My love for languages

I’ve always had a dream of being a full fledged polygot since young. When I was much younger, I read about a famous diplomant in the League of Nations who was capable of speaking 7 different languages. I found it inspiring that even without the resources and access to technology we have today, someone was able to be fluent in so many different languages, and it made me think, “what’s stopping me from achieving this as well?”

Fast forward to today, I am currently about to sit for my N3 JLPT as I write this. And as much as I like to joke about my lack of chinese proficiency with my peers, I dare say I am more fluent that most in the world.

Why translation?

Language goes beyond just memorizing and repeating words. Being able to converse with the local grocery store cashier about your transactions (alongside some chitchat of your day) is one thing. To be able to help the foreign exchange student buy his groceries is another altogether.

I believe translation is an artform underappriciated by those who have never picked up a non-native language. Translation is not just converting words one-to-one between languages. it involves conveying tone, feeling, emotion, and so much more. Cultural jokes and lingustical proses are just one of many challenges that lazy translators will hadwave away with TNs that say “In China…”, or sometimes not even bother to inform a reader who will be none the wiser of the original linguistical marvel that the original work may be. I recently read a very inspirational account from a key translator who worked on Metal Gear Solid, which I will link here for those interested.

Experience

Now that my backstory is over, I wanted to talk a little about what I’ve actually done. My first “proper” piece of translation would probably be what I did for a niche manga series I was reading roughly 3 years ago. I never got around to uploading the images as I wasn’t proud of some of the cleaning done for some frames, although that is something I might revisit in the future. It started out as a bit of a whim, I was bored and looking for something to do, and figured why not try to contribute to a community, while practicing a skill at the same time? I watched a few youtube tutorials on how to perform typesetting and cleaning with photoshop, and read a few books on translation recommended by my friend who was majoring in linguistics. It was through this process that I learnt about how challenging translating foreign media really was, but at the same time, I found it rather motivational. It gave me a sense of joy to think that I could be providing an experience to people they wouldn’t otherwise be able to enjoy. To be a sort of “bridge” between two different cultures, sharing media that would never otherwise have been seen.

Fast forward to my high school graduation, and I had a lot of time to kill before university. I happened to get really invested in another chinese manhua series, and lamented the fact that there were no new uploads. it was at this moment that I thought to myself “hey, I’m so free right now. Why don’t I do it?”

And so I did it

It was a lot of fun, and what made me even happier was seeing the comments left on my work. Truth be told, I was extremely nervous at first. I felt like some things could have been phrased better, and I double and triple checked my work to make sure I didn’t misconvey anything. Yet nothing could beat the feeling of euphoria I got from seeing my scanlation be approved by the admins, and reading the supportive comments brought a huge smile to my face. Just take a look at some of them!

Conclusion

I really want to continue doing this work in the future. I intend to try and catchup to the original author (as well as link their work!), and let people read up to date. I’m still planning to upload weekly, and maybe throw and extra upload or two in when I have the time to spare. I personally really enjoyed this series, and it just makes me so happy to be able to share this joy to readers all across the globe.

Thank you for reading!