Gunnerkrigg Court in Other Languages

[popo]

my2k said:

I like how Robot has this official looking font for his voice

I didn't notice it until you mentioned it just now.

[cenit]

shoot me if I'm crazy, we should set up GC in different languages, avaible on the web (same portal of GC, kinda like "International versions")...GC FOR THE WORLD XD

[Yin]

That would be TOTALLY AWESOME if Tom allows it. And if we have enough translators (who here speaks more than one language well? Not me, that's who.)

[popo]

Um, I'm learning mandarin, but I don't know enough to translate much. I could still probably figure it out if I tried (maybe).

[Neon]

I'm fluent in Hebrew, but I don't think many people would be interested in that.

[sbj]

If this turns into anything big, I could translate it to Danish (and German, but I'm still learning that so if anyone who've spoken it for more than half a year wants to do it, don't let me be in the way.)

[Fuin]

I have managed to translate the first chapter to Swedish. Going on the second one right now.

[Asuka]

fuin said:

I have managed to translate the first chapter to Swedish. Going on the second one right now.

sbj said:

If this turns into anything big, I could translate it to Danish (and German, but I'm still learning that so if anyone who've spoken it for more than half a year wants to do it, don't let me be in the way.)

Fuin, that's wonderful. So many talented people on this board, it's amazing! And Sbj, if the translation bug bites you, don't hold back. :)

neon said:

I'm fluent in Hebrew, but I don't think many people would be interested in that.

That would be really, really interesting to see, though.

[nikita]

I guess, if you guys really intend to actually do this, you should do it in some web-2.0-ish way so anybody who speaks the language fluently can contribute. Also, a centralized infrastructure could be used for all languages so not everybody has to build their own system from scratch.

Also, a page to collect all the translations would be nice to make those projects popular. Maybe as an unofficial project not located on the official GC website. (I might be wrong but I think Tom would appreciate a clear separation of official and fan-created stuff. Especially because we probably can't read and understand all those languages.)
Also, before doing this large-scale, you'll have to ask Tom first.
(Translating few pages for personal use is something totally different from translating the whole thing)

[Asuka]

nikita said:

I guess, if you guys really intend to actually do this, you should do it in some web-2.0-ish way so anybody who speaks the language fluently can contribute. Also, a centralized infrastructure could be used for all languages so not everybody has to build their own system from scratch.

Also, a page to collect all the translations would be nice to make those projects popular. Maybe as an unofficial project not located on the official GC website. (I might be wrong but I think Tom would appreciate a clear separation of official and fan-created stuff. Especially because we probably can't read and understand all those languages.)
Also, before doing this large-scale, you'll have to ask Tom first.
(Translating few pages for personal use is something totally different from translating the whole thing)

I hope it was made clear in the first post that all of the translations are strictly for private use and for fun. If Tom wants to use them, he is more than welcome to them, but I do not condone the translators taking it upon themselves to put them up on the web. I have so far translated three chapters into Japanese and I will not be putting them up anywhere online, nor do I want anyone else to put their translated versions online.

If Tom does want to put translated versions up, that's wonderful and I'm sure any number of people who have contributed to this thread would be more than happy to help. But otherwise the translated versions are strictly for our own private entertainment and the amusement of seeing Robot speak in Swedish.

[fr4tbrn]

Alright, that's it. I want to try

I'm going to try French... and just thank god I have my handy-dandy French-English dictionary for... difficulties.

[nikita]

asuka said:

I hope it was made clear in the first post that all of the translations are strictly for private use and for fun.

My post doesn't apply to your project then.
I was thinking of the "GC FOR THE WORLD XD" kind of projects.

[Fuin]

asuka said:

[...] and the amusement of seeing Robot speak in Swedish.

It really is a treat, I must say.

[Hazel]

I can try doing Russian, if anyone would be interested in seeing that.

[ultrabluesky]

I could do german actually, sbj. I was born there, and speak it fluently. So that would be easy for me!

my2k said:

That said, this is totally a noble cause, I'd love to see GC in French or something. I like how Robot has this official looking font for his voice

I could try french, but this is only my 4th year speaking it in a classroom enviornment - There is still a lot I don't know.

Do you think Tom would let us do this? Because I would start translating it, like, right now. Hmm . . . TOM: whaddya say?

If its a question of hosting, It could be done free-webs style. I am not, however, html savy, so we'd need a fan who codes in on this as well.

