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5003 Posts
This sticky is aimed specifically at people who at bilingual at either Korean and English or Chinese and English who wish to figure out how the entire translation business operates on TeamLiquid. Hopefully you'll find it helpful and we'll see you contributing!
What is the Translation Team?
Here's the catch -- there is no such thing as the "Translation Team". The translators are simply normal users who choose to contribute to the site with their translations. The people with the Translator icons are simply users who have contributed to TeamLiquid with their translations over some period of time. It's the site's way of awarding translators who provided consistent and quality translations.
Simply put, go to a website, find something cool, translate it for the rest of us -- and congratulations, you're a translator!
What's there to translate?
There are a lot of material available regarding the Korean e-Sports scene. The most bread and butter task of a translator is to provide translations of the news and interviews that are featured on many Korean websites. Many of us translate because we're huge fans of certain teams and players, or we find something fascinating that we want to share.
Past the news and interviews, there are articles posted on various websites, whether they be opinion pieces, comic strips, or analysis of games done by progamers, or photosets, to even video clips made by Korean fans. There are a lot of material out there if you know exactly where to look.
Where do I look?
While there are many sites that have e-Sports related news, there seems to be only a few that focuses on them. - Fomos: Fomos happens to be the main e-Sports news portal that most of us tends to use. It's also the primary source for many of the interviews, and the fastest source for after game interviews.
- Daily E-Sports: DES takes a more personal approach with the players, as they feature articles that feature fun factoids about players or little happenings that Fomos usually does not cover. One of the writers even gets Progamers to do really awkward poses! It's definitely worth checking out, although DES does not cover Starcraft 2 related events.
- There are also other news sources, such as OSEN and ThisIsGame, but they aren't e-Sports specific. You can normally find a compilation using Google News or Daum or Naver.
The main community sites are as follows- pgr21: One of the oldest community boards, known for their extremely high standards of posting.
- PlayXP: PlayXP is currently the main Starcraft 2 community in Korea. While it normally compiles news from other websites for the most part, it often has a lot of neat original content. This and Fomos will be your main source of information if you're into Starcraft 2 related News.
- DCInside Galleries: DCInside's forums are called "Galleries". While their galleries are very chaotic, there are many "industry insiders" who posts stuff on these galleries. This happens very often on the team specific Galleries, where players and coaches will make direct posts on those galleries. The Galleries also often organize "drops" to the players and teams, getting the players snacks and gifts.
A Few Guidelines and Tips - Don't be afraid to use a dictionary. In fact, most of the translators use them! The one that I recommend is Naver's dictionary. However, if you have to use Google Translate or any related programs for any reason other than to look up a definition of a word, it's a sign that you shouldn't be translating.
- If you don't understand something, leave a Translator's note, denoted by [T/N: Message]. Don't be afraid to admit you're not sure of how to translate certain phrases.
- The rule of thumb is to translate things that aren't easily accessible to the foreign community. This means that there isn't much demand for most of the pre-game posts and after-game reviews made at Fomos, nor will there be much demand for a large portion of Fomos' SC2 related posts.
- Sometimes you will encounter rumor threads, whether they be within the news site or at a community site. However, the rumor threads often differ -- some of them will be based on solid facts and some of them are actual rumors. It's important to distinguish between them when bringing people news since most people will not be able to distinguish between them after you translate. Making the context clear is important.
- Daily E-Sports leans anti-Blizzard, while Fomos leans Pro-Blizzard. This means that Fomos will never report anything that makes Blizzard look bad. However, while Daily E-Sports may report these things, try and avoid their op-ed pieces, as they swing terribly anti-Blizzard. Make sure you grab facts so that you can paint a better picture of what's going on.
- When doing after game interviews, however, your best bet is to use the DES interviews, or to merge the Fomos and DES interviews. This is because Fomos is notorious for editing interviews -- they will often omit a lot of personality from the players and they will reorganize answers into different questions. DES tends to capture more of the personality for the players and the people being interviewed and keeps things fresh.
