 topics created 3200 posts created 5200 likes received

September 11th, 2020 - Volunteer statistics:
284411 subtitles, 4957 segments. Not counting the innumerable segments fixed for many dramas. The subtitles are relatively few because I mainly work as a moderator and editor, and less as a subtitler.

PROJECTS I’VE WORKED ON (March 2016-October 2020):

Greek Subtitler: 5 dramas
Italian Subtitler: 13 dramas, 1 film
French subtitler: 1 episode of Drama Specials, 1 film
Italian Editor: 3 dramas, + 3 as subber training sensei
Italian Moderator/Editor: 17 dramas, 20 films (3 stopped midway because of license loss), 3 series of Drama specials
Greek Moderator/Editor: 12 Dramas, 8 Films
General English Editor: 15 Dramas.
Chief English Editor: 7 Dramas, 3 Web dramas, 10 Films, 1 Drama special series.
Channel Manager: 2 Dramas, 7 Films, 1 Drama specials series
Segmenter: 1 Drama, 3 Films, 1 variety show (only 1 episode, never again!)
Segment repair (extensive): 2 dramas, 1 Drama special series, 9 Films.

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Hello!

I just wanted to share my story that spans a decade but don’t worry I’ll keep it short. Haha.

Back in 2007/2008 I started to watch dramas online after not having cable TV anymore. :sob: The website I used was technically not so legal so eventually it got taken down and I found Viki! :blush:

I remember that back then there weren’t all these different Viki passes. The website was super simple and white. At one point the site had a bubble in the bottom corner with random segments with missing subs from random shows that you could sub, right at the corner of the page!

I subbed for a while but eventually didn’t have time - in all honesty, I just wasn’t good at time management with my other affairs haha - so I stopped.

Since Viki does licenses, there are times when I can’t find the drama I want to watch. This lead me to other sites such as Drama Fever - R.I.P. - and some Chinese websites that I was fortunately able to access in the U.S.A. That is when I left Viki,…for years. :sweat_smile:

Much later, I came back to Viki though! I got a new account and got the Viki Pass. I didn’t get back into the volunteering community though. I was super intimated because everything had changed so much!

Eventually, I bit the bullet and went looking for projects to contribute to. I’m so glad I did! :blush::blush::blush::blush:

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We only have 1 month apart since our first contributions on Viki :smiley: I began only 1 month later, there are things that are a happy coincidence, I’m really happy to have met volunteers and Irmar of course :slight_smile:

There are also volunteers’ interviews that include yours:

https://blog.viki.com/celebrating-the-rakuten-viki-community-featured-volunteers-vol-1-6aac02b2bf73

I read them all LOL I’m curious!

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I really appreciate that you didn’t rushed through the projects with excitement, that’s so cool and I love your phrase moderators with a zillion projects as well. With the excitement Viki offers for people it’s really hard to control the excitement adrenaline gives :laughing::laughing:.
I have come across a lot of people on the site which have too many incomplete projects and I took the oath to not have more than three projects at a time even as a subber or as a moderator or as a CM (a long way to go)
I was set to have so many projects under my name but then stopped as it can have a negative impression of me and I don’t want that :sweat_smile:
You are so ordered when it comes to work, I look up to you☺️

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Yesssssssssss, I miss the light mode R.I.P :coffin:.
I am super excited to get my pass too :grin:
I miss my cable TV too :sob: that’s why am here on Viki.
I just had this question, how you welcomed Viki? I mean, if at that time when Viki was just a site where anyone can come and watch and subtitle simultaneously, were there any wrong or comical subs which passersby just left?
And on a side note, the pandas on your about page are super cute :panda_face:

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Awww, that’s so sweet of you!
I am not really that “ordered” in real life, it’s easier to do it in a specific realm. For instance my PC is a wonder of neatness and organization, I wish my house was half as neat as that (and my life generally)!
I have found out that when I have too many projects (two on-air as a moderator is already too many) and I start experiencing pressure, it becomes an obligation, a chore, something we have to do even when we are too tired or bored to continue, but still we have to go on because the Other Languages are waiting for our release etc. And doing it in a botched, speedy and sloppy way is not an option for me, editing an episode takes about 5 hours (a bit less if the subbers are 1st class).

The moment volunteering here starts feeling as an obligation, it’s the beginning of the end, We already have in our lives so many things we do as a chore (like cleaning the house or whatever), but contributing at Viki no, I do it for fun. That’s why. I want to keep it fun.

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Yes, I feel that way too.
My chemistry teacher was a really good person and she once told me

Putting more food in your mouth than you can eat will eventually lead to spitting everything out. Maintaining a clear line between passion and hobby is a really big responsibility.

Till the time I enjoy what I am doing, I’ll be good but once I start feeling pressure, I might quit.

I found my twin, finally! :laughing:

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Although I’ve had Viki Pass Plus for a long time, I only started volunteering July of this year. Now that my kids are older and I can’t volunteer any more at my local hospital due to the Covid situation, I wanted to find something meaningful to do that I can also enjoy. I love K-dramas and I wanted to improve my Korean, so becoming a translator at Viki was a no brainer. I used to work as a Korean-English interpreter for an airline so the transition to a translator was not too difficult.

