What's up with horrible translations on Netflix? Autor da sequência: Tan Nguyen
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Tan Nguyen 
Vietname
Local time: 13:27
Inglês para Vietnamita
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I have a long list of thousands of Netflix films/ episodes that have serious localization/ translation issues.
Here are two examples of laughable translations.
The first example is from the episode of Explained: Season 2: "Billionaires". She is a Forbes editor. But covering is translated with the meaning of hiding, resulting in a ridiculous translation.
The second example is from the episode of The Spy: The Immigrant. Train in this sentence is supposed to be a verb, however they courageously but carelessly, etc. translated it as a noun, means of transportation.
[Edited at 2019-10-18 03:10 GMT]
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Want more examples of bad (stupid) translations as seen on Fox and HBO TVs Serbia?
"Two and a Half Men" show, Fox and 02 TV:
- "That‘s a pretty standard boilerplate," translated as, "That‘s a pretty standard nameplate from a boiler."
- Charlie was disappointed in the movie he's just watched. His girfriend says: "You don't buy a central premise that a dog can play hockey?" Translated as "You don't buy a large lot so that a dog can play hockey th... See more Want more examples of bad (stupid) translations as seen on Fox and HBO TVs Serbia?
"Two and a Half Men" show, Fox and 02 TV:
- "That‘s a pretty standard boilerplate," translated as, "That‘s a pretty standard nameplate from a boiler."
- Charlie was disappointed in the movie he's just watched. His girfriend says: "You don't buy a central premise that a dog can play hockey?" Translated as "You don't buy a large lot so that a dog can play hockey there?" Charlie replies: "Not as a power forward," translated as "Well, that's not a condition."
- "Sophomore," trans. as "The final year";
- "In a tube top," transl. as "In mini skirt"
- "My carpal tunnel is acting up," translated as "My boss will carp at me again."
-"Turn tricks", translated as "Show tricks" (like a magician);
-"Knock-off Gucci bag", translated as "A fantastic bag".
"Las Vegas" show, Fox Crime TV:
- "Mitch, back up camera 43 ten seconds." Transl., "Mice, back up 43 seconds."
- "With a tape measure", translated as "With a camera";
- "Naked trumps fear", translated as "I fear of nudity";
The 3rd Rock from the Sun show, Prva plus TV:
- "Shotgun" (a man yells approaching the car), translated as "Party";
- "In the heart of meat packing district," trans. as "In a district for parking refrigerator trucks."
- "I worked the graveyard last night," trans. as "I worked in the cemetery."
I've sent a complaint to Prva plus TV Serbia crew, but they told me "it's an artistic license", although they later changed stupid translation into correct.
And all those examples are in my essay published four times in Serbian newspapers. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not surprising | Oct 17, 2019 |
Netflix has a history of having terrible subtitles and the reason is pretty much always: going for the cheapest subtitling agency. Subtitle translation is my main line of work and there is a constant, especially in entertainment content like TV shows and films, of clients going for the cheapest bid, regardless of quality.
A few years ago, Netflix was drowning in complaints regarding their subtitles and launch a vast campaign of recruitment in order to hire subtitlers instead of using agenc... See more Netflix has a history of having terrible subtitles and the reason is pretty much always: going for the cheapest subtitling agency. Subtitle translation is my main line of work and there is a constant, especially in entertainment content like TV shows and films, of clients going for the cheapest bid, regardless of quality.
A few years ago, Netflix was drowning in complaints regarding their subtitles and launch a vast campaign of recruitment in order to hire subtitlers instead of using agencies. The thing is, after a long period of radio silence, they decided that it would be "too costly" and got back to giving subtitling work to agencies. The agencies offering the best rates to translators barely receive any work now. Quality has a price and they are not ready to pay for it, it is that simple. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | full of spelling errors | Oct 17, 2019 |
full of spelling errors.
but not only Netflix.
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Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 14:27
Membro
Chinês para Inglês
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Netflix is indifferent about their translations, so they only get indifferent translations.
| | | | Simin Tan
Local time: 14:27
Chinês para Inglês
| There is one major services provider for Asian titles... | Oct 18, 2019 |
... with horribly low rates and insane turnaround times, which really explains a lot of the nonsense floating around with Asian titles.
The worst translations I've seen are from "current" shows that are released simultaneous to TV broadcast. When I find a particularly egregious episode, though, I send a quick message to Netflix on social media. They always respond politely and "with gratitude", but of course, whether they really act on such feedback is unknown. But doing so takes m... See more ... with horribly low rates and insane turnaround times, which really explains a lot of the nonsense floating around with Asian titles.
The worst translations I've seen are from "current" shows that are released simultaneous to TV broadcast. When I find a particularly egregious episode, though, I send a quick message to Netflix on social media. They always respond politely and "with gratitude", but of course, whether they really act on such feedback is unknown. But doing so takes me very little time, so why the heck not.
