What’s on Webtoon — 유일무이 로맨스

So I haven’t posted for a long time, obviously. I’m currently in China teaching ESL but still passionate about language and translation so it’s time to get back to what I love. I’m going to try uploading more short translations here but also give reviews/recommendations of Korean content online. (I’m learning Mandarin Chinese now as well, but nowhere near fluent enough to read more than a few sentences)

South Korea, like China, has a huge market of webtoons/webcomics and webnovels. Many of these have been turned into TV dramas and movies. W, Cheese in the Trap, My ID is Gangnam Beauty, The King’s Avatar (Chinese), When a Snail Falls in Love (Chinese) are all examples of this. In some ways, these web stories are breathing new life into the drama-sphere as the authors can be quite aware of societal problems and discuss them through the webcomic format in a way that many modern dramas, that capitalize on recycled storylines and pretty faces, do not. This is not to say that the TV adaptations are free from such tropes—often the network will make changes but, going off my experience of watching a few episodes of My ID is Gangnam Beauty, they do keep many things that make the webcomic great. I’ll try to cover ‘My ID...’ in a later post.

I want to start a series of posts highlighting webcomics and webnovels I find interesting or good for language practice because oftentimes, this content isn’t translated but is quite popular. Also it is easier for someone outside of Korea to access these stories over traditional print novels.

(Also I really hope Naver doesn’t get mad at me for showing screenshots as examples of language... please don’t sue me...)

Today I want to talk about 유일무이 로맨스 on Naver Webtoon. Honestly, the story isn’t revolutionary—it’s a romance between an ordinary girl and a Korean actor but I’ve been finding it pretty amusing, especially all of the onomatopoeias that appear. Many Korean learners find the heavy use of onomatopoeias in Korean very interesting and I am one of them. Here are some examples of onomatopoeias in the comic:

The title for this comic is also linguistically interesting. The author has combined the two main characters’ names 유일+무이 (Yoo-il + Mu-Yi) and then added 로맨스 (Romance). I’ve noticed that Chinese speakers do this as well: in one of my classes, when talking about the butterfly lovers, students said, “Liang Zhu-true love struggled by reality” and “Liang Zhu—romantic but tough lovers.” Native English speakers would not do this because it sounds like you are only talking about one person but speakers of Chinese and Korean would probably naturally know two people are being discussed.

I also wanted to add that reading webcomics gives you an opportunity to see how often English loanwords are used and in what circumstances:

As you can see, only two words in this sentence are Korean (하다, 요리), while the rest are loanwords (라벤더, 소스, 베이스, 솔티, 스윗, 에스카르고). It's actually quite an interesting sentence in this respect, and shows where there is heavy use of English loanwords (fine dining here but also in entertainment and arts).

This webcomic hasn't finished yet but I do think it's a good choice for practicing Korean at an intermediate level. Although at first it may be cumbersome to switch back and forth between the webtoon app and Naver dic app, as time goes by it does get easier. I'm also happy that (so far) this app is not blocked in China so I can read the comics without turning on my VPN (a problem I've been having with the English language version of Webtoon--if I don't have my VPN on, the images take a long time to load or just don't load at all).

Anyways, I hope I can recommend some more Webtoons in the future as I continue discovering more. I know some have been translated (True Beauty, Lookism, Cheese in the Trap) so I won't be talking about those but I'll see what else is out there. If you have recommendations as well, let me know! I like rom-coms, mysteries, and scary/ghost stories... and whatever else catches my eye.

Until next time!

Chair - Yi Cheong-rok

It's been a while since I posted anything, but here's a draft that I've been working on. It's always hard to translate the feeling of a poem, especially when there's imagery in the work that I'm unfamiliar with. Poems can be so vague with the imagery too, so that requires more cultural knowledge.

Hope you like it and I welcome any criticism you have!


Chair
Yi Cheong-rok

While preparing to go to the hospital
Mother
spoke up

I see the world from a chair
because my hips hurt.
Sitting in a chair
I can see everything, the flowers, the fruits.

On the weekend
Your father brought in the oxygen.
At that time you, my first son,
asked him if the chair was good enough.

Later after having received acupuncture
I was cutting hay out in the melon fields,
supported by the coiled pumpkins beneath me.
Despite being food, they had given me a chair.

Do not fight, live your life.
Isn't it remarkable to live--getting married, having a child?
So don't take out the chair
only when the shade and the view are good.