EDIT: maybe not freewebs, maybe smackjeeves, or drunk duck? Or something similar.

[Asuka]

nikita said:

asuka said:

I hope it was made clear in the first post that all of the translations are strictly for private use and for fun.

My post doesn't apply to your project then.
I was thinking of the "GC FOR THE WORLD XD" kind of projects.

While it would be very interesting to see, we need to keep our boundaries in mind! So far this is merely for entertainment, and honestly I'm blown away at what a diverse fan base Gunnerkrigg Court seems to have.

[Tenjen]

It wouldnt be a case of literally translating the comic word for word into a language

Steph [my better half] has to translate languages as part of her job. She's an otaku so the subject of manga has come up and we've discussed tranlations. she says theres the point that many dialects and forms exist in languages. These will have to be considered to give the text value. Like english has many words that mean the same thing but apply to different contexts, situations and the persons charector. The most suitable has to be chosen.

taking japanese for example she tried to explain to me [iam not good at languages] that it has different forms unto itself, like one style that points out an aggressive and manly tone when spoken.

but maybe iam just thinking too much into it.

[ultrabluesky]

Precisely. I was thinking about how people would talk, and I was thinkning about when they adopt the formal tone and when do they adopt the familiar? Japanese is much more particular, going so far as having different ways of saying "I" (as in 'myself') which is more of a techincality than dialects, which also play in.

[Asuka]

tenjen said:

It wouldnt be a case of literally translating the comic word for word into a language

Steph [my better half] has to translate languages as part of her job. She's an otaku so the subject of manga has come up and we've discussed tranlations. she says theres the point that many dialects and forms exist in languages. These will have to be considered to give the text value. Like english has many words that mean the same thing but apply to different contexts, situations and the persons charector. The most suitable has to be chosen.

taking japanese for example she tried to explain to me [iam not good at languages] that it has different forms unto itself, like one style that points out an aggressive and manly tone when spoken.

but maybe iam just thinking too much into it.

Your friend sounds very knowledgeable. I don't translate for a profession like she does, but in my limited experience a lot of what she says hits home. And she's right, most of the time it isn't about translating word-for-word.

Haha, you're actually a few steps ahead of me! I've actually been considering, since the girls loved the comic so much, how I was going to translate later chapters to include Red's peculiar accent. Do I give her a standard accent with a manly inflection? Should I go with a more feminine but distinctly Kansai accent?


I don't know about accents or formal speech in other European languages, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how other people handle these sorts of issues.

[ultrabluesky]

asuka said:

Haha, you're actually a few steps ahead of me! I've actually been considering, since the girls loved the comic so much, how I was going to translate later chapters to include Red's peculiar accent. Do I give her a standard accent with a manly inflection? Should I go with a more feminine but distinctly Kansai accent?

That would be funny XD

[Tenjen]

Steph is a translator in business meetings where the executives dont know each others language. Ofcourse i'd have to mention she also manages the team which setsup the meeting and makes sure things flow along smoothly [she'd kill me if i didnt mention it]

She mostly knows quite a number of central and east european languages, Japanese ofcourse [she's 1/4th].

Languages are really her thing. Theres quite nothing like getting screamed at in several different languages during the occasional fights. {we were a couple before she went to europe]

But back to the topic.

These things would need small teams of people to do properly. As long as no ones bossy or too idiotic it should be fun.

[Vratislav]

Well, it seems great and I like the idea of official multilingual Gunnerkrigg web pages! (as e.g. Megatokyo has).

(If I had more time, I'd try translation into my native language (Czech).)

But I spill some cold water on the idea of translation into non-native languages.
I think that good translations can be made either by professionals (that's not very possible in this case) or at least by by native speakers.
Good comic translations are made by local fans of the comics, to make the comic readable for their friends without good knowledge of English. Nice example is Czech version of very talkative Order of The Stick ( www.oots.cz ).
There is a dedicated team of four or five people who are able to publish ten translated pages per week(!) . They are pretty successful, because the page has already about 500 visitors per day.
From the discussion over there I think that it's not very simple to make really good translation - to be good translator is almost as difficult as to be a writer.
There are some ideas to keep in mind if really GOOD translation shall be made:
- Every person has own way of speaking (formal, informal, rough, favourite word compounds, things he/she never says, etc.)
- As mentioned above, local dialects different from standard language are very difficult to translate even for native speakers.
- Some things are so language-specific that they must be said very different way in the translation (or even something else must be spoken there).
- How to translate heros' names, locations, etc. (if they have some meaning in the original). This is one stuff that needs either really good knowledge of English or cooperation of English natives and locals.
- and also (already mentioned) grammar questions (familiar or formal, etc.)