- Avoid "spicing" up interviews through exaggeration. Korean Progamers often take extreme caution to not say anything extreme -- respect their wishes.
But wait! I'm Chinese!
Sadly, I am not Chinese and cannot help with matters relating to Chinese sites. Thankfully, Carnivorous Sheep has stepped in to help me out.
The main Chinese sources are- Wfbrood: A site that produces very few news items of its own, but they do a good job of organizing articles/posts from various other sites into one place. The frontpage is BW dedicated, but it also has a SC2 section that is just as active. A good first stop to get a general sense of what articles there are. Note: They will say the name of their source site, but they don’t link to it. If you want to find the original article, you’ll have to go to the site and dig it out yourself.
- Playsc: A forum, where a translator by the name of wooyeon is the source of a large majority of the interviews/articles related to the BW scene.
- plu.cn: A forum, where a translator by the name of 活着就是希望 also does many translations, though it’s usually of a condensed sort.
- As with Europe/America, countless sites are trying to jump on the e-Sports bandwagon with the advent of Starcraft 2. There are probably more sites, but the following sites seem to be the biggest/most active ones respect to Starcraft 2 content right now: s.163.com, sc2.178.com, and sc2.17173.com
Some specific tips for Chinese users- Having a good knowledge of Chinese slang is necessary, especially with regards to Starcraft (player nicknames, unit names, build names, etc.). Sometimes Chinese slang is substituted in when translating from Korean, so a familiarity with how interviews generally are can help discern what the original Korean says.
- Very rarely do Chinese translators link to the original Korean articles, usually only when it’s some special one-off article; if you want to hunt down the original Korean articles, you’ll need to navigate the Korean sites, like fomos.kr, yourself, possibly with the aid of Google translate.
- Chinese sites love rumors. Try to discern which articles are rumors; it’s usually a fairly straightforward process, but does sometimes require your best judgment/further investigations on your own.
- When not sure what the translator meant, ask someone who can read the original Korean source article. Do the same when something sounds wrong.
Sources, Format, and Images
Generally, translators are free to use whatever format they wish to use for their interviews, assuming they're trying to make their interviews readable.
The only thing is that you should mention your sources somewhere on the translation. When using a Chinese source, then make sure you tell us both the Chinese source, and the Korean source the Chinese source used. This keeps things organized.
One last thing is that you should avoid hotlinking images. Use the "Upload Image" button to upload your images to imgur.com or you can use your preferred image host. But hotlinking in general is frowned upon.
Well, that's all for now. We'll be looking forward to your contributions! Good luck and have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to ask around! And please, please don't burn out.
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United States4053 Posts
Great guide! I think it'll definitely help anyone who wants to translate. I'll add a couple things for Chinese translators, which I've found useful:
--Nciku is an excellent/reputable Chinese dictionary, which I use for my translations. It has a standard and contemporary dictionary, and the latter has helped me pick up on slang several times despite not living/having grown up in China myself.
--On PlaySC, when looking for interviews/other articles of interest, look for a [新闻采访] tag, with the thread title in blue.
--On wfbrood, most articles of interest are translated from Korean, and will be tagged 【翻译】. Post-game interviews will also have "赛后采访" at the end.
--It would be REALLY awesome and helpful and awesome to build a Starcraft-specific slang list for some of the more well-known players, units, and skills, and to put it in this sticky for reference. For example, I know I've been confused by the distinction between Dog and Cow many a time (one requires a spawning pool, while the other requires the ultra cavern), and it took me a while to figure out who the "cult leader" was (even though he won OSL, MSL, and WCG this year).
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United States7481 Posts
Great post, I hope it encourages lots of new translators for sc2 stuff. My goal is to one day join this crew 
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wow, i was just trying to get involved with chinese translation. this is a great post!
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This group is getting to be quite large. No article will go untranslated soon!
