A shot in the dark - Translations?

I know a lot of people share my frustration of not understanding any of the drama C.D.s... I've seen some summaries around here which is awesome, but I'm thinking of pulling together a few teams of people to attempt transcribing them, line for line.

So I'm curious, just how many of you actually have some proficiency in Japanese? I've got about the skill of a toddler, personally. ;0; However, I do think that I've done a pretty good job revising rough translations so far (such as Frozen Hearts of Noigllado), and would love to continue doing that.

I do know a lot of people in Asian study, or who are living abroad, though I'm unsure if they would want to tackle such a beast. I might even consider saving up and paying a freelance translator just to get a rough copy written down. I just have to knowwww!

Hearing is a lot harder than reading in a case like this, but I think with the right people, if we take it one track at a time, perhaps we can build something comprehensive, so us English speaking fans aren't left in the dark any longer!

Thoughts?

This is an excellent idea! It would be so nice to know exactly what is going in the dramas, they have so much of the story in them.

I have a few years of Japanese, and I'm continuing to take lessons currently, but I'm nowhere near fluent. But I can try and help as much as I can. I've sooorta tried to write out some of the dramas line-for-line, but there was a lot I didn't understand... Wenkamui is probably the most complete.
My friend (Destroyer of Time here on the forum) is also learning, and we discussed some of the drama once (The part in the beginning of the Wenkamui chapter where Gijiri is in Junaguni(im pretty sure) and mentions some..ship or something in the hokora) She also has a few Japanese friends that I know she asks questions about translations sometimes....

If you did pay a translator, I'd be willing to donate a fair amount of money to help pay~ anything for Zektbach!

I wish I can help but I'm still amateur myself as well.
I know ppl asked for the summary format like the masinowa drama cd one for BJ drama cd, but I reluctant to do it because I'm stuck in important stuff like Agiona plot and all. my worry to create such rough translation is that I will mislead people with wrong infos with mistakes I most likely do.

I actually do better in straight away listening than reading because my Kanji is really weak. But the good point with written stuff you can absolutely get it translated to the last details providing you are patient in searching everything in dictionary and all. With listening, when you are stuck on words its hard to pinpoint which exact word it is. Worse in anime/game thing it could even be a new 'made up' word that only exist in the story setting that you can't get the translation directly in dictionary just by typing or searching by the pronounciation. But if it is in written, we can get the meaning from the combined Kanji the word is made up from.

I will help donate too. I suggest the cheapest and possible way is to get someone from Japan or fluent Japan speaker to put the drama CD into written transcript in docs. As for translation, if we can get the written transcript I'm satisfied enough and willing to put time to translate it to the best I can. Though a legit translator is better of course as my composition and writing skill is an absolute disgrace lol

We have Ido and her friend which I think a better candidate to do the translation and all too.
Once we have the transcript I'm sure we can gather more ppl to actually help with translation as well.
Oh and Ido friend knows a few japanese friends, I don't know, maybe we can ask them to just write it down to docs?

I tried to gather infos to help translating the BJ/understanding BJ drama cd better. But time is hard to find between work, house chores, and hobbies (*cough* draws and cosplay)
At the moment if my dodgy summary can make ppl happy for a bit I don't mind, I'm just feel bad if I make mistake and give misleading info DX

I wouldn't mind helping with the translations, too. Though I've only learned to the intermediate level and am very out of practice due to not being able to continue my language studies. However, if there's any way I can help, even if it's just as a transcriber or finding kanji/definitions, I'll do it. I actually find that part kind of fun because it helps me learn.

With the guidebook upon us, I find myself revisiting this idea again.

Everyone here seems very willing to pool money together for this, so I'm heavily considering putting together a sort of online donation (such as kickstarter) for Zektbach fans to chip in at their leisure. The final price for such a large scale project is likely to be rather hefty, but if we all pitch in gradually, over a period of time, I believe we can achieve this goal! What I hope to have translated is:

1) The guidebook
2) Blind Justice drama CD
3) Masinowa drama CD



Now, I don't actually want to use kickstarter, due to its 60 day limit and backer reward system (not to say that the translation wouldn't yield other 'rewards' *plansondoingenglishdubsofthedramaCDandothervariousprojects*, but as I have nothing tangible to offer backers in exchange for their donation, I don't think kickstarter is the place to go for this sort of thing). So! First question!

Does anyone know of a donation site with an indefinite deadline that we could use?



The second question is price. Japanese translations can be rather expensive, depending on the quality desired. I've browsed the internet on more than one occasion (though I haven't really checked anything local), and saw a lot of interesting pricing. Some worked on an hourly wage (which varied between 15-20 dollars an hour), some charged a flat rate per page (30-50 dollars a page), while others actually charged per character (around .06 or .07 cents per character, which actually can add up to be a LOT in such a text heavy book).

Now, quality isn't actually a necessity here. We have plenty of people in this fandom who know Japanese and the material well enough to pick through and change any small error, and I have no issue with editing or rewriting any awkward phrasing. A rough, comprehensive translation should suit us well enough to get the job done. So! The second question is...

What is the most affordable price that we can find for a translator?

Check the internet, check locally... let's all put our heads together and see who can find the best deal. The Guidebook/Drama CD set seems to still be up for sale on Play-Asia (correct me if I'm wrong), so we should also include that in the final price, to give our translator a physical copy to work with (which is 154 USD, plus shipping).