#and -- most relevant to me i guess -- whether it is expected and/or preferrable for fan translations to veer on the side of direct

[vynegar]

help i have such Opinions on translation now

#ok gonna preface this with saying that someone is translating for free and i KNOW that takes so much time and effort and love. and also ther #there are a lot of cultural and contextual footnotes that i really love and wouldn't have been able to figure out myself! #also it seems like the translator's native language is neither chinese NOR english so like. honestly that's really amazing. #so i still really respect what they're doing and am not gonna say anything identifying about this work (it's completely unrelated to tot) #but i've been reading a webnovel fan translation alongside its original chinese version and i guess i'm farther in the 'localization' camp #than i thought. bc this translation leans way too hard into the 'direct translation' of words and phrases and slang #and then with an added footnote explaining what it means. sometimes it's honestly kinda useful from the perspective of wanting to learn the #the language but i don't think it's the right translation choice because there can be several of these per chapter #and the vast majority are not at crucial significant moments when the loss in meaning outweighs the cost of breaking the story flow #and in one instance i saw (the final straw for me) it doesn't even make sense to translate the meaning of the chinese word directly #bc it's not the meaning that matters. the phrase originally came about as a loanword from japanese and a character with a similar pronunciat #pronunciation was used to represent the japanese syllable. #sure this is just one example of an internet slang word that many people might not even know the etymology of and maybe they DO think of the #the meaning of the word now! but still. #i have so many Thoughts now. on how translation is a constant game of balance and sacrifice where the set of 'rules' and expectations change #depending on genre and audience and intention and just individual person! #and -- most relevant to me i guess -- whether it is expected and/or preferrable for fan translations to veer on the side of direct