We have amazing KLD Sessions this year! Check them out!

Thursday, October 13, 2022, 3:30–4:30 PM

(036) Two Heads Are Better: Collaborative Translation

Ever found yourself not satisfied with a headline or an article you’ve translated? Sense a gap in domain knowledge between you and the author of the source text? Then try collaborative authorship with a writer and a subject matter expert. There are five reasons why all translators should start this type of collaboration. The speaker will deconstruct source-text creation and, using collaborative processes, show ways to reconstruct the original authorship in target locales. Attendees will decode this collaborative approach to translation—from how to find the right people to quality assurance measures that will take their translations to the next level.

Topics: Korean, Educators & Trainers, Independent Contractors, Language Services Companies, T&I Industry, Translation
Presenting Language: English
Level: All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63Korean

Sophia Lee, Korean Language Division Distinguished Speaker
Sophia Lee is the founder and chief executive officer of Culture Flipper, a multicultural content creation agency producing text that resonates with target audiences. Before Culture Flipper, her multilingual experiences spanned 15 years in various fields such as translation, interpreting, marketing, public relations, and information technology localization. Her past translation work includes Gene L. Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese” and Lewis Carroll’s Sylvie and Bruno, both into Korean. She has pioneered an unconventional translation process, turning a normal process into collaborative writing, thus crafting brand-aligned and culture-specific messaging. With a passion for the humanities, contextual relevance fuels her vision, inspiring and empowering her team to flip conventions.

Friday, October 14, 2022, 2:00–3:00 PM

(063) Translate Like a Brand

In the beginning, the source text was created. And the creator said, “Translate!” But how do we mirror the source—its voice and audience—with precision onto translated text? Translation is the branding vehicle for source-text creators, especially when targeting segmented audiences. The speaker will take attendees on a branding journey via the world of translation, sharing case studies based on her experiences and observations. Attendees will learn how to think like brand ambassadors for creators and how to add brand alignment steps in the translation process as a sustainable strategy to increase return clients. Attendees should have a basic understanding of branding.

Topics: Korean, Independent Contractors, Language Services Companies, T&I Industry, Terminology
Presenting Language: English
Level: All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63Korean

Sophia Lee, Korean Language Division Distinguished Speaker
Sophia Lee is the founder and chief executive officer of Culture Flipper, a multicultural content creation agency producing text that resonates with target audiences. Before Culture Flipper, her multilingual experiences spanned 15 years in various fields such as translation, interpreting, marketing, public relations, and information technology localization. Her past translation work includes Gene L. Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese” and Lewis Carroll’s Sylvie and Bruno, both into Korean. She has pioneered an unconventional translation process, turning a normal process into collaborative writing, thus crafting brand-aligned and culture-specific messaging. With a passion for the humanities, contextual relevance fuels her vision, inspiring and empowering her team to flip conventions.

Friday, October 14, 2022, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

(068) Simul: What to Do When Speakers Speak Too Fast

You’re at your home office (or booth, if you’re lucky!), mic ready, headset good-to-go, and notebook at your side. You’re full of confidence. The first speaker starts and they speak so fast it completely throws you off. What do you do? The speaker, a Korean simultaneous interpreter, will present three powerful methods passed down from expert interpreters. Start to implement these today to manage those speakers that speak too fast.

Topics: Korean, Interpreting
Presenting Language: Korean
Level: All Levels
Hashtag:#ATA63Korean

Robert Holloway
Robert Holloway is a native English speaker-turned-Korean-interpreter. Inspired by his Korean-adopted mother, he set out to learn Korean, a language his mother didn’t have the opportunity to learn because she grew up in the U.S. speaking English. Determined, he left the U.S. for Korea 12 years ago and never looked back. Now, he works as a professional Korean legal and conference interpreter with a mission to be a model of a person who’s using the tools of their culture to build their life.

Saturday, October 15, 3:45–4:45 PM

(162) The North Korean Language

How different is North Korean from South Korean? Do documents for a North Korean audience need to be localized differently than documents for a South Korean audience? The speaker will discuss the linguistic differences between North and South Korean, as well as the historical factors that led to their unique features.

