Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator @katrinaltrnsl8r Twitter profile | Pikagi

Pikagi

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

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Localization Producer & JA-EN Specialist! Sentai, 7 Seas. Prev. SEGA, Funimation. She/her. Opinions are my own! I ♥ translation theory. ローカライズ専門家(^―^)

Los Angeles, CA

https://t.co/DvqGY5WwQY

Joined July 2017

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

1 year

Hi! I'm Katrina, professional translator and localization expert! I specialize in everything audiovisual: movies and TV, games, anime, manga, and more. Click this tweet for links to my professional talks, quick essays on translation theory, and more!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

1 year

(one of the world's funniest mistranslations: ヤンキー as in 'delinquent', not literal Yankee.)

@mangakagome

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1 year

never forget

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

5 months

Wow, what else is SEGA up t-- Oh, management unjustly fired union-organizing employees AND said they're laying off 40% of newly-unionized workers next year so they can avoid having to pay them more than minimum wage? Cool!

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@Wario64

Wario64

5 months

Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, and other SEGA stuff announced

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

4 years

i hate to beat a dead horse but surely if crunchyroll can afford a fancy awards show, they can afford to pay their translators better than $80/episode

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

There's been a lot of discourse in the English-speaking anime world this week about slang appearing in English localizations. But how does slang end up in subtitles, dubs, or localized games, anyway? Translation theory and linguistics have the answer! 🧵

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

5 years

What (probably) actually happened: ❌Netflix decided to censor the series and remove iconic lines ✅Netflix hired a translator who knew nothing about Evangelion

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

@chrisbratt "Why don't more women want to go into the industry?" GEE I FUCKIN WONDER

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

So excited to announce that I'm the Localization Coordinator for the release of P3P and P4G on Xbox and Windows! 🥳🎉

@Atlus_West

Official ATLUS West

2 years

You never saw it coming! Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable are coming to Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC! Persona 5 Royal releases October 21, 2021! #P25th

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

5 months

I don't have words for how embarrassing and disappointing this is. Instead of paying a human to do a quality job, they're using AI to get a mediocre product for free. Is this how little they think of English-speaking audiences? Of translation? For shame.

@AnimeNewsNet

Anime News Network

5 months

The Ancient Magus' Bride Manga's Return Gets Simultaneous English Release Using AI Translation ➤

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

if you know, you know

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Okay. Okay. Let's talk about translating 「許さない」. Why do JA>EN translators get it so wrong all the time, and how can we avoid the same shortcomings, lest we, too, never be forgiven?

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

11 months

In Japanese 101, you were probably taught that 天才 means "genius". But "genius" in English doesn't function the same way that 天才 does in Japanese. Let's talk about meaning, collocation, and the wonderful world of corpora!🧵 #l10n

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Knew this was gonna be a point of contention! While I'm sure it's a big departure from the OG translation, it's a better translation. Thread below!

@BubBozo

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3 years

@katrinaltrnsl8r I love your work on Higurashi but how did you get "Big Brudder" from "Nii-Nii"? 🧐

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

1 year

I am absolutely outraged. I was the Localization Coordinator on the project up until I left SEGA, constantly in connection with the FIGS teams. I told the team who took over for me to credit the FIGS team. They worked incredibly hard to localize TWO GAMES. Unbelievable.

@Tamslator

Tam |She/ella| #TranslatorsInTheCredits

1 year

#P3P and #Persona4Golden are available on modern platforms, translators are credited in none. @Atlus_jp , @Atlus_West #TranslatorsInTheCredits

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

1 year

Language is complicated, yet somehow, we manage to express infinite meanings with the limited words and sounds we have. But how do you translate a line of dialogue when the words they're saying don't actually matter? Let's talk about phatic expressions in translation! 🧵

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

this is the perfect time to share this slide about "cosplay photo etiquette"from the hentai panel at Fanime this year, which garnered a mixed reaction from the crowd, but tearful laughter from me and other veteran congoers

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

@marysuewriter meme boys proving once again that money isn't real and capitalism is a scam

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

today I learned the slang word タヒる, which means "to die" and comes from the bottom half of the kanji for 死 (to die) i LOVE IT

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

1 year

Why is every app a 'service' now? Why does Word now want me paying $100/year to use it? What happened to buying software that lasts forever? This capitalist hellscape we're living in where the Line Has To Go Up Every Year is killing us.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

What do you mean, "can't be precisely translated"? We precisely translate this word and others every day. This and other "mystical untranslatable word" BS only perpetuates the (wrong) idea that translation is about finding words that match 1:1.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

