AK

Grrrrrrr, it really annoys me that everyone thinks Ted Woosley translated FFIV. He didn't. The only games he translated were FFVI, CT and Secret of Mana. Sure, its not as fun to blame "You spoony bard!" on some nameless translator, but that's the way it goes.

Justin Freeman

The FFIV fan-translation had more than just curses. Kain talked about his father following his path and so on. The conversation when you meet Yan at the bar was completely different, he actually remembered Cecil. And from what I know that translation was accurate. It gave more depth to the characters IMO too. I wonder why so much was changed int he original translation tho.

-Phil

Dear AK

I've thought about who should be president since they can't come up with a winner, let's pick Andrew Vestal as our next president. It'd be funny that a man dressed up as a moogle would be our president. Then we can go, "a winner is you". Can we in a whole Q&A speak in Daravonese. Imperial Mog

You never put any of my brilliant emails up, so now I'm going to resort to stupid stuff

Hey AK,

I'd like to add something to the translation debate that Chris started on Friday. I don't think that the idea of something being intrinsically better about the Japanese (i.e. original version) of a game is just a mythos, or some sort of hype that we've bought from Japanese proficient game fans. Yes, it is true that the latter are the most vocal about translation efforts, but we shouldn't dismiss their claims so easily, especially since they do contain basic truths about the intricacies of language correspondence. I can see their points even though I know not a word of Japanese.

Since I speak/read 3 languages more or less fluently, I can tell you for a fact that any text translated from an original, no matter what the language, does lose some nuances no matter how skillful the translator. If you happen to know both the original language and the language it is translated into, you cannot help feeling some frustration at how the translation is handled, even though you suspect you couldn't possibly do a better job.

At times translators do like to add their own touch to what they translate (which I find is mostly ok in prose, but it more often than not ruins poetry and songs). This is not to say that said approach is "wrong", but you do get a definite feeling that there was a middleman there. I'd suggest that is why fan translations of FFIV and FFVI, though much rougher than the official translation, may be popular with some fans, despite the fact that Woolsey did a good job on both. Much as he did a bang up job, you'd get to wonder just what he had to leave out...

On the other hand, inherent differences amongst languages create a problem for any piece of writing, making being translated as faithfully as possible very difficult (which is why, if reading translators' forewords in any book, you'll find that they do feel the need to apologize for any discretions they have to take with the text they translated). Why? Some words just do not have a precise correspondent term in another language...

The Inuit have 100 different words to describe what we call 'snow': they have a different word for each different way that snow looks, whereas we only have one word for it, and have to add adjectives to describe it better. In many romance languages there are more distinct ways to express that you love someone, so that there is no room for confusion when you're addressing a cherished friend, a child, or your partner... in English... well, we have to use 'like' (which sometimes isn't very fitting), or be very careful of the context when using the word 'love'.... There are also words in other languages for which we do not have an equivalent; that's why we adopt/borrow foreign words and use them in our everyday vocabulary all the time (the same can be said of other languages' use of anglicisms).

In short, even the most faithful of translations cannot achieve complete correspondence, and it has to settle for coherence, instead... which is why, I suspect, the translators at Working Designs are well liked by a lot of gamers, despite the fact that they admit to taking a few liberties with the original text ;)

Princess Jemmy, who hopes she didn't bore you enough to make you fall asleep...

There's a phrase, "The medium is the message". What this means is that what you say is often less important than how you say it.

Language defines what can be expressed by the speaker. Different languages evolve in different directions, developing unique approaches to expression. Language even shapes the thoughts, reactions, and well-being of the speaker. For example, if a language has no way of expressing some particular emotion, a speaker of this language may become increasingly stressed as he struggles with this unnamed feeling. He may be unable to understand his own emotions, simply because he has no way of explaining to himself or others what he is feeling.

This gap between truth and expression is at the heart of the matter of translation. I would say that it is the translator's job to search for the sincere truth that the artist is attempting to express, and rebuild that expression from the ground up in a different structure. The translator must attempt to thoroughly emulate the artist's mind.

As this is obviously a difficult task under any circumstances, translation will always be an inexact and awkward process. It is a hard and thankless job and we should appreciate translators even if we sometimes find their interpretations frustrating.

Except when it comes to censorship and editing, of course. In that case, shoot to kill.

sincerely,
Sanagi

Hey Bro!-

I just beat Shenmue. I'm gonna go cry right now. I actually became scared at the end of disc 3 that I was about to beat it, it was that good. What am I gonna do now?! The sequel is gonna take Y E A R S to make!!! oh nooo!!! Oh wait, Skies of Arcaida is coming out soon. So's FF9. Nevermind. Anyway, get Shenmue, it is SOOOOO worth it!!!!!!!

Ryo Hazuki is my Hero.

-Taerin "Time for Shenmue Passport!!!" G-P