I am sure that there appear some translations soon - but I'd recommend to leave it on native speakers of particular languages.
(and you may kill me now - because I can't provide translation to my native language due to time issues )

[cenit]

Several things:

1. When I yelled GC for the world I was thinking that Tom himself could use the translated versions and put them in the web, as part of his own work. I don't think that anyone should publish any of GC anywhere, unless Tom gave the ok.
2. The native speaker thing sounds great, and for example Spanish is my native language; but I don't think we couldn't let people who know a language very well to give it a try.
3. I really liked all the points posted by Vratislav, since I've translated before and it can be tricky bussiness, but GC is worth it.
4. There are also local dialects within languages, for example, I'm from South America, and our spanish differs in lots of ways from the one spoken in Spain (we understand each other, although it sounds weird ). So, since there lots of people speaking lots of languages, we can help each other by reviewing (anyone from Spain that can check my spanish version?)

[ultrabluesky]

I've begun translating pages. I'm a native speaker of German - I actually don't think there would be much call for german translations because most people in germany understand english pretty well. But I think it would also be fun. Fun for me, and fun for anyone learning german XP.

Again there comes up the issue of how to link all this. Again, what does Tom think of it? Would he use it? I think there should be a thread in this forum that has a main post of GC In Multiple Languages, and then links to cheap and quick smackjeeves accounts all in one post. And a firm understanding that these translations are not to be abused. I'm sure you know what I mean.

[Asuka]

ultrabluesky said:

I've begun translating pages. I'm a native speaker of German - I actually don't think there would be much call for german translations because most people in germany understand english pretty well. But I think it would also be fun. Fun for me, and fun for anyone learning german XP.

Again there comes up the issue of how to link all this. Again, what does Tom think of it? Would he use it? I think there should be a thread in this forum that has a main post of GC In Multiple Languages, and then links to cheap and quick smackjeeves accounts all in one post. And a firm understanding that these translations are not to be abused. I'm sure you know what I mean.

I can't wait to see Gunnerkrigg in German! One of my close friends from Japan is, ironically, German. I remember that she spoke English fluently, although we rarely spoke English around each other.



I know what you mean. Honestly, I didn't intend for this to become so huge (although I love it! Languages are my passion and I absolutely love seeing Kat and Annie speak in German, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew...) and I think that for now they should just be for fun and for exchange amongst the forum members (for example, my sister will probably want to utilize your translations to help her study German, since she loves Gunnerkrigg as well).

However, I think we should abstain from putting them up on websites for now. If situations change in the future and Tom puts up the translated versions or even gives permission for a multilingual mirror to be put up then that would be ideal. But until then, if anyone wants the chapters in other languages perhaps encouraging them to join the forums and email the original translators with a request would be a better course of action.

[Riess]

I can definitely proof-read over any German translation, being native speaker as well, and I dare say I have a firm grasp of the language in written form. I agree it would be a nice tool for anyone who wants to learn that language. Should be interesting to see what comes from this.

[cenit]

BIG QUESTION, who's gonna ask Tom about the mirrors for GC in other languages?

Also, started Spanish, still looking if there's someone, hopefully from Spain that can proof-read my Spanish version, 'cause I'm South American and we have our languages difference.

...no hay ni tios o tias por aqui?

[traedl]

Shouldn't the japanese pages be flipped around?

[Yin]

traedl said:

Shouldn't the japanese pages be flipped around?

If we have to suffer reading manga back to front to get the effect the authors intended, so should they =P

[Asuka]

traedl said:

Shouldn't the japanese pages be flipped around?

I consider flipping an artist's work to be unnecessary and completely insulting to them. When I started reading translated manga the artwork was always flipped. I thought it was a ridiculous practice, but at the time manga wasn't nearly as widespread as it is now. Now Tokyopop and other translating/publishing companies publish all of their manga unflipped (something I think is wonderful).

To get back to the original point, simply reminding my 'crowd' to read from left to right is enough. Flipping was never really necessary.