Chapter 67's almost finished ^^
And here's a question from our translator:
As the translator of Umisho, I would like to say thank you to the fans out there of this series. However, there's something I like to ask everyone. It concerns how certain things are translated from Japanese to English.
In Umisho, there are often times where the characters will refer to themselves in 3rd person. For example Makio, she would say something like "Makio will try her best". Now as far as English speakers go, referring to one self in 3rd person may seem odd and a bit arrogant. I am not exactly sure if this is considered arrogant in Japanese but I have heard people do that when I was in Japan two years ago and no one really minded. However, when I'm translating lines where the character refers to themselves in 3rd person, I am often stuck on whether I should translated it as is (meaning in 3rd person) or change to first person with "I" or "me".
Which brings me to another thing. Okiura does this quite a lot when talking to Shizuoka. Even though it's only the two of them talking, Okiura will say something like "Will Shizuoka also go?" instead of saying "you". This I can explain actually. The Japanese words for "you" are not used that often when speaking and when it does, it's usually to someone close. There are three main forms of "you" in Japanese, "anata", "omae", and "kimi". Omae and kimi are used amongst close friends and usually not very polite and I guess Okiura doesn't feel like he's that close with Shizuoka. While "anata" on the other hand, is more polite, but it has a double meaning where it can mean "dear" or "honey" between couples. Okiura's relationship with Shizuoka is pretty awkward most of the time so out of politeness, he will say her name instead of "you" when talking to talking to her.
Here's what I like to ask the readers. Should I translated it as it is? Meaning leave the names even if they're referring to themselves in 3rd person?
OR
Translate them to "you", "I", "me", whenever it's appropriate?
Poll on the side.
guibin
Monday, January 25, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I would say : keep the 3rd person when it's a "you" and get rid of it when it's "I".
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI'd rather have both third persons.
ReplyDeletevote vote vote
ReplyDeleteCant for the next Chapter > 3<
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I don't care. my brain will do the translation ^^
ReplyDeleteI just found out that Umisho has 9 volumes! Long way to go sirs!
ReplyDeletenice bg image. i wonder who has the bigger boobs between the blond girl and shizuoka
ReplyDeletevektor > and exactly 120 chapters ^^
ReplyDeleteMalaki > I'm for Shizuoka :p
Shizuoka all the way!
ReplyDeleteWell, it's considered as 'cute' when a girl speaks of herself in 3rd person. I would leave it that way, but it won't be a big deal if you change it into "I".
ReplyDeleteRegarding the other case: If it's directly directed towards the respective character, change the name into "you". It's kinda confusing otherwise.
I have no preference.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work, I can't wait for the next chapter.
ReplyDeleteUgh, dropped my previous post in the wrong place.
ReplyDeleteIf you think there's a special meaning or it's wakward, I guess you should leave the 3rd person so the reader understands there's something different from the others's speach.
I will say this for now, will probably talk about it when the final results are in. Im keeping the 3rd person for Maaya since she's a very...uh...arrogant character already.
ReplyDelete