MovieChat Forums > Arvingerne (2014) Discussion > English translators are rubbish

English translators are rubbish

posted 9 years ago by All_Seeing_Fly
6 replies | jump to latest

I'm not saying they get the translation wrong, but some obviously English phrases they say are translated into different English phrases. For example:-
When someone says "Hi" - it gets translated into "Hello"
Someone says "Good" quite clearly - it gets translated into "Jolly good show!" which is ridiculous. What century of English people are they translating it for?
I've seen this before though, when a Danish actor clearly speaks in English the phrase is changed for no reason at all. In fact the posh Englishness gets in the way of the actual character portrayals.

PLEASE STOP IT NOW!

*rant over*, sorry, it just really annoys me.

[–] kcdee 9 years ago

I know what you mean, I just watched it like that. Often, if they're downloaded subs sometimes it's all you can get.
Don't know where you are but in Australia it's just started screening on SBS TV(very slow to get I know and no wonder people download from torrents) but SBS have some of the best subtitles in the world.

[–] All_Seeing_Fly 9 years ago

This is the UK.
I'm talking about the official version of subtitles. Done presumable by someone who was paid for the job. Not some cracker kid scripter! :D

[–] calamarisoup 9 years ago

I am watching this in the US on the MHz network. They must have done their own subtitles as I've seen no posh British expressions like "Jolly good show" and "Hi" has been translated as "Hi". They are selling a region 1 DVD which would presumably have their subtitles. You could try to get if you have a region free player.

http://shop.mhznetworks.org/DVD-The-Legacy.html

[–] sandy47 9 years ago

When someone says "Hi" - it gets translated into "Hello"

From what I gather, watching these Nordic series, in both Danish and Swedish, "hej" - sometimes pronounced "hi", sometimes "hey" - means "hello", so the translators aren't entirely wrong.

I agree about "good". Since the Danish "god" is pronounced the same way, why add a subtitle at all? And if you do, why stretch the one word translation into a phrase the speaker never used? Maybe those who write the subs get paid by the word.

One of life's mysteries, eh? Still... a great show and I can't wait for Season 2 to pop up somewhere, dodgy subs and all. 😀

[–] den09 9 years ago

I really don't mind about about over-literal sub-titling and etc as long as it 'keeps up' but if you want some sub-title fun try BBC coverage of The tennis at Wimbledon... that's all I'm saying!

[–] derekbd1966 9 years ago

The subtitles used when SkyArts aired series 1 are good enough, I think, but they often disappear too quickly. I am a fast reader and am used to subtitles on almost all shows I watch but I often have to really concentrate to get them, especially in scenes with quick dialogue. Even then I sometimes have to backup and use pause. Very odd. I think there are basic standards/conventions for subtitles, i.e. at least 2 seconds for anything over 3ish words and then longer for more words, but that's not in use on this programme.

Arvingerne is a great show that I want to savour but it's hard to hold back from binge viewing. Only reason I don't is I have several other series that are new (to me) that I am currently watching, and some returning faves like The Leftovers and The Affair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Derekbd