의자
이정록


병원에 갈 채비를 하며
어머니께서
한 소식 던지신다

허리가 아프니까
세상이 다 의자로 보여야
꽃도 열매도, 그게 다
의자에 앉아있는 것이여

주말엔
아버지 산소 좀 다녀와라
그래도 큰애 네가
아버지한테는 좋은 의자 아녔냐

이따가 침맞고 와서는
참외밭에 지푸라기도 깔고
호박에 똬리도 받쳐야겠다
그것들도 식군데 의자를 내줘야지

싸우지 말고 살아라
결혼하고 애 낳고 사는 게 별거냐
그늘 좋고 풍경 좋은 데다가
의자 몇 개 내놓는 거여 
 

What I've Been Up To: Bae Suah "Toward Marzahn" Publication

How is it May already? It feels like the past two months have flown by, I have been so busy. My silence on here has been due to applying (again) for the Lit Translation Institute of Korea graduate fellowship, applying to the Peace Corps, and, most exciting of all, readying my translation of a short story for publication!

I was approached by Jeffrey Zuckerman of the magazine Music & Literature at the end of March with the prospect of publishing my translation of "Toward Marzahn" as part of a web feature on Bae Suah. I had originally written the translation in fulfillment of the senior thesis requirement for my Bachelors so I was thrilled to receive the request. Of course, publishing a short story is a lot different than translating for academia so the past month and a half has been pretty intense. And the craziest part (to me)? Despite those 4 months of hard work when I originally wrote it, I still had mis-translations and mistakes! I can't emphasize enough how valuable having an editor is, now that I have had that experience. 

If you're interested in reading my translation, please click here. A little teaser:

Bee-beep, the buzzer’s drawn-out sound was like a hammer hitting the wall. It’s the buzzer for the apartment downstairs. No question they had pressed the wrong button. But the buzzer rang again. The room’s silence was marred by the buzzer’s sound. Why isn’t there an answer? In front of the entrance downstairs, a skinny young man with a violin case is waiting impatiently. He doesn’t know he’s made a mistake. Why don’t they answer? He repeats the address in his head. Number 137. It isn’t the wrong place. But, why? He had asked someone for directions. And the response had been this building. At the building’s entrance, the address was written clearly. Number 137, Apartment 343. But why? The person living there might have forgotten the young man was coming today. Maybe that was why they weren’t answering the door. Without someone else’s help, he couldn’t get in the building and try to find the apartment. He didn’t have much time. He tried pressing each button, Apartment 344, Apartment 342, Apartment 333, Apartment 323, Apartment 353, but none of them provided any reply.

I've been trying to think of what to do next while I wait to hear back from things. I found out a few days ago that the American Literary Translators Association has an emerging translators mentoring program but the deadline is 5/31. Even though I could pump out an application for a story I've been thinking about translating, I don't think my application would be as well-rounded as I would like.

Instead, I'm going to start posting some more test-translations on here. I have a couple stories by Kim Soom (긴숨) that I've been sitting on (/thinking about translating) so I'm going to begin reading through them to figure out what's next.

Talk to you (hopefully) in a week!

Poem Translation: Ghost in the Water - Cheon Yoon-ho

물귀신
전윤호

내가 먼저 빠졌다
만만하게 봤는데
목숨보다 깊었다
어차피 수영금지구역이었다
어설프게 손 내밀다
그도 빠진 건
누구의 탓도 아니었다
서로 나가기 위해서
발목을 잡아당겼다
나는 안다
숨이 막히고
심장이 부서지는 고통을
우리는 익사할 것이다
바닥에 즐비한
다른 연인들처럼
하지만 누가 뭐라 해도
내가 먼저 빠졌다

/전윤호 시집, 연애소설, 다시, 2005/


Ghost in the Water
Cheon Yoon-ho

I was the one who fell first

It was deeper than I anticipated
Deeper than I could hold my breath

In any case, swimming was prohibited there

I extended a shaky hand  

It was no one's fault
that I fell

My ankle was pulled
So that we could go together

I knew

Gasping for breath
The pain of a heart breaking
It would be our drowning

In rows along the bottom
Like one's different lovers

However, no matter what anyone says
I was the one who fell first    

Video Transcript Translation: [On-the-Spot24] "Institutes Also Teach College Courses" College Students Unable to Escape Private Education

You might be wondering where I went. Well, I was working on a translation for a competition and wasn't really feeling it so I decided to take a break and let myself not fixate on it. I'm still waiting to hear back from one more fellowship and need to focus on something, so here is some education news from Korea! You can watch the video at the link below and follow along with my translation. This is actually really good practice for someone learning Korean too. Since the video transcript is available, you can listen along while you read, getting a better sense of inflection and phrasing.