Topics: Korean, Translation
Presenting Language: English
Level All Levels
Hashtag: #ATA63Korean

Sara Maria Hasbun
Sara Maria Hasbun has a BA in linguistics from Columbia University. She runs Meridian Linguistics, a language services company providing translation and natural language processing services. Originally from the U.S., she lived in South Korea for seven years. She is currently based in Beijing.

By Sara Maria Hasbun

If you are a Korean translator who was not educated in Korea (or perhaps completed only part of your education in Korea), you may have wondered how important it is to learn “hanja.”

You might not even be completely sure what hanja are: Chinese characters, right?

I’ll take you through what you need to know about hanja.

“Hanja” are the Chinese characters that are occasionally used in modern Korean texts. While the majority of Korean is written using Korean’s own alphabet (Hangul), a smattering of these Chinese characters are still used today.

It is important to note that these characters may not be written exactly how they are currently used in China or across the Sinosphere, and they might not retain the same meanings as their equivalent characters as used in China today: hanja are really a separate writing system, a class of their own.

These characters are a remnant of the past: before Hangul existed, Korean was written entirely using Chinese characters.

Today, hanja are used sparingly, and their use continues to decline. So do translators really need to know hanja? First, let’s discuss who uses hanja today, and in which texts it can be found.

Do Koreans still learn hanja?

While Koreans use hanja sparingly, they do still study the basic characters in school. Hanja is taught to elementary school students in Korea, and the characters appear on Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (수능) as well.

Most high school students can recognize at least 30 hanja characters. For this reason, you are likely to need to recognize basic hanja in order to fully understand texts at or above the high school level.

Where are hanja used?

Hanja are commonly used in certain types of documents: academic papers, technical documentation, literature, medical, and historical texts tend to sprinkle hanja throughout.

Hanja are less common in marketing, literary, or creative texts.

Where to learn hanja

Don’t worry, you don’t need to learn Chinese in order to learn sufficient hanja! The online Naver dictionary offers extensive support for hanja, including a drawing app.

You can also use apps like Pleco, which allow you to draw a character on the screen in order to search a term.

Just be aware that when you use Chinese resources, characters may have slightly different meanings from how they are used in Korean today. It is always best to cross-check how hanja are used in context, by searching for the term and seeing how it is used in other sentences.

For more information about hanja, and how to research hanja terms, you can check out this blog post at Meridian Linguistics.

Knowledge of hanja will make you a more well-rounded translator. Since not every translator knows hanja, it will also give you a competitive edge. Best of luck in your hanja journey!

The 2020 ATA Conference has shifted to an all-virtual format in view of the coronavirus pandemic. You can learn all about it at https://ata61.org.

Here are our scheduled sessions:

Thursday, October 22 2:00–3:00 p.m. EDT:

(008) Translation and Performance: The Korean Sijo, Part I

This session will focus on the sijo in Korean literary and cultural history, its oral mode of transmission, and the sijo as a written and published form in modern Korean literature. Three 16th-century Korean-language sijo texts will be examined for their uses of language, voice, and gesture. Time will be provided for attendees to try their hand at translating one of the poems.

David McCann, Korean Language Division Distinguished Speaker, presenting in English w/Korean examples, all Levels
Hashtag: #ATA61Sijo

Thursday, October 22 3:30–4:30 p.m. EDT:

(018) Translation and Performance: The Korean Sijo, Part II

The session will focus on the sijo as a verse form in English. The speaker will share some of his own as well as others’ sijo poems published in a sijo journal. Attendees will then try writing and sharing their own sijo.

David McCann, Korean Language Division Distinguished Speaker, presenting in English w/Korean examples, all Levels
Hashtag: #ATA61Sijo

Saturday, October 24 3:30–4:30 p.m. EDT:

(108) Translating into Hollywood: A Case Study of the Oscar-Winning Film Parasite

Parasite, by Korean writer/director Bong Joon-ho, is the first non-English-language film to win the Best Picture Oscar. Linguistically and culturally, English and Korean share little common ground. Yet this “very Korean film,” as Bong describes it, strongly resonates with global audiences. It’s a universal saga of rich versus poor, but what makes Parasite unique? A crucial element of its success is the exceptional quality of its English subtitles, which enable the audience to surmount the dreaded “one-inch-tall barrier” and appreciate the work on its own terms. In this session, the film’s subtitling will be analyzed and potential improvements explored.

