re-translations

[lucathia]

I'm considering asking my dad to buy the 1/2 Prince novels while he's in Taiwan, but I had a hard time figuring out what the difference was between the 8 volume and the 12 volume sets. Looks like the 12 volume set is the newer version. Smaller reprint, plus it includes the mini sequel that wasn't a part of the original 8 volumes. I'll probably get that one because it's newer and easier to carry around, but it has chibi drawings for the covers (I prefer the original drawings).

While searching for info on this, I saw a thread where someone translated the English translation of the 1/2 Prince manhua on mangafox back into Chinese.

Even though the original is in Chinese.

...what are they trying to do? I suppose the English scanlation community is so huge and easy to find that even people who don't speak English go to English scanlation sites for manga that they can find in their own language. Translation wise, I shudder to think what has been lost in this translation of a translation. (Though it does make me want to do comparisons...kind of like asking myself what happens when I translate English to another language with Babelfish and then translate it back to English, but their translation is much better than that) Aside from translation issues, I'm hoping people will buy the manhua once it's in volume form and more available. I myself was never one who followed weekly or monthly magazines.

I seriously hope no one has been translating my translations of things. =/

Comments

[just1kinkybitch.livejournal.com]

Oh did you not want people to? In our group we have a no need to ask policy for groups who wants to retraslate our scanlations into another language just as long as they use their own scans. If you don't want to I can put up a no retranslation for KTB but I believe there's a group who have asked me before if they can do KTB.

[lucathia]

Haha, so there might already be retranslations out there? Hm, something to wrap my mind around. I don't exactly mind (just that the thought of a translation of a translation makes me cringe) but if that's what they want to do, it's their choice for not translating from the source. I do try to be as accurate as I can, but things do get lost in translation, and I'm not even a native speaker! I hope their readers get some sort of disclaimer about the source of the translation being a translation itself, heh.

No need to make an exception for me, Kinky. ^^;; Though I hope my translations never get translated back into Japanese. :'D

[orechibisama.livejournal.com]

hmmm translating the eng to chinese when it's originally chinese???

so much is lost from translating to english since we lack the adequate vocab for their special words to describe things. LOL

My bootleg dvds are sorta of like that.... Japanese >Chinese > English.

I mean, Sanji's name is Sunkist in the bootleg =u='''

[lucathia]

Reading a bit more down the thread...it sounds like more than one person was going to mangafox to read the English releases (but were having a hard time). Huh.

English doesn't have the same idioms either, and I remember 1/2 Prince is full of Chinese sayings and references that usually need to get explained in a footnote in English translations.

...Sunkist? 0____0;; Ahahaha. Huh, well, Sanji would be...*looks it up* 香吉? I can see how that become Sunkist, hahahaha.

[darkicedragon]

=/ That's... awkward, isn't it?

A lot of stuff would get changed, and it's sometimes up to the translator's interpretation sometimes about what things should say, isn't it?

[lucathia]

Yeah. -___-;;

I translate most things literally and as close to the original as possible, but sometimes it's better to translate things not as literally to make it flow better...so it's really up to the translator's interpretation, and who knows if that's right? Now a second translator's interpretation of the 1st translator's translation...that's even more removed from the original.

[yoshikochan.livejournal.com]

http://translationparty.com/tp/

XDDDDDDDDDD

[lucathia]

XD!

That's pretty funny. And fun. My first try gave me something that was completely the same. Must try more difficult sentences and vocabulary. XD;

[yoshikochan.livejournal.com]

This is my friend's post about it

http://arekuru.livejournal.com/142514.html

XD she had some pretty funny ones.