[현장24] "전공과목도 학원에서" 사교육 못 벗어나는 대학생
[On-the-Spot24] "Institutes Also Teach College Courses" College Students Unable to Escape Private Education

Link to Video: http://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0103_201703190502208938

앵커의 말:
Anchor:

최근 서울 강남의 입시 전문학원에 대학교 신입생을 위한 이른바 학점 관리반이 생겼습니다.
Lately, at the Entrance Examination Institute in Gangnam, Seoul, a so-called 'College Credit Management Class' has been started/implemented for in-coming college first-year students.

대학 전공과목을 배우려 학원을 찾는 명문대 신입생들, 사교육을 벗어나지 못하는 씁쓸한 현장을, 차정윤 기자가 다녀왔습니다.
First-year students in elite universities looking for prep academies in order to learn about college majors, unable to get out of the bitter scene of private education, reporter Cha Jeong-Yoon has the story.

기자의 말:
Reporter:

서울 대치동의 입시전문학원.
An Entrance Examination Institution in Daechi-dong, Seoul.

학부모가 상담 창구에서 수업을 신청하고 결제합니다.
Parents of students are signing up for classes at the counter.

[학부모 : 서울대 미적분이요. 물리 1하고요. (○○○선생님이 하는 거요?) 네.]
Parent of Student: The Seoul University Differential and Integral Calculus course. And Physics 1. (The one Teacher So-and-So is teaching?) Yes.

과목은 다름 아닌 대학 강의.
The classes differ in no way to college lectures.

최근 대학에 입학한 아들을 위해 입시학원이 마련한 대학 전공과목 보충 수업을 대신 등록해주는 겁니다.
Lately, entrance examination institutions are offering enrollment to supplemental college major requirement classes to prepare students already accepted into university.

[학부모 : (아들이) 조금 더 공부 좀 하면서 하는 게 나을 것 같다고, 너무 오래 안 해서요. 그래서 제가 신청했어요. 자기가 (강의가) 있으면 하나 들어보고 싶다고 해서요. (혹시 아드님이 어느 학교 다니세요?) 서울대요.]
Parent of Student: I think that [my son] will improve if he studies a bit more, since he hasn't studied it in so long. That's why I signed him up. Since he said that if there was a class available, he would like to take it. (May I ask which school your son attends?) Seoul National [University].

중고생을 위한 이 입시 학원은 지난달부터 대학교 신입생을 대상으로 한 수학과 물리 강의를 시작했습니다.
For the benefit of middle and high school students, this institute started offering a math and physics lecture course aimed at newly-admitted college freshman since last month.

(1:06: 대학신입생 학점관리 프러그램: Program for College First-Year Students in Course Credit Management)

이른바 SKY로 불리는 국내 명문대의 상경계와 이공계 합격 학생들을 위한 학점 관리 특별반입니다.
In order to help students accepted into the commerce and engineering majors at the so-called SKY universities, the nation's most elite, there is a special section for managing college credits.

수업은 한 과목에 50만 원씩, 5주 동안 주말마다 진행됩니다.
Each course for this class costs 500,000 Won (approximately $448.75) and meets every weekend over the course of 5 weeks.

입시학원의 강의 시간표입니다.
This is the lecture schedule for one of the entrance exam institutes, a type of after-school prep academy.

(1:22: 대학합격자 예비과정 프러그램: Program Course Program for Newly-Admitted College Students)

중고등학생 강의 사이사이에 대학교 신입생을 위한 클리닉 강의도 홍보하고 있습니다.
In the intervals between lectures for middle and high school students, there is even a health clinic lecture being promoted for college freshman.

(1:27: 고등 상담 센터: Counseling Center for High School Students)

학원 측은 학생들의 부족한 부분을 채워줄 수 있도록 기회를 주는 것뿐이라고 설명합니다.
The institute explains that it is simply giving students the opportunity to improve in areas where they are lacking.

[학원 관계자 : 고민되는 아이들의 수요가 있고, 본인의 학업을 위해서 전문가나 선생님의 도움을 얻을 수 있는 방편을 찾고자 노력하는 거잖아요.]
Institute Spokesperson/Public Relations Officer: There are demands from worried students. They are able to get help from a specialist or teacher for the benefit of their studies and thus gaining the means with which they will succeed.