Elena Chang, presenting in English and Korean, all Levels
Hashtag: #ATA61Xl8Parasite

What does the KLD have in store?

Conference sessions have been approved, and the KLD has the opportunity of having five sessions this year!

North Korean Refugees: Navigating the unique interpretation challenges posed by 70 years of separation
by Hannah Song, Distinguished Speaker, with Jennifer An

Abstract: For decades the narrative on North Korea has been dominated by Kim Jong-un and nuclear weapons, but an increasing number of North Korean refugees are beginning to raise their voices and share their stories. Interpreters play a vital role in effectively communicating these powerful stories to the international community, but 70 years of separation between North and South Korea has led to critical differences in language and culture. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the North Korean human rights and refugee crisis and the unique challenges of interpreting for this population.

Hannah Song is president and chief executive officer of Liberty in North Korea. She joined Liberty in 2006 as deputy director, managing day-to-day operations and coordinating overseas programs. She is responsible for developing Liberty’s new mission, focusing on building international support for the North Korean people, providing direct assistance to North Korean refugees, and developing long-term, people-focused strategies to accelerate positive change inside the country. Previously, she worked in advertising at OgilvyOne, focusing on digital media and emerging technologies. She is a 2008 Network of Korean-American Leaders fellow from the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work, and a 2016 Ashoka Korea fellow.

Jennifer An is a freelance Korean to/from English conference interpreter and translator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been interpreting and translating since 2004, with a particular focus on North Korean human rights, patents, and international relations issues. She works as a contractor for the U.S. Department of State and with private and corporate clients. She has a BA in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley and an MA in conference interpreting from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

Status Update on ATA Certification Exam (English to/from Korean)
by Jisu Kim & Vania Haam

Abstract: This session will provide a brief overview and status update on the Korean-language certification process for both English>Korean and Korean>English translators who are planning to take ATA’s certification exam in the near future. The language chairs for both directions will introduce attendees to the types of texts used on the exams and the grading guidelines. They will also answer questions about policies, procedures, and provide tips on how to prepare for the exam.

Jisu Kim is a professional Korean>English interpreter and translator with more than 15 years of experience working with clients across a wide range of industries, including law, technology, media, finance, government, and medical interpreting/translation. The co-founder and past administrator of ATA’s Korean Language Division (KLD), she is currently serving as chair of KLD’s Conference Committee and as a member of the work group to establish English>Korean certification within ATA’s Certification Program. She is a state-certified court interpreter (New York), a contract translator for the U.S. Department of State, and holds a security clearance with the Department of Homeland Security.

Vania Haam is a state-certified (Washington) court interpreter and a contract interpreter for the U.S. Department of State. She specializes in criminal and civil litigation and conference interpreting on a wide range of subjects. She served as the first administrator of ATA’s Korean Language Division for two terms, on the board of directors for the Washington State Court Interpreters and Translators Society for three terms, and on the Conference Committee for the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. She is the head of the work group to establish Korean>English certification within ATA’s Certification Program.

Pharmaceutical Clinical Study-Related Korean to English Translation Field and Fundamentals
by Carl Sullivan

Abstract: Pharmaceutical clinical study-related translation makes up a considerable portion of high-demand Korean>English jobs, but there has been virtually no professional focus in this area. Drawing the latest reference materials, this session will focus on basic terminology, including terms covered under industry guidelines (e.g., International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use). Sample clinical trial drug-related translations will also be discussed. Attending this session will provide a great start for someone interested in approaching this specialized area, or a refresher for those more advanced.