1 year

Remember, friends, if the game you purchased is full of really obvious bugs, don't blame QA! Blame the producers and executives who said "release it anyways (so we can make money)"! I guarantee you QA workers--usually paid minimum wage for boring repetitive work--flagged them. 😉

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Biggest hope for the merger today: that our translator friends at Crunchyroll can be hired as direct contractors and paid a fairer wage for their hard work.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

any time i have to translate a song

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Excited to announce that I've been promoted at SEGA! I'm now officially a Localization Coordinator! 🥳 Looking forward to transitioning into this new project management role and continuing my game localization journey!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

I know I'm opening a huge can of worms, but here goes. As translators, what is the right way to handle "offensive" content? Who determines what gets "left in", and what gets "censored"? A long thread about translation theory, ethics in localization, and capitalism.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Anyone who works in translation will tell you those assumptions are wrong! From a professional anime translator's POV: 1) We can't add stuff for 'no good reason'. That's how you get yelled at by your PM. You have to be able to explain and back up your translation choices.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Machine translation can be a wonderful translation tool, but its uses are widely misunderstood. Let's talk about Google Translate, its current state in the professional translation industry, and why robots are terrible at interpreting culture and context.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

If you couldn't attend my anime translation panel at #AnimeExpo , my slides are now online! Learn how to write better dialogue with equivalence theory, find the purpose of words with functionalism, and re-examine Shrek with polysystem theory. Link in the comments! 👇

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

#1 : THERE WAS SLANG IN THE SOURCE TEXT NEWSFLASH: Japanese has slang! Because slang is so deeply rooted in culture, you typically can't make it work by translating it literally. EX: A Japanese person won't understand why that loud woman at the front desk MUST be named "Karen".

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

Shout out to all the translators, VAs, journalists, and other people in the anime industry calling out CR for their practices today -- especially knowing they'll be risking their careers doing so, when 80% of the potential anime dubbing projects are only available through CR.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

So if we're not just throwing stuff in willy-nilly, how DO translators decide where and when to put in slang? Well, it's a lot more complicated than you might think! First, let me introduce you to a pivotal concept in translation: equivalence theory.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

4 years

A reminder to our Crunchy translator friends during this current discourse: - you're not a bad translator for working for Crunchyroll - you're not a bad person for accepting their rates - some Crunchy translators do INCREDIBLE work - we want to help you get paid more!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

👏YES!! 👏 THIS KIND OF STUFF (ADAPTIVE SUBTITLING) SHOULD BE: (A) STANDARD FOR ALL SHOWS (B) SOMETHING WE PAY A TRANSLATOR AND SUBTITLE TIMER/DESIGNER EXTRA FOR

@G0ffThew

Geoff Thew

2 years

They went ALL OUT with the Dress Up Darling subs

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

And yet somehow, pay for the people who bring these manga to this thriving EN audience are paid less than they were 20 years ago... where are all the profits going? 🤔

@juliusqueezer

KCP

2 years

20 years ago the manga section was the smallest section in the furthest reaches of the bookstore where weirdos in oversized Kingdom Hearts shirts would huddle and now it's the largest, most front and center section.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

Anime, manga, and LN translators, we need to talk. Y'see, there's something very, very important a lot of ya'll aren't in the habit of doing. Sit down and let's talk... ...about terminology management. 🧵

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

I'm SO glad they changed the Moenbryda minion description in FFXIV! But I'm still a little concerned that somewhere out there, there's a localizer who thought the original loc was appropriate... and a team that kept it in this long. Before, after, original JP:

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

2) We can't 'make stuff up' because too many viewers know Japanese and are quick to point out when we're wrong. If it's blatantly obvious that we put something completely unrelated in there, we'll get yelled at by our PM again.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

3) We can't add humor for no reason (see #1 ). Sometimes our translations of jokes might fall flat--and sometimes it's on us--but sometimes the joke was actually that bad in source.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

A few years ago, Netflix came to give a talk at the American Translators Association conference. It was standing room only: hundreds of experienced, ATA-certified translators eager to work for the streaming giant. But they won't work for Netflix's crap pay.

@kramski

Kramski

3 years

"Severe translator shortage" like clients don't suddenly stop having work for you when you raise your rates a little

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

When certain people get upset about slang appearing in a translation, they assume it's for one of a few common reasons: "They ADDED that for no good reason!" "They don't know what they're doing and just MADE SOMETHING UP!" "They're TRYING TO BE FUNNY. Just translate the show!"

