Song Translating and Mistranslating (subpage)

• Main article - recommended translators, neutral translators and a quick access to the understanding of Japanese language.
• Comment session (closed)
• Damesukekun - native Japanese spaker who also speaks English, German and Korean / ein Japaner, der Englisch, Deutsche und Koreanisch auch kann / 영어, 독일어 그리고 한국어도 할 수 있는 일본인

Here are messages recommended and neutral translators sent to me.

• I know how you feel about mistranslations, I have stopped watching subtitled on YouTube except by a selected few people - mainly by going through your subscription list.
  Most of the subtitles on YouTube, especially for the popular songs, are so wrongly interpreted that it makes me sad and angry to see. I can understand deviating from the exact wording a bit to make things sound more natural (I don't like it, but I can see why some might); but many of the subtitles are just completely wrong, where they either break up the sentence incorrectly, or don't even understand basic grammar rules.
  I used to see a lot of people asking which online translator and dictionary to use for translations. I tried to hint that if they needed online translator and dictionary on a regular basis, they probably shouldn't be uploading their translation, and should start by practicing and have someone check their work for them, it didn't seem to change their mind : (

• As someone who used to be on the mistranslator list (and am now on neutral), I can honestly say that while it was painful to see my skills evaluated so poorly, it was also a very necessary experience. If someone legitimately wants to improve as a translator and become reliable, sometimes it's important to have their ego crushed a little bit. I went back over things I had translated and just took for granted they were good, and realized I had made a huge number of mistakes. I would not have worked so hard to get better if I hadn't had that bit of shame hanging over me.
  Fan translations are never held to the same level of accountability as professional ones, and for that reason a lot of people become careless or lazy when doing it. I think it's good to have something reminding them not to slough off if they're going to be spreading their translations publicly, even if it's embarrassing or hurts their feelings.

• 確かに日本人の心情を表しているものは少ないですね。
  (I agree with you that few translations convey the Japanese feeling rightly.)

Listings

If you believe your name wrongly appears on the lists below or that you have improved your translation skill to be moved to the recommended or neutral translators list, post a message for correction in the comment box here (scroll down the page) or send a message at damesukekun(at)live.jp
This translators list is subject to change without notice. Please refer to the latest version.
For a quick search, use Ctrl+F and enter a name in the search box.
Last update on May 22, 2019