American cinema is popular internationally, however, the use of subtitles or dubbing must be implemented for non-English speaking audiences to fully enjoy an English language film. This is not such an easy task, since many words and slang phrases do not translate exactly word for word, therefore, a skillful interpreter is needed for appropriate translation. Joan Giammarco recently worked on the movie "Kung Fu Panda," translating it from English into Spanish in a Mexican studio.
Giammarco acknowledges that part of the challenge of her job is to find Spanish words that make sense. For example, Po the Panda uses the American slang, "Awesome!" in the movie on numerous occasions. There is no Spanish word for awesome, so Giammarco used the word barbaro. In some Spanish speaking countries and in Italy, this means "bad man," however, in Mexico, people use it as slang such as "cool" is used in the U.S.
Sometimes, teams of translators work on films to translate them into many different languages. Giammarco notes that translators need to be aware of the nuances of language translation. She states, "...you have to be really careful of what you say, because to somebody it might mean a bad thing, and somewhere else it might mean something good."
Nevertheless, Giammarco loves translating and her work has helped her learn several languages. "...every time I go somewhere it's kind of a free language lesson. I'm immersed in whatever country I go to and you have to speak the language," she proclaimed.
23 June 2008
