In this blog you will find some curious information about a new and famous Netlflix show... come read!
In some occasions, when translating subtitles, the meaning of some words can completely change. This, can become quite confusing for people not only because of what they actually read, but because in their cultures it may mean another thing.
In "The quid game" show, new to Netflix, the translation between Korean and Spanish has raised many problems. At one point, in chapter 6, when one of the main characters (Kim) is speaking to Lee to try and convince him or joining his team, a great confusion in translation is made.
In Korean, she says " 난 아주 똑똑해, 공부할 기회가 없었어", which means "I am very smart, I just never got a chance to study". The author was trying to represent the prototype of a poor person in Korea that is clever or smart but just isn't wealthy enough to be able to study. He wants people to know about that and the purpose of her character is to portray this in the show, and her dialogue becomes botched.
Instead of the actual translation of Korean, in the show it is translated as "No me molesté en estudiar, pero soy muy inteligente", which means "I didn't bother to study, but I'm very intelligent".
So, there is a clear error that ends up being fundamental in the audience's perspective of the character! This, than changes your view on her for the rest of the show, and its a real pity because it is not really want the show is meant to say!
People who have watched the show in Spanish may interpret that not only she didn't study because she didn't want to, but she couldn't even be bothered, which is a word that has connotations of laziness. The image of vulnerability and injustice in society that the author wants to portray is no longer seen, as well as him wanting Kim to be seen as a victim as well as intelligent herself. The meaning completely changes, and therefore the image that is seen of her. In article by Not Juhan (
https://theconversation.com/squid-game-why-you-shouldnt-be-too-hard-on-translators-169968) it even states that "If you don't understand Korean you didn't really watch the same show". This is a pity.. because the author made it to show everyone his views on society and to represent each character authentically! More information on this can be also seen in platforms like Tiktok, where a girl named "youngmimayer" added some videos on her profile speaking about some other mistranslations!
The problem between Korean films and English, Spanish or similar languages has even been stated in the book "understanding Korean film: a cross-cultural perspective". It mostly says that even though the viewer demands and wants to actually fully understand the meaning of things, the linguistics and cultural heritage of Korean is so different that there simply isn't a linguistic equivalent to the words and therefore the meaning of it. Not only this, but their way of saying things is in some cases different to the western thought of mind and social perspectives. By making subtitles different and even warning people of this, sadly a cultural barrier is formed; but we hope to break it some day. (Kiaer.J and Kim.L, Understanding Korean Films, Routledge 2021).
This translation mistake is very common in languages that are very different amongst each other... so watch out the next time you're watching a show!
By Amina
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