04 September 09 - 21:41My Bloopers in Chrono Trigger
I recently revised my translation of Chrono Trigger yet again (update planned for some time on 05 September 2009), and found a number of foul-ups along the way. Rather than simply correct them and be done with it, I've put together a list of the more significant ones to analyze here for your viewing pleasure, or whatever.
To start with, there are the terminology changes noted in the news entry on the translation index. I've been severely overusing "bastard" for generic rude terms for people, so Frog's common やろう is now "lowlife" and Magus's きさま is now "vermin", both of which add some variety and feel more in-character. ...
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24 June 09 - 20:41Misleading Japanese phrase: とてもじゃない
Here's an uncommon but confusing idiom I've been misinterpreting until just recently: とてもじゃない, usually found in sentences similar to this one: 「とてもじゃないが、出来ない。」. What's so confusing about it? Well, here's what it looks like it ought to mean:
- 「出来ない」 with no other context roughly means, "I can't do it."
- 「とても出来ない」 is then roughly, "I absolutely can't do it" (literally, "very ...
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23 April 09 - 01:47How Translation Killed Another Puzzle: Part 2
The other day... well, okay, close to four months ago... I wrote about Luca's Love Flow puzzle, along with various ranting about translators handling things poorly. Today, I bring you the other half of the puzzle, with Cloche's Love Flow. You won't see both in the same playthrough, for reasons that become obvious when you get to that point of the game, but it's quite similar in concept.
As with Luca's version, let's start with the...
Top-left room
"Croix, you don't look so good today. I'm so worried about the future."
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30 January 09 - 13:06How Translation Killed Another Puzzle
Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Elemia. Great game, great music, thoroughly convoluted plot, and an engaging battle system. Unfortunately, it suffered somewhat in translations, as most games do. Overall, the translation feels rushed, with some spelling inconsistencies, awkward phrasing, and more. Names suffered too, such as the "waath" (Hymmnos for "rebirth" or "renewal") in Luca's name, lost when someone decided to change the spelling to "Trulyworth". Other names went through unnecessary modifications, too, like turning "Chroah" into some unpronounceable French-looking mess (sorry, but I don't much like French, especially since it's never sounds how it's spelled. UPDATE: I've asked around, and "Croix" isn't even pronounced like "Chroah". It sounds like "Croy"! ANOTHER EDIT: Okay, so the English voice actors actually say "croy". Not sure if that makes it better or worse.), and a number of I.P.D. ...
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31 December 07 - 00:15I knew I'd never keep up with this thing...
But maybe I'll write a few entries on and off. If I feel like it. Which is my usual schedule for doing things that I have no obligation to. Now if only I could do that with my job...
05 August 06 - 00:09VBS
Somehow I managed to get myself talked into playing a role in the opening skits for a week of Vacation Bible School at my church. It sounded harmless enough at first... a few minutes a day with just a bunch of kids as audience. And it turned out okay, and even kinda fun (having a crazy kid in another role helped make practice exciting and unpredictable).
Anyway, the skit itself was just fine. Even leading a group of 3rd and 4th graders around and helping out with them wasn't bad, since they were mostly fairly well-behaved and could practically lead themselves anyway. The problem? Aside from the blistering heat (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit several days, though we were inside and air conditioned as much as possible), there was the little issue of having to get up before eight in the morning. That may not sound so bad, especially if you're used to having school or a full-time job, but I'm used to staying up well past midnight and remaining in bed until some time the next ...
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07 July 06 - 17:36Introspection
A few weeks ago, I went out to Colorado for basic orientation with a missions group, which also served the purpose of letting both the group and myself (and the other 20 or so candidates who attended) get to know each other and decide if we're going through with it. I figured I would be accepted no problem. My target region is Japan, they have a shortage of people there, I know the language fairly well, I'm moderately familiar with the culture, I lived there for over a month on a study abroad trip, I have plenty of Christian background... what could go wrong?
In short, what went wrong was me. They think I need to be more prepared. More ministry experience (though I've been going to church practically forever, I haven't done much in the way of leadership or authority roles), training to teach English (since that's probably what I would be doing in Japan to connect with people), more experience interacting with people. Apparently I also have a problem with "extreme introversion", and I'm ...
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04 June 06 - 18:27Now linked from front page
...so at least any visitors to the site can tell the blog's here now, if they bother to read the 'news' section. Not that there's anything worth reading here anyway, at least for now. Maybe I'll do something about that sooner or later... I mean, if millions of idiots can rant endlessly about nothing, why can't I? :P
Seriously, though, this might turn out to be a better way of announcing what's up and coming for the site than the site itself is. Plus the built-in comments mean even people who are too lazy to use e-mail can give feedback. I wonder if there's any way to break the blog into sections and use it as comment/feedback/typo and/or bug reporting for the various
projects and
translations I'm working on (well, I actually haven't worked on the projects for a while, but the concept still stands)... hmm... doesn't look like it, but maybe there's a workaround somewhere...
