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The Challenges Of Japanese To Korean Translator

Posted by Ethan N. on April 27, 2023.

We examined the nuances of the Japanese language in the first blog post of this series, as well as the typical challenges of Japanese to Korean translators

Japanese is one of the most difficult languages to translate since it is one of the world’s most complicated languages. Japanese translations require meticulous attention to detail due to its three character sets and lack of connection to any other language. Similarly, Korean is regarded as a language isolation, meaning it has no substantial ties to other languages. Here are the top challenges encountered by Japanese to Korean translators.

1. The differences between Japanese and Korean languages

Despite their many similarities, Japanese and Korean are incomprehensible to one another. The following distinction is primarily to blame for this: 

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Writing style

As was already mentioned, Chinese characters are incorporated into the writing systems of both Japanese and Korean. The parallels between the written languages, however, stop there.

Japanese features hiragana, katakana, and kanji, which each have 46 basic syllables. There are more than 50,000 kanji, yet most adults only know at least 2000 of them. 

Grammar

Japanese uses a Subject Object Verb sentence structure rather than the English Subject Verb Object form. In Japanese, the statement “I drink water” would be “I water drink”, which is 私は水を飲ます(watashi wa mizu wo nomimasu).

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Korean sentence structure is similarly Subject Object Verb. The identical statement could be translated as “I water drink.”, which is 나는 물을 마신다 (na neun mul eul masinda).

The use of particles in Japanese is constant; each sort of marker (separated by columns in the figure above) has only one option. In Korean, however, you may observe that there are two alternatives per marker type in the first three columns on the left. For example, depending on the word that follows before it, the topic marker can be 은 or 는.

Pronouns

In terms of pronunciation, Japanese and Korean are very distinct languages. Many would contend that Japanese is simpler at this point. Due to the language’s complete phonetic nature, words are spoken exactly as they are written. Although there are subtleties to the Japanese pitch accent, most people will still understand you even if you don’t say things just right.

Korean is slightly more difficult to pronounce than Japanese since it includes more sounds. In general, Westerners may discover that many of the sounds are extremely similar to one another, and Japanese to Korean translators may struggle with some of the foreign noises. Each one must be recognized and said appropriately in order to be understood.

 

2. Choosing the right Japanese to Korean translator 

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Finding freelancers

Pros

  • Low cost – You just pay for the services you actually receive from the translation; there is no agency fee. You save a lot of money on your translation project costs. (In very rare circumstances, long-time freelance Japanese to Korean translators may demand a greater fee than translation companies.)
  • Direct communication – When dealing with freelance translators, you can get in touch with them without the need for a middleman at any moment. If the projects alter in any way, both parties can talk about it and quickly come up with a solution. You can spend a lot less time with the help of this technique.

Cons

  • Absence of a thorough translation process – Japanese to Korean translator often concentrates on either editing, translating, proofreading, or DTP, i.e., one phase in the complete translation process. So many independent translators are needed to finish a project. Each participant in the process assumes responsibility for their own portions, and it is up to you to oversee and manage everyone.
  • Restricted usage of CAT tools – CAT tools are an unavoidable help for Japanese to Korean translators to check the consistency of a translation. Most independent translators have used these tools, but a small percentage haven’t yet. Even those that have been unable to support all CAT tools. Your file format probably isn’t supported by the tools they offer.

Working with translation agencies

Pros

  • High-capacity – With access to a pool of hundreds of native speakers, Japanese translation services companies are able to manage a large number of projects, from low volume to high volume, concurrently. In order to meet the deadline, a high-volume project may occasionally be broken up into smaller components and given to other linguists throughout the network.
  • More effective coordinator – Instead of managing each freelance Japanese to Korean translator individually, you can rely on the PM staff of translation agencies. To ensure the success of your projects, they serve as a liaison between you and the linguists.

Cons

  • High cost – In general, translation companies charge more than independent contractors do. It’s really easy to understand why. In addition to paying linguists, translation services must cover administration costs, such as employee salaries, overhead, and a tiny share of profits.
  • Communication – Clients and linguists do not directly interact with one another in translation agencies. A PM team serves as a bridge between them instead. The designated PM communicates to the linguists the needs and requirements of the clients while providing the clients with the linguists’ comments.

One party must still wait for the appointed PM’s reaction if they need to make any urgent modifications. It’s nice if the PM runs smoothly. However, if he or she is unresponsive, it could harm the project’s progress.

Build in-house team

Pros

  • To use more restraint – Using competent internal language resources from your company could provide you more control over the translation process.
  • Preserve the privacy of the source material – By handling internal translation tasks, proprietary content can stay within the company.
  • Cost savings – The most obvious justification for internal assignment of translation tasks is probably cost savings.

Cons

  • Cost – It can be expensive for a company to have their own team of translators because they have to pay for things like insurance and training. 
  • Capacity – Sometimes you might not have enough people to do all the translation work that needs to be done quickly.

3. GTE Localize offers the best japanese to korean translator

It may be challenging to choose between translation agencies and individual translators because both have several advantages and disadvantages.

The following factors will influence your match, so be sure to carefully weigh them before making a decision.

While GTE Localize strives for 100% accuracy, our s are also quite innovative in terms of capturing the tone and identity of your industry. As a result, our expert Japanese to Korean translator have a thorough understanding of your company and the audience you want to attract. Contact us for more detail.

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