italki - "Sogang Korean Program": Novice Korean II, Lesson 2 - Translation The following text belongs to Soga

Marina

"Sogang Korean Program": Novice Korean II, Lesson 2 - Translation The following text belongs to Sogang University's "Sogang Korean Program" (http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/). My translation of the Korean text can be found beneath the text. 안녕, 안나? 저는 지금 부산 해운대에 있어요. 어제 일을 끝내고 여기에 왔는데, 해운대 바다가 너무 좋아요. 안나씨도 해운대에 와 본 적 있어요? 어제 밤에 바다에 가 봤는데, 밤바다가 정말 조용하고 아름다웠어요. 안나씨, 저하고 한스씨는 내일 설악산에 갈 거예요. 서울에서 부산까지는 비행기로 왔는데, 설악산에는 기차로 가려고 해요. 지금 한국은 가을이에요. 한국의 가을 단풍은 아주 멋있어요. 특히 설악산은 단풍으로 유명해요. 5년 전에도 설악산에 가 본 적이 있어요. 그러나 그 때는 봄이어서 단풍을 구경할 수 없었어요. 안나씨, 제가 설악산의 단풍 사진을 많이 찍을게요. 안나씨도 좋아할 거예요. 이번 여행이 끝난 후 20일에 한국을 떠날 거예요. 다시 만날 때까지 잘 있어요. - 앤디가 My translation: Hello, Anna. I am currently at Haeundae Beach, which is in Busan. I arrived here yesterday after finishing work, and I really like the sea of Haeundae Beach. Have you also been to Haeunde Beach? Yesterday night I went to the sea, which has a really beautiful atmosphere at night. Anna, Hans and I are going to Mt. Seoraksan tomorrow. We took the plane from Seoul to Busan, but we will go to Seoraksan by train. It is fall in Korea now. The maple leaves of the Korean fall look very good. The maples of Seoraksan are especially well-known. I also went to Seoraksan 5 years ago. But because that was during the spring, I was unable to see the maples. Anna, I will take many pictures of the maples of Seoraksan. You will also like them. This trip ends after 20 days, then I will leave Korea. Stay well until we meet again. Andy. Notes: I am unsure weather I should translate it to "maples" or "colour changes of the leaves". I am also unsure of my translation of the sentence "이번 여행이 끝난 후 20일에 한국을 떠날 거예요".

Apr 27, 2015 4:19 PM

Corrections · 7

Wah - Marina's Korean is way better than mine. I will have to study this notebook entry carefully to learn from her.

Still, I'd like to make some comments from the perspective of a native English speaker and ask for compassionate correction if I get this wrong.

First of all, 산 means "mountain" in Korean so I think you should either say Seoraksan or Mount Seorak but not Mount Seoraksan which would mean "Mount Seorak mountain".

Secondly, in English, "maple" is a kind of tree. So, if you say "because that was during the spring, I was unable to see the maples", you've said something that is not true. Of course, you were able to see the maple trees. It's just that the leaves of the maple trees were green during the spring, not red, brown and yellow as they are in the fall.

So... despite the fact that Koreans don't say "turning of the leaves" or "fall color change", you can't just say "the maples" because it won't make sense in English.

This kind of thing occurs from time to time when translating from one language to the other. Sometimes, there just isn't a good literal translation that will communicate the idea and you have to find the expression in the second language that expresses the idea of the original text even if it is not a literal translation.

I would use a phrase like "turning of the leaves" or "fall change of colors" to capture the meaning of the Korean text.

April 28, 2015

Notes:

I am unsure weather I should translate it to "maples" or "colour changes of the leaves".
I am also unsure of my translation of the sentence "이번 여행이 끝난 후 20일에 한국을 떠날 거예요".

Your translation is almost perfect. Wow! Really great. AWESOME!:D

1. Maple is okay. We ususally express in "Maple". Korean don't usually say like "colour changes of the leaves".

2. "이번 여행이 끝난 후 20일에 한국을 떠날 거예요" means like this. After ending this trip, I will leave Korea on 20. So your translation needs a little correction.

April 28, 2015

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