Literal Translation vs Localized Translation

So. If you've read the introduction, you know that I'm currently billing myself as a translator. There's a few reasons for this. One, it's a profession that can be done without requiring a college degree, especially if you're working for yourself. Two, it's a specialized field. In other words, it's not something that just anyone can do, for obvious reasons. Three, and most importantly; the art of translation is one that is inherently interesting to me.

Part of that stems from the fact that I am fascinated by and highly respect creativity, yet have no creative prowess myself. The closest I come is through a skill everyone has to a certain degree, which is critical review. As everyone knows, it's far easier to criticize something than to make something of your own. But rather than become an editor, I decided I was qualified to improve on someone's writings in a language I didn't know as of 4 years ago.

Well, no, that's not really true. Translators are not editors, and it is not their job to improve on the words that they translate. It IS their job to improve on their translated words, if that makes sense. Basically, in any story or narrative based context where there are characters, dialogue, and exposition, a literal, word-for-word kind of translation that you see in many, if not all, fan based translations on the internet (and in nationally distributed videogames up until maybe 8 years ago) just doesn't cut it.

I don't know exactly how many people there are who download and watch/read anime/manga distributed by fansubbers as opposed to buying the licensed versions when available, but I do know practically all of them are willing to put up with often ridiculously inept translated scripts that frequently cause me to wonder if the translator's native language is actually English. With few exceptions, it seems that the standard for translations on the internet is to get it done as fast as possible, quality be damned. And that leads to literal, word-substituting translations that at best are awkward to read and at worst leave out sometimes crucial nuances from the source work that serious fans are entitled to know.

Localized translation, as you probably already knew or have figured out by now, is the other side of literal translation's coin. It takes the words and expressions written in the source material and uses them as a base, not as dogma, as many literal translation fans are wont to treat them as (I know this because I used to be one of them). This base is then used to create a script for native speakers of the target language that, ideally, incorporates all of the details and fine points of the source language while at the same time (and this is the crucial factor that almost ALL fan translations miss) sounding NATURAL in it's new language.

It's truly a wonder to me why more fan translators aren't more interested in creating natural sounding scripts. If I were to guess, I would say that they're either too pressed for time to be concerned with details other than rough meanings, or they honestly don't have any idea what natural sounding language looks like, or they just don't care. Regardless, I am grateful to these translations for one thing; they serve as a clear reminder of what I do NOT want to do with my own, and fuel me with a determination to do better work.

Anyways, while this entry turned out a little different than I had previously imagined, I guess the point I want to make today is clear. If you are a fan of entertainment that is created in a country with a language and culture other than your own, don't settle for anything less than a quality job on the translation. That's my ideal, and I'm sticking to it.