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United States4053 Posts
On October 09 2010 16:11 Wolf wrote:
This group is getting to be quite large. No article will go untranslated soon!
actually, most of our more active translators are on hiatus due to work/school iirc 
GL to all new translators
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I would love to sign up! I'll do a translation from wfbrood when I have a chance over the next few days...
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51455 Posts
On October 09 2010 16:29 Lyriene wrote:COME ON TL, WE NEED YOU. TRANSLATION TEAM IS DYING except Milkis
no, he's dead too.
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United States11637 Posts
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On October 09 2010 17:06 boesthius wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 16:11 Wolf wrote:
This group is getting to be quite large. No article will go untranslated soon! you would think this to be true
Are you referring to the notion of the "tragedy of the commons" where once the number of responsible individuals becomes large, the individual incentive for effort approaches zero?
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Lyriene
United States346 Posts
On October 09 2010 17:06 GTR wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 16:29 Lyriene wrote:COME ON TL, WE NEED YOU. TRANSLATION TEAM IS DYING except Milkis no, he's dead too.
Relatively!
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United States11637 Posts
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On October 09 2010 17:28 Lyriene wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 17:06 GTR wrote:On October 09 2010 16:29 Lyriene wrote:COME ON TL, WE NEED YOU. TRANSLATION TEAM IS DYING except Milkis no, he's dead too. Relatively!
Excuse me good sir/ma'am, could you explain what you mean by your post? Are you implying that the OP, Milkis is "relatively" dead?
Is he, then, alive in the sense that zombies are? A mindless, voracious creature of the night? If, in fact, Milkis is a zombie, how does he effectively translate articles?
Do you accept applications to the translation team from zombies?
On October 09 2010 17:30 boesthius wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 17:08 Gummy wrote:On October 09 2010 17:06 boesthius wrote:On October 09 2010 16:11 Wolf wrote:
This group is getting to be quite large. No article will go untranslated soon! you would think this to be true Are you referring to the notion of the "tragedy of the commons" where once the number of responsible individuals becomes large, the individual incentive for effort approaches zero? you would be correct my lad. however i fear Mrhoon syndrome is causing more problems for our beloved translators than this.
What is MrHoon syndrome? I used the search function and typed in "MrHoon syndrome" and was unable to find any results. Is he sick? If so, is it curable?
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aers
United States1210 Posts
Typical thread in translation forum:
Translator #1 SUPERCOOLSTAR
hi guys anyone want to TL this
Translator #1 SUPERCOOLSTAR
guys?
Translator #2 SUPERCOOLSTAR
sorry this is the forum where stars go to die
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For an online korean dictionary what do you guys think of this?
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a big thanks to all translators around, you are the people that let all the non-korean have some verry nice reads. I wish i could help
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
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Thanks a lot Milkis, been thinking I would try to contribute translations after my Chinese improves enough. Hopefully I will be able to find this thread 2 years from now after I've been living in China for a while. 
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you should hire gaggar
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51455 Posts
are you joking? because after making a thread called "go fuck yourself" i don't want him (or anyone who acts in a similar manner) to be associated with teamliquid staff at all.
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On October 09 2010 23:18 GTR wrote:
are you joking? because after making a thread called "go fuck yourself" i don't want him (or anyone who acts in a similar manner) to be associated with teamliquid staff at all.
That was definitely over the top but I'm inclined to think it was a singular instance of him blowing up and burning his bridges. He's doing thankless work with no system in place to help him. I'm Chinese and can help with translations but what assurance do I get I won't be treated in the same manner? That's a rhetorical question btw. I've read the sticky.
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I ll try my best
I hope i can deliver many quality posts!!
TL TRANSLATOR TEAM HWAITINGGGGG!!!
edit: I am damm sure that the player's names are gonna be the major pain in the ass -.-;
So many names and i have no clue what their ids are --;
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On October 09 2010 22:38 l10f wrote:It's impossible to tell which sc2 articles have been translated because they go down really fast due to huge numbers of threads being made in sc2 general so I'm afraid to translate anything related to sc2. Worthwhile BW news gets translated so fast I can't keep up with my noob 160 apm.
