02 June 2014

Dubbing is translation in four dimensions.

Disney has opted to translate 'Frozen' into Modern Standard Arabic, rather than the more usual Egyptian Arabic. A curious decision. The effect is rather akin to using the English of the King James Bible. The chorus of ‘Let It Go’ renders roughly as: “Discharge thy secret! I shall not bear the torment! … I dread not all that shall be said! Discharge the storm clouds! The snow instigateth not lugubriosity within me”

Read Translating 'frozen' into Arabic by New Yorker contributor Elias Muhanna.

Watch and listen to Let it Go in 41 languages and in HD.

ChatGPT, a drafting aid for translation by emulation

On 17 October