Carl Sullivan is a Japanese>English and Korean>English translator and Japanese>English interpreter with an extensive and diverse background as former a professor, U.S. naval officer, and international businessman. With his wife Masae, he has owned and operated MasaCa Translation Services for 19 years. He specializes in pharmaceutical, patent, business, military, and medical translation. He served as administrator of ATA’s Japanese Language Division, and is active in both the Korean and Japanese Language Divisions

Translating Hollywood: The Limits of Localization
by Elena Chang

Abstract: English and Korean share little common ground, both linguistically and culturally. This is why finely nuanced localization is critical when adapting films for a Korean audience. Korean cultivates elaborate honorifics to serve a rigid, hierarchical social structure. But U.S. creative works embrace egalitarian ideals (e.g., the society functions on a first name basis). This poses a dilemma. Do translators distort original intent to conform to Korean norms, or help expose the audience to cultural diversity? In this session, cases involving film subtitling/dubbing will be examined.

Elena Chang is a Korean linguist providing translation, copywriting, interpreting, voiceover, and directing services. She is also a cultural consultant and dialect coach who is proficient in numerous South and North Korean accents. She has completed a number of movie script translations and revisions for lip-sync dubbing and subtitling, including First Man, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, West Side Story (50th anniversary release), Olympus Has Fallen, and Alex Cross.

Linguistic and Cultural Pitfalls in Korean Legal Interpretation
by Davi Kim (canceled)

Determining the Degree of Translational Freedom: Translation Approaches for Specific Text Types
by Sieun Lee and Miryoung Sohn

Abstract: Every translator has the same goal in mind: producing a faithful, yet natural translation. As easy as it may sound, the two conflicting elements in this paradoxical statement make the goal seem almost unattainable. For translators who are constantly charged with this “mission impossible,” the question boils down to striking the right balance between fidelity and transparency for each translation project. The speaker will examine different text types and lead a discussion in which attendees attempt to define “faithfulness” in translation and determine what degree of translational liberty one may take for each text type.

Sieun Lee began her career as a Korean>English conference interpreter and translator in 1991. She has worked in diverse settings in government and business. While she has extensive experiences in the legal, medical, and information technology industries, her particular expertise lies in the market research field, where she simultaneously interpreted focus group discussions for numerous multinational corporations. She has master’s degrees in interpreting, translation, and instructional science and technology. She is an assistant professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, where she has been teaching since 2010.

Professor Miryoung Sohn has been working as a freelance conference interpreter and translator both in Korea and the U.S. since 1991. She has been a faculty member of the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation and Language Education at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Middlebury in California since 2002. She received her BA in Sociology from Ewha Womens University and an MA in Conference Interpreting and Translation from the Graduate School of Interpretation & Translation at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korea. She also holds an Advanced Diploma in Translation and Intercultural Studies from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

 

We have much to look forward to, and the KLD is getting closer to establishing a certification program for Korean. Please attend the session regarding its status update, as well as the Annual Meeting, for more information.

More details regarding the Annual Meeting and KLD dinner dates and times will be posted soon, stay tuned!

from Paul B. Gallagher, KLD Administrator

When I tell people I’m a Russian translator, they often, ask, “how long did it take you to learn Russian?” I answer, “I’m not done yet.” Then I add, “I’m not done learning English, either.” After 12 years of higher education and 35 years as a full-time professional, I still have a lot to learn. And that’s one of the things I love about our translation business—that every day, on every job, and even in my spare time, I’m constantly learning.

When I accepted my first paid freelance translation job in May of 1985, I was still in graduate school, and I was in way over my head. Even after studying Russian for 12 years in college and graduate school, I was challenged by every sentence of Памятники древнего Ирана (“The Monuments of Ancient Iran”) to look up unfamiliar words and sometimes even parse unfamiliar grammar. I learned the English word stele (석비, 石碑) for the first time. And that $300 job took me a month. But I took it seriously, I did my best, and I did all the research needed to understand the terms and concepts and express them faithfully and naturally in English. That approach has stood me in good stead ever since.

So how do I learn now, with all that experience?