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Problem is, that concept and those tropes don't exist in Western English-speaking culture. We don't have an 'epidemic' of 13-year-olds running around like ninjas, eating silica packets to escape the simulation, or pointing at trash cans and shouting 'amogus'... oh wait

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

1 year

While I'm being loud about credits, y'know what would be great? Crediting the translator / subtitler / localization team at the end of every episode on @Crunchyroll . HIDIVE does it. No reason CR can't.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

One great example of this is from the subtitles of the Oscar award-winning movie Parasite, translated by Darcy Paquet. In this scene, Paquet changed the school from Seoul National University to Oxford in order for target English audiences to better understand the joke.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

So... Tencent, a multi-million dollar company with multiple huge titles, is asking for 'volunteers' they'll pay in gacha money to localize their games? How many times do we have to say this? If you wouldn't ask 'volunteers' to make other parts of your game, DON'T DO THIS!

@RocketPunch1221

Rocket Punch ㊙

@RocketPunch1221

2 years

@ToF_EN_Official Controller update is nice, but attempt to offload localization optimization work to player base then pay them "Company Scrip" is just a bad practice. I mean what's next off load QA to players & pay them dark crystal. Tencent is a big company, go & actually hire some people. 😅

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Quote from the man himself: "In order for humor to work, people need to understand it immediately... [The director and I] decided together to change the name because the joke is hilarious, and if you don't get it, it's not funny."

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

From 4chan to FFXIV to long-distance lovers to happily married! I couldn't have asked for a better love story. Here's to forever, Chris. ❤️💖💕

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Anyone who uses language (that's you!) knows that words convey meaning. Words can have multiple meanings, too, depending on the context. We all know a skateboarder "eating shit" isn't literally putting poop in his mouth.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

When slang is used in the source, an easy way to create equivalent effect is by finding slang in the target that has the same meaning. One extremely common example is the translation of 「中二病」 (chuunibyo) as "cringe".

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

Feeling very bittersweet about the Funi/Crunchy merge today. On one hand, great for the fans! But I worry about what effect this will have on the anime localization industry.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

One thing I want to point out about this, especially since some fans are using this as proof that "Funi/pros bad, fan good": The reason so many of us pros reacted viscerally to this mistake is because ✨any one of us could have done this on a bad day. ✨ Quick 📱🧵:

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

4 years

Just got my copy of Dr. Wakabayashi's book, and I gotta say, this thing is a must-have for aspiring translators! It's very similar to materials we covered in my grad program, and I'm sure even longtime professionals could benefit from the advice and reference mats.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

While not a perfect representation of 中二病, "cringe" serves its purpose in equivalence. Every audience member has a sense of how those characters are acting and how we're meant to perceive them. The joke lands. Perhaps it was never a very funny joke, but it DOES land correctly.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Equivalence, as defined by linguist Eugene Nida in 1969, is the "quality of a translation in which the message of the original text has been so transported into the receptor language that the response of the receptor is essentially like that of the original receptors."

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

When we translate the phrase "eating shit" into Japanese, then, we definitely shouldn't put "うんちを食べる" (eating poop). What's a Japanese trnaslator, to do then? Find an equivalent, of course!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

In English, we often represent register with word choice. The phrases "Eat the food" and "Consume sustenance" just hit different. (And we see loads of memes playing off this very thing!)

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

5 months

The problem with machine translation post-editing (MTPE) is that the translator is often provided very shoddy 'translations' to 'edit', resulting in them retranslating from the original source, anyways. All while being paid less money because "the AI did the 'hard' work!"

@magus_bride

まほよめ/ゴスウィ原作公式

5 months

To clarify misinformation that has been spread, I would like to provide some additional information. Firstly, regarding "AI-assisted translation," we have implemented a system from Mantra Corporation (). This system combines their unique machine…

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

during routine griping, my husband asked "well, if that's not the dumbest line you've had to write for a subtitle, what is?" and I didn't even have to think:

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 months

You aren't going to love everything you work on, but it's your job to do justice to the work and its audience, and remain professional about it all. And for fuck's sake, don't shit where you eat. You've hurt a lot of careers today.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

(this is part of a whole subsection of translation theory called polysystem theory, which goes in-depth about genre tropes and cultural-linguistic expectations of language in certain forms of media and THIS THREAD IS LONG ENOUGH ALREADY KATRINA, STOP IT.)

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

I got quite a few people yelling at me for this reference in Grimoire of Zero. Spoiler: Japanese authors like Skyrim, too.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

So excited for this announcement! I did all the back-end localization engineering for this title. ✨ The team at SEGA put in SO much love and care into this game and its localization! I can't wait for everyone to get their hands on it.