I am learning that Korean-English translators are in high demand at Viki and I have been asked to join many projects. However, I vowed to myself that I will not take on too many projects. I am in absolute agreement with both @twinkling and @irmar that you should limit the number of projects you get yourself involved in. I am currently in subtitle teams for three new dramas (2 as a Korean-English translator and 1 as a Korean captioner) and I am also working on an abandoned project as a Korean captioner whenever time permits.

I hope to remain true to myself and try to do my best when translating and still have the time to enjoy being a part of this community.:blush:

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I started watching Asian dramas in 2002 on the International Channel. Then I watched all the Asian dramas on NF and YT. On YT, I watched a show from DF so I joined there. One eventful day, DF disappeared and I was at a total loss! I very reluctantly joined Viki in January 2019, but I found the site hard to navigate after DF. I joined for free because I honestly didn’t think i would stay with Viki. After about three shows, I hesitantly bought the Basic subscription and watched everything available under that plan.

I discovered several shows under the Pass Plus, and I upgraded my plan about eight months after joining Viki since I desperately wanted to view She was Pretty! I started fan collections which grew very long, having Viki social followers, making a long Watch List, and answering messages regarding my reviews. One day, I was asked to be an English editor. I agreed with trepidation because I’m a perfectionist. I used to help manage many people in my husband’s companies, and I didn’t want to deal with people’s temperaments again. I vowed I would never take any leadership position such as a CM. I was almost pushed by a situation to be a CM, but I steered my way out of that.

It takes me five to eight hours to edit an episode, one to two hours per part. I always do a second check, yet still I may omit to fix a subtitle, forget a capital letter, or forget to delete a hyphen after the segment was changed from multiple speakers to two or one speaker, etc. I do things which most editors do not attempt: proper questions, fit the timing given, make it easier for OL subtitlers regarding word order and idioms, avoid repetitious phrases, avoid plot holes, etc. I found that subtitling has a major part in plot holes so I treat this responsibility seriously. I do my utmost to maintain open communication with translation editors. Thus, I only take on two projects at a time. When one is nearing completion, then I accept another project as my second one.

As a viewer, I can watch shows before they get edited so I adore the subbers on Viki and appreciate their talents. As an English editor, I feel responsibility toward all the other languages which rely on us to be on time and as accurate as possible. I discovered the Discussion Board while searching for more translators to help speed up the origin translations. On the whole, I love Viki for the great selection of dramas available!!!

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Oh, yes. That is something I debated if I wanted to add to my story. Haha.:sweat_smile: But, yes, some subtitles were not even close to the today’s standard. That is why I never watched Chinese dramas with subtitles during that time. Chinese is my first language thus reading a few wrong subtitles would frustrate me and had me wondering the REST of the episode how someone could have possibly translate that was said in that way.
Also, I understand a bit of Korean and some subtitles were also off. Keep in mind, I don’t watch on-air drama but I like to binge watch. That is a part of why I left Viki for some time. So, all I can say is that Viki has really raised the bar after that time, which makes me so happy. :blush::blush::blush::blush:

Thanks!!! Pandas are my spirit animal. Haha. Super irrelevant but when I’m stressed I watch panda videos on YouTube.:joy::joy::joy::joy:

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ja też jestem od 2018 roku kiedy to szukałam dobrych seriali i trafiłam na król kocha, potem lodowa fantazja, bitwa przez niebiosa itd. zaglądam tu by dowiedzieć się czy jakiś znany mi serial się pojawił czy też nie ale jak widzę narazie nie ma nic, muszę czekać.

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I actually only found out about Viki about 3 months ago. Back when Viki first started, many Korean dramas were region-locked for me, which caused me to have the impression that this site was catered to the U.S., like DramaFever was.

During the pandemic, I fell in love with a C-drama which wasn’t translated, and thus, subbed it so that non-Chinese speaking fans could share my love for it. However, the demands and hate comments got the better of me, and I lost motivation for it. I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to sub and/or time.

An online friend I had made through subbing that drama then suggested that I join Viki since I enjoy subbing, and had the skills to do so. It’s been about 2 months since I’ve started on my first project, and I’m just grateful for the opportunity to improve, and thankful that the community has been so welcoming to a beginner like me. ^.^

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oh my I was watching a drama yesterday and your name came up as English editor and i thought “WOWWW you’re so cool!!!”
it’s so much fun to see people i interact with here on Discussions in the credits of the dramas I love! I have NEVER before paid so much attention to credits as I do now :sweat_smile: You guys are awesome!! :heart_eyes:

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Your username makes me HUNGRY… :yum:

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According to my profile, I joined VIKI on April 9th, 2015. It was great back then. You didn’t have all these confusing Passes coupled with the poor user experience. As a paid member, VIKI has sadly turned into a not so fun place at all. I’m glad to hear the volunteers are enjoying the platform, though. :slight_smile: As the Koreans say: Fighting! :muscle:

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