[Edited at 2019-10-18 08:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tan Nguyen
Vietname
Local time: 13:27
Inglês para Vietnamita
+ ...
Autor do assunto | in Vietnamese language, it must have been other reasons, | Oct 18, 2019 |
Simin Tan wrote:
... with horribly low rates and insane turnaround times, which really explains a lot of the nonsense floating around with Asian titles.
as far as I am aware of.
| | | | Tan Nguyen
Vietname
Local time: 13:27
Inglês para Vietnamita
+ ...
Autor do assunto | How Netflix responded | Oct 18, 2019 |
Simin Tan wrote:
The worst translations I've seen are from "current" shows that are released simultaneous to TV broadcast. When I find a particularly egregious episode, though, I send a quick message to Netflix on social media. They always respond politely and "with gratitude", but of course, whether they really act on such feedback is unknown. But doing so takes me very little time, so why the heck not.
[Edited at 2019-10-18 08:17 GMT]
In July, I reported this episode of Stranger Things S3:4 The Sauna Test. I sent them this screenshot, saying that three were three big issues in two simple sentences.
After about three weeks, they came up with this version which still contained the wrong translation of lived in a bubble, making the translation of -Well, you do! incorrect too.
I informed them again, by the end of July, and many times again in October, but this version is still "safe and sound", as of today.
And for your information, that specific episode still contains tons of other serious issues as of today.
[Edited at 2019-10-18 09:07 GMT]
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Tan Nguyen
Vietname
Local time: 13:27
Inglês para Vietnamita
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Autor do assunto | | This should be a wake-up call | Nov 5, 2019 |
This should be a wake-up call if you still believe that you can provide quality translation, and clients (such as Netflix) needs quality translation, then you two can do business.
The truth is, even if Netflix is willing to pay higher rates, they will still get bad translation. So they might as well save some money and wait for the machine translation to catch up.
| | | | Tan Nguyen
Vietname
Local time: 13:27
Inglês para Vietnamita
+ ...
Autor do assunto | A bitter truth | Nov 5, 2019 |
Guofei_LIN wrote:
This should be a wake-up call if you still believe that you can provide quality translation, and clients (such as Netflix) needs quality translation, then you two can do business.
I have been sending Netflix lots of emails reporting films/ series released on Nov 1. If anyone finds subtitle issues in such films/ series in your language, please let me know. We can do something together.
Guofei_LIN wrote:
The truth is, even if Netflix is willing to pay higher rates, they will still get bad translation. So they might as well save some money and wait for the machine translation to catch up.
As I said earlier, at this point, rate is not a reason for Vietnamese. For other languages, you may refer to the link that I posted in previous post in this thread.
I can tell you a bitter truth I have experienced first hand. Many Vietnamese translators/ linguists have glamorous profiles but their translations are terrible, destroying the name of the profession. Ironically (almost) no one speaks up. And more ironically when someone does speak up, there are few/no supporters but lots of attackers even with fake accounts.
One example of another horrible translation from "Fire in Paradise" released on Nov 1.
| | | | | Machine translation is the answer | Nov 5, 2019 |
The way business works, this problem will never be solved as long as they continue to rely on human translators.
Suppose you were the guy at Netflix responsible for producing subtitles in dozens of languages and you know you have quality issues. What do you propose to do? What can you do?
Nothing.
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Alexandra Hirsch (X)
Áustria
Local time: 08:27
Inglês para Alemão
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| Machines to blame | Nov 5, 2019 |
Probably all done by a machine (i.e. computer with pattern-matching skills and large database). Always looks good on the surface but turns out to be junk.
| | | | jbjb
Estónia
Local time: 09:27
Estoniano para Inglês
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Note that the rate for Vietnamese (8.75 USD per minute) is for project management, translation and proofreading. Depending on the company, Vietnamese translators may still be paid around 1 dollar per minute, with the company keeping much of the money.
Subcontracting strings are also common (a big company accepts the 8.75 USD rate and looks for a local Vietnamese translation company to do the actual work, offering 3-4 USD per minute, meaning that after that company takes its own project man... See more Note that the rate for Vietnamese (8.75 USD per minute) is for project management, translation and proofreading. Depending on the company, Vietnamese translators may still be paid around 1 dollar per minute, with the company keeping much of the money.
Subcontracting strings are also common (a big company accepts the 8.75 USD rate and looks for a local Vietnamese translation company to do the actual work, offering 3-4 USD per minute, meaning that after that company takes its own project managing cut, they really only have a budget of 1.5-2 USD for translation+proofreading).
Still, Netflix also invests in quality control that should be able to weed out bad subcontractors. Each time they have to redeliver a file due to translation mistakes, they get a lower rating and also lower their chances of getting work from Netflix.
Keep up with this and it may change something for the better. ▲ Collapse
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