@Wario64

Wario64

2 years

Like a Dragon Ishin coming Feb 2023

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Nintendo has been doing this for years--I'd say their use of slang in their translation of the new Animal Crossing is a great example of this! FFXIV's localization is, too: their adaptation of fantasy writing styles makes the world feel more immersive to English speakers.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

In layman's terms: the translation makes the target-language reader understand the same meaning and react the same way as the source-language reader.

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

I manually typed out and examined all 826 lines of dialogue in Volume 1 of Ranking of Kings to compare the official release to the previously-released scanlation. 67% of all dialogue is a direct copy or slightly edited copy of the fan translation. More details in the 🧵⬇️

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

How are these two terms equivalent? First, we need to understand what 'chuunibyo' means in general, then how it's used in context. While originally coined in 1999 to represent early teens who desperately wanted to stand out and pretend they have secret fantasy powers...

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

4 years

been translating "ちなみに" as "fun fact" and finding the beauty in it

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

#2 : THERE WASN'T SLANG IN THE SOURCE TEXT, BUT THERE SHOULD BE IN THE TARGET There are plenty of things that get 'lost in translation'. For example, in English, we have one personal pronoun: "I". Japanese has a whole handful (watashi, boku, ore, wacchi, oira, ore-sama... etc.)

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

...like most slang, it's evolved to refer to anyone of any age who acts self-righteous and has delusions of superpowers. There are certain tropes associated with it that anime fans may be familiar with: eyepatches, burning hands, etc.

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

Just spent a few hours analyzing the differences between the official release of Ranking of Kings and the scanlation that predates it. 42% of all dialogue in chapter 1-3's official 'translation' is DIRECTLY LIFTED from the scanlation.🧵

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

In any case, slang -- whether it's idioms, popular phrases, culturally-dependent jokes, or even references -- can and SHOULD be used, when appropriate, to help convey the source meaning and produce equivalent reaction in the target audience.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Surprise! I'm getting married! From fan translation-slash-FFXIV buddies to long-distance lovers, it's been a crazy ten years of friendship and six of beautiful weeb love. So excited to tie the knot with my dear nerd next month!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Unfortunately for us translators, that's hardly the hardest thing that gets lost in translation. Japanese media makes frequent use of their language's formality levels in grammar to illustrate a character's personality and relationship to whomever they're talking.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Unfortunately, this thread won't do much to dispel the discourse that some anime fans subscribe to. Too many years of poor fan translations, a handful of poor official localizations, and a general lack of knowledge about Japanese and translation theory have poisoned that well.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

I am SO EXCITED to announce that I'll be translating Tokyo Mew Mew for Sentai!! 🐾💞 As a longtime fan and a magical girl lover, I can't WAIT to take care of the Mews in English!

@SentaiFilmworks

Sentai 💚

@SentaiFilmworks

2 years

Sentai has acquired TOKYO MEW MEW NEW! Stream this magical series on @HIDIVEofficial Summer 2022. Read More:

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

For now, let's keep equivalence theory in mind: the audience should understand the same meaning and react the same way. Now, let's take a look at the two main reasons why you might see slang in a translation.

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

There's not much for us professional translators to do but keep at it and ignore their poorly-informed opinions. And that, my friends, is truly cringe.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

How, then, does a translator going from Japanese to English represent that choice of personal pronoun in English? Equivalently, of course! For a character using "ore" (俺), the translator may choose to use gruffer or more masculine-sounding language in English.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Using slang like this is incredibly precarious, though-- lots of slang is too specific, and we don't want our audiences getting the wrong experience out of our translation. A well-placed idiom ("butter my biscuit!") or even a contraction ("didja") work perfectly fine.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

When we shift more formal, we tend to use more formal word choices and wordier grammar. When we shift more casual, we tend to use more informal word choices: including SLANG.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

In English, we don't conjugate verbs differently depending on who we're talking to. How do we show this change of register, then? If you guessed "with something equivalent", then you're right on the money!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

Friendly reminder that 女子力 is not "girl power". So "女子力が高い！" should never be translated as "Wow, you have so much girl power!" 🥲

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Translation doesn't stop just at characterization or dialogue: we have to take a look at the work as a whole. EX: Audiences have different expectations for the language and tone of a grimdark fantasy (Game of Thrones) than they might for a lighthearted fantasy (Gallavant).

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Like every other industry that requires skilled labor, the problem isn't that there's a 'shortage'. The problem is that companies don't want to pay for the highly experienced translators that are available. "Shortage" is always capitalist speak for "we don't want to pay".

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

A character using "atashi" (あたし) may sound more polite and traditionally effeminate in English. An old man using "wacchi" (わっち) may take on a more comically elderly tone in English.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

ADDENDUM: SOME ANIME FANS ARE GOOD, ACTUALLY There are plenty of fans out there who have some understanding of how translation works and are willing to try and explain it!