Don't you have your own forum to prevent more people from translating 1 thing? I'm sorry, I think I read somewhere that you have.
On October 10 2010 03:40 GrazerRinge wrote:I ll try my best I hope i can deliver many quality posts!! TL TRANSLATOR TEAM HWAITINGGGGG!!! edit: I am damm sure that the player's names are gonna be the major pain in the ass -.-; So many names and i have no clue what their ids are --;
Use DATABASE to your right to find out ?
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Baa?21243 Posts
On October 10 2010 05:04 beetlelisk wrote:
Don't you have your own forum to prevent more people from translating 1 thing? I'm sorry, I think I read somewhere that you have.
See aers' post for an accurate description (not summary, description) of what goes on the translator's forum. =D
But translating on TL is really impromptu lol, someone just sees an article and does it and posts it, that's usually how it works :3
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Lyriene
United States346 Posts
aers is right on the money LOL.
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United States10328 Posts
i'd be willing to translate some chinese bw stuff once proleague starts
i also don't always get all the chinese slang though (gun = marine, dragon = muta...)
does anyone know where i could find some list of translations of sc chinese slang? haha
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Honestly I've tried that once...
when I checked for dupes I must have missed it because the threads were bouncing between p1 and p2 so fast. So thinking no one has translated this yet, I've made an attempt. Only to get totally flamed and sarcastically insulted by some of the "higher beings".
Being new here was not easy if you bump into other people's believes.
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United States4053 Posts
On October 10 2010 16:34 ]343[ wrote:
i'd be willing to translate some chinese bw stuff once proleague starts
i also don't always get all the chinese slang though (gun = marine, dragon = muta...)
does anyone know where i could find some list of translations of sc chinese slang? haha
AFAIK there isn't one, which is why I said we should compile it ourselves.
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Baa?21243 Posts
I can make one at some point.
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Just as a suggestion to avoid cases of multiple people translating articles(unless someone does a much better/indepth translation):
Can't the person make a thread with the news and kind of put a [reserved] sign on it, that way other translators will know this is already being translated?
Thanks to all the translators! You guys rock, I wish I had your lingual talents.
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Sadly my Chinese isn't good enough (written) to be able to translate. If anyone happens to need a key piece of information translated, however, PM me and I can get it done for you.
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I wish I knew korean/ chineese so I could help
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Calgary25980 Posts
Wow, nice to see an organized post detailing everything. Those "rumour" translations and a lot of the player interviews are insanely interesting - they always add something special to the post-game discussions.
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51455 Posts
Just a heads up to Korean translators, it seems DES is more active in BW-related reporting than FOMOS at the moment, so if you're trying to look for BW-related material, DES seems the best place to go first, for now.
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Well, i am doing translations for plu.cn now, originally i hope i could find something valuable from TL or other sc/sc2 websites to bring news and informations to Chinese SC fans.
And I think it is a good guideline for our translator, and if there is something new happended in Chiense SC world, I hope that i could give a hand.
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51455 Posts
To Koreans looking for content: Look on FOMOS and pick up the GSL Winner Interviews. I had to go through some of them myself to find some interesting comments from players such as IdrA and Nada.
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How's your Korean coming along GTR? I remember your hangul writing was pretty good minus some few mistakes.
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51455 Posts
I've been quite busy as of late with exams and what not. Hopefully I'll be able to get into a college that at least offers Korean as an elective so I can build up on what I know.
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What about spanish? There are many players in latin america who play sc, i can do the translation on the strategies/ unit description etc.
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I'm interested
I lived in Korea for 11 years/fluent in Korean/fast Korean typing (if it matters)
Also, I read the sc2 korean traslator thread and sent a PM to Roffles
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im already helping TL translate chinese articles, thanks for this thread!
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I agree with l1Of. It`s impossible.
dave,
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Portuguese translator if needed
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i can translate english - norwegian/german/spanish and visa versa. just pm me if some of you want me to translate something for you
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EPT