이러다 보니 대학생이 되었어도 중·고등학교 시절 익숙해져 버린 사교육의 연장선에서 벗어나지 못하고 있다는 지적도 나옵니다.
Looking at the situation, the time spent in private educational programs, which have become a regular part of the lives of middle and high school students, is further drawn out to when they become college students, implying that students are unable to escape the system.

[김예지 / 이화여자대학교 도예과 신입생 : 경쟁이 치열한 편이라서 어떤 과목의 경우에는 고3 때처럼 치열하게 하지 않으면 학점을 잘 받기가 어렵다고 들었습니다.]
Kim Ye-ji / Ewha Womens University, Ceramics Dept., First-year Student: Competition is quite fierce so if you're not working as hard as you did in senior year of high school, I heard that it's difficult to get good grades.

[김태형 / 서울대학교 통계학과 신입생 : 대학생이 대학생을 과외 하거나 대학생을 위한 인터넷 강의, 학원도 있다고 많이 들었어요. 어떻게 하면 학점을 잘 받을지, 학점을 잘 주는 교수님이 누구신지, 그런 주제를 주로 얘기하는 것 같아요. 노는 것보다요.]
Kim Tye-hyeong / Seoul National Uni., Economics Dept., First-year Student: College students get tutors, watch internet lectures, and many have now heard that they can go to prep institutes as well. How to get good grades, which professors give good grades, they appear to talk about those subjects. It's better than hanging out.

과도한 스펙 부담으로 캠퍼스의 낭만은커녕 학점과 성적 걱정에 대학생들까지 학원으로 몰리고 있습니다.
With the excessive burdens placed on them to reach certain qualifications, not even mentioning campus romance, concerns/stress about class credits and grades have driven college students back to the entrance exam institutes and prep academies.

YTN 차정윤[jycha@ytn.co.kr]입니다.
For YTN, this is Cha Jeong Yoon. 

Today, A Certain Loneliness - Hong Yeong-cheol

As this weekly translation experiment continues, mainly working with poetry, I'm beginning to want to experiment with the format of the translated text. I know that this will not always work--indeed some poems have a format for a specific reason--but I find that it is easier to convey the tone of the poem, the pauses and cadence, introduction of imagery, etc., when the lines in the translated text are separated differently from the original. I'm sure many other translators will understand my reasoning. Wilhelm von Humboldt, in his Introduction to His Translation of Agamemnon, (translated by Sharon Sloan), wrote that,

"It can be argued that the more a translation strives toward fidelity, the more it ultimately deviates from the original, for in attempting to imitate refined nuances and avoid simple generalities it can, in fact, only provide new and different nuances. Yet, this should not deter us from translating. On the contrary, translation, especially poetic translation, is one of the most necessary tasks of any literature, partly because it directs those who do not know another language to forms of art and human experience that would otherwise have remained totally unknown, but above all because it increases the expressivity and depth of meaning of one's own language."

(Emphasis mine. I'm having a hard time remembering which anthology I got this chapter from. Will update when I find it.)

I think this is where my earlier translation of Ki Hyongdo's "Contempt of Memories" went wrong and how I hope to repair it from here. Being so out of practice, I was too caught up on "fidelity" and less on conveying the feel, the meaning, of the poem. I think my translation of "A Dark Red Tomato" rectified this a bit but it is simply something that I will have to continue to work on.

그리워질 오늘

홍영철

길 위에 있었네

길 위에서는 어디로든 가야만 하는 것인지

모르는 사람들 모르는 곳으로 스쳐 지나가는 저물녘

아프다, 살았다는 것 밖에는 아무 추억이 없을 하루

불현듯 쏟아지는 어둠 저 너머에 희미한 별 하나

먼 길 허위허위 달려 내게 안기는 조그만 그 빛

반갑다, 살았다는 것도 눈물나게 그리워질 오늘


Today, A Certain Loneliness
Hong Yeong-cheol

Here I am, on the street
It is perhaps from here that one can go practically anywhere
A Twilight
of unknown people brushing past to unknown places
I feel sick
outside of what is lived, every day is a day without significance

Suddenly out across the darkness, a single dim star shines
That light
It's almost insufficient, barely crossing the long distance between us
I'm happy to see you
Today, when the things I have lived through bring a tearful loneliness

Grammar Point
-어야만 한다: use of particle 만 to emphasize the have to pattern in -어야 하-, rendering absolutely has to, absolutely must. I.e., the have to/must pattern in –어야 한다 strengthened with 만.