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

4 years

continuing down the rabbit hole of premodern translators being badasses: martin luther in 1530, in response to criticism of his new german translation of the bible:

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

protip: don't ask the translator of the official English version this question

@Priyamkkk341

Priyamkkk34

3 years

@katrinaltrnsl8r Does this manga have fan tl ?

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

Another way to put it: "Would that character have said that if he were an English-speaking Westerner in his current setting?" If the answer's "yes", then it's a good translation!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

5 years

Before the fan-translation-to pro-translator discourse dies out, I might as well share this experience of mine. Hi. I put my 6 years of fan translation experience on my first translation resume. Here are three very different reactions I got from anime and manga companies.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

If you've read my threads on translation theory, you've heard me shout a zillion times how important "equivalent audience experience" is. It's so awesome to see an AWESOME loc team following similar guidelines to create incredible target audience experiences!

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@FF_XIV_EN

FINAL FANTASY XIV

3 years

The 2nd part of the interview with members of the #FFXIV Localization team is live! Learn about how patch names are handled, world and character tidbits, and the challenges of localizing cultural nuances! Part 2 🗣️

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

- The director really likes England - I applied to Harvard as a kid and didn't get in - Oxford is more memorable as it's not the obvious choice. There are some great interviews out there with Paquet about his translation work -- definitely check them out!

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'Parasite' hidden hero, meet the subtitle translator Darcy Paquet

In this interview, our host Debbie Won sits down with Darcy Paquet, an American film critic & Korean film expert who translated the Palme d'Or-winning Korean...

www.youtube.com

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

ADDENDUM: WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE GETTING INTO Any time a reference, pun, or bad joke pops up in a show, I know there'll be at least one person who goes "uhhhh did the translator just put that in because they're a filthy SJW?" I translate it accurately anyways because it's my job.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

5 months

One thing I will say is how refreshing it is to see the English fandom respond to this announcement. EN localization quality in anime and manga has never been higher, and it's clear the fans appreciate good translation quality. This translator is so thankful. ♥

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

I can't decide which makes me sadder about the CR thing, the fact that they have so much money, they absolutely COULD afford to pay their translators better, or the fact that no matter how much we all say 'this is bad!', they won't change their practices.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

5 months

AI翻訳はタダですが「魔法使いの嫁」の素晴らしさを絶対に壊してしまう。ヤマザキ先生や英語ファンがかわいそう。 Bushiroadのケチ。人間翻訳が高すぎっていうの？英語ファンのことどうでもいいと思ってるの？なんて無様なこと。恥ずかしい。漫画に機械翻訳を使用しないこと。

@magus_bride

まほよめ/ゴスウィ原作公式

5 months

大変お待たせしました。本日12月21日22:30より連載再開の『魔法使いの嫁』新章は、AI翻訳技術を活用した英語版を同時連載していく事を決定しました！ The new chapter of "The Ancient Magus' Bride" will be serialized simultaneously in English alongside the Japanese version!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

1. Japanese writers address feminism and LGBTQ+ issues in their works, too! (See: Fata Morgana) Like slang, just because it's there doesn't mean it was 'injected'.

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

I actually own the left one! It's got great examples for all the weird and creative ways we use different swear words. Really great for understanding how swears get translated back into Japanese, too!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

4 years

Extremely excited to announce that I am translating Higurashi: When They Cry - New for @FUNimation ! This series was a MASSIVE part of my early weeb years. I'm so thrilled to be back in Hinamizawa again, and I hope everyone else is, too! 🛖⛩️🔪

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

2 years

@LettererBrendo Honestly, for a port title, it's mostly just making sure everything from the legacy version makes it into the port OK and adjusting any button prompts or terminology for the new platform. Not to downplay that work, though. Porting a game is hard, especially on devs!

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@katrinaltrnsl8r

Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

11 months

AHHHHH WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT!! Congrats to the team on the reveal! I was the lead Localization Engineer on P3R, which meant coding and managing the CMS and ensuring legacy text references were accessible in our loc tools. 💙 So excited to pick this up day 1!

@XboxGamePassPC

PC Game Pass

@XboxGamePassPC

11 months

if you didn’t know, now you know! if you did know…now you know x2 💚 play Persona 3 Reload day one on PC, Console, and Cloud | #XboxShowcase

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Katrina Leonoudakis 💙 #humantranslator

@katrinaltrnsl8r

3 years

I've been agonizing for weeks about how to handle にいにい. (My friends can tell you -- they even offered their own 'helpful' suggestions such as "Big Chungus" and "Broseph")

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