The most obvious way is by looking up an unfamiliar word in a dictionary, sometimes in several dictionaries. But that isn’t always a complete solution. The best dictionaries usually offer several options for any given word, because different languages divide up the world in different ways. If the English text says “wife,” should the Korean say 아내, 처, 부인, 마누라, 집사람, 와이프, or something else? And if the English says “better half” or “ball and chain,” what then? Of course, Korean isn’t my target language, so I don’t face that particular challenge, but any language pair presents similar ones. For my pair, an excellent source is https://dic.academic.ru/, which is a dictionary aggregator: it submits my search to hundreds of online dictionaries and collects the results in one place. Is there something like that for Korean? Tell us in the comment section.

My second choice, when dictionaries fail me, is to consult professional colleagues whose native language is Russian (if I’m having trouble understanding the source term), or whose specialization is the particular subject field (if I’m having trouble finding a good target term). In both cases, I also search for the source term or candidate target terms in natural texts written by practitioners of that field, so I can see how the word is used in context. And of course the client can sometimes be an expert resource as well: if I’m working for a mapmaking company, they will know cartographic terminology very well.

Another technique I use regularly for English is to look up words in the Online Etymology Dictionary. Knowing a word’s roots and how its meaning has evolved over the centuries helps me understand what the word truly means and how it’s used. It’s also fun recreation. Is there something like that for Korean? Tell us in the comment section.

Most recently, as I study Korean, I’ve invented a couple of odd techniques that have been very helpful. Suppose I’m interested in the word 심 (心). It’s not enough for me to learn that it means “heart.” So I look up 心 (not 심, which is too common) in the Naver Online Dictionary, and I read through all the compounds (관심, 열심히, 점심, 욕심…). I learn all these compounds as a group, and that helps me understand and remember them. Similarly, if I’m interested in a more easily searched word like 열심히, I look that up and read each of the examples aloud, learning how it’s used in context, and after 40 or 50 I have a pretty good understanding. And practicing it this way helps me remember it. But this isn’t just a beginner’s technique: in my working language, Russian, reading millions of words and doing thousands of translations over the years has helped me develop a feel for how their words are used.

Finally, I’ve found karaoke (노래방) very helpful (I do it at home, of course, to avoid torturing my friends). I pick songs I like from dramas I like and learn the words, analyze them so I understand them, and learn to sing them. I remember one song in particular, 꽃향기 from the drama 응급남녀, sung by 임정희 (and also by the male lead 최진혁 as 오창민), because that’s where I first learned the word 방법: “사랑하는 방법을 책으로 알 수는 없는 거잖아.”

What techniques do you use to develop your language skills? Do you use different ones in your source and target languages? Tell us in the comment section.

Every year, there are new and familiar faces at the KLD sessions, and it is great to see everyone. A great “thank-you” to all who helped to organize the sessions, the speakers, and the dinner!

We appreciated Sieun Lee, Miryoung Sohn, and Davi Kim’s sessions, and look forward to many more in future conferences.

If you weren’t able to attend this year’s conference, plan ahead to attend #ATA60 in Palm Springs, CA! More information regarding speakers and sessions to come in the following months—hope to see your contribution there! Come and meet your colleagues and see what’s new in the interpreting/translating world.

December 31, 2018

Dear Korean language translators,

Happy holidays!

The Korean Language Certification Work Group of the American Translators Association (ATA) has been working to establish certification testing for English to Korean (E to K) and Korean to English (K to E) for a long time. As a first step, we submitted a list of potential test takers (58 for E to K and 52 for K to E) and 11 signed letters of intent (letters showing a commitment to train and work as a grader after passing the certification exam) for each language direction to the ATA.

After a careful review, the ATA Certification Committee approved our application for establishing certification testing in Korean>English and English>Korean, which means that two groups now have “in formation” status, pending completion of the remaining steps and the onset of testing.

Moving forward, both E to K and K to E work groups, consisting of 9 initial graders in total, will train and work closely with the ATA Certification Committee by attending orientation sessions and training workshops both online and on site.

We would like to thank everyone for your support and participation so far! If there is any significant progress, we will provide updates at the ATA Conference and through KLD social media.

Sincerely yours,

Jisu Kim

Language Chair

English to Korean Certification Work Group

KLDnewsletter at gmail dot com

 

Vania Haam

Language Chair

Korean to English Certification Work Group

VHaam at instepis dot com