Key Vocabulary
스치다: graze, brush, pass by;서로 살짝 닿으면서 지나가다.
저물녘: There isn't a complete definition of this word available on Naver Dict. The Korean definition is, "날이 저물 무렵," which basically signifies the end of the day as the sun goes down, twilight, "it gets dark."
불현듯: suddenly, all of a sudden; 어떤 행동을 갑작스럽게 하는 모양
쏟아지다: gush, pour, burst; 1. 액체나 물질이 그것이 들어 있는 용기에서 한꺼번에 바깥으로 나오다. 2. 눈물이나 땀, 피 따위가 한꺼번에 많이 흐르다. 3. 어떤 일이나 대상, 현상이 한꺼번에 많이 생기다.
희미하다: faint, indistinct, feeble, weak, dim;분명하지 못하고 어렴풋하다.
허위허위: [부사] There is no definition for this in the Eng. Naver Dict. The Korean definition is 1. 손발 따위를 이리저리 내두르는 모양. 2. 힘에 겨워 힘들어하는 모양. In this instance, I think the word is referring to 힘 'strength' being insufficient, i.e. definition 2,--> this would tie into 달려/달리다 [be insufficient , be not enough, running short].
달리다: 1. be insufficient, be in short supply, to not have enough, be short, be running short 2. (힘·능력 등이); 재물이나 기술, 힘 따위가 모자라다.
안기다: give, cause, charge; 1. ‘안다(1. 두 팔을 벌려 가슴 쪽으로 끌어당기거나 그렇게 하여 품 안에 있게 하다)’의 사동사. 2. ‘안다(4. 손해나 빚 또는 책임을 맡다)’의 사동사. 3. ‘안다(5. 새가 알을 까기 위하여 가슴이나 배 부분으로 알을 덮고 있다)’의 사동사.
그리워지다: long for, miss;그리운 마음이 생기다.

Translation Notes

• "모르는 사람들 모르는 곳으로 스쳐 지나가는" is the modifier of "저물녁," describing what type of twilight it is.
• The second to last line confused me to no end and I'm still unsure about it. Hong seems to be talking about how the light looks from far away, that it isn't very visible
• The hard thing about this poem, as with most Korean literature, is designating the subject, i.e. saying 'I' or 'It.' Like many language, Korean often has an implied subject that can be mentioned once and then remembered. The pronoun 'I' is only mentioned once in this poem but I felt that it was then sufficient to use 'I' from the beginning. My first draft had the first line as, "It's above the street, isn't it," but upon translating the full poem, I got the feeling that the subject is a person who is observing other people go home from work at the end of the day. I could be entirely wrong about this but I think the poem does flow with the inclusion of 'I.'

A Dark Red Tomato - Cheon Yoon-ho

검붉은 토마토

전윤호

익혀서 먹으려고

파란 토마토를

내장고에 넣어 두었다

어느날 문득 생각나 꺼내니

새빨갛게 익은 한쪽은

검게 썩어 있었다

나이 사십니 되니

조금 알 것 같다

제때 먹지 않으면

시간에게 먹힌다는 것을

 
Key Vocabulary
익히다: age, ferment, mature; 익다1(3. 김치, 술, 장 따위가 맛이 들다)’의 사동사.
썩다: rot, decay, decompose; 유기물이 부패 세균에 의하여 분해됨으로써 원래의 성질을 잃어 나쁜 냄새가 나고 형체...
제때: right time, right moment, right occasion; 알맞은 때.
먹히다: be eaten; 먹게 되다

A Dark Red Tomato

By Cheon Yoon-ho

Ripened for eating

The green tomato

Was placed in the refrigerator

One day I suddenly remember and take it out

Once bright red and ripe on the side

It is now black with decay

Turning thirty years old

I think I understand

If you don't eat it at the right moment
It will be eaten by time 

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I have mixed feelings about this poem. I read it two years ago at school and was unsettled about the idea that someone at thirty-years-old was no longer considered "ripe." U.S. culture is slowly changing, with many people choosing to settle down later but I think this concept persists.  Cheon Yoon-ho is a male poet, which may or may not be indicative of the continued sexism in South Korea. 

Feel free to comment below with your thoughts, comments or suggestions!