juvera wrote:
OlafK wrote:
Quality doesn't matter. I gave up subtitle translation for feature films many years ago because of the downward pressure on rates (we worked from English subtitles, transcribed and cued by a native speaker, plus a spotting script, and all translations were proof-read).
Now subtitle translators work for a pittance and if you criticise them for it they'll tell you they translate 3 to 5 feature films a week and always deliver quality (yeah right) or where they live, €1000 a month is a lot of money...
Companies cutting corners where they can and delivering poor quality systematically undercut those that value quality and whenever a good translator walks away from a job because of poor pay there are 10 sweatshop workers waiting to take over.
Commercially viable films, like the Harry Potter films are always subtitled into several languages at the same time, and one subtitling company handles the contract. That means, the script comes straight from the studio, and a native English speaker does the English subtitles for translation, and it is checked, corrected, and usually very good quality. All the translators work from that. Moreover, if any of the translators notice anything, they would tell the project manager immediately, and all the other translators would be notified about any change or discrepancy. That is NOT the problem.
The problem is the poor pay, and the tendency to give the translation to native speakers not living in English environment, therefore their understanding of the language is inadequate. Poorly paid means very often these translations are done by freshly qualified language graduates, glad to have some work, or similarly inexperienced people.
Even Disney seems to think, that it is enough to be good in the native language to produce good subtitles. That's why I came across for example in the "Beauty and the Beast" "flying buttresses" translated as butterflies, and I wasn't allowed to change them! (I was only translating some additional material, not editing.) The language of the translator was undoubtedly good, but his understanding of English left a lot to be desired.
I hate to think what is being produced nowadays, because I know how bad these translations can be. I used to spend ages to correct them, there were so many mistakes, and now as they say, the blinds are leading the ones who cannot see.
[Edited at 2008-03-19 19:11]
[Edited at 2008-03-19 19:13]
I'm not saying that in Romania is anything different; not by a long shot. But somehow those done by the Dutch are... eek! And that's because most of them are done by students... As for worldwide subtitling quality control, I believe it to be... somehow overlooked almost each time because the main audience is drawn more by the overly-simplistic jobs. So, "Profit Ahead Quality!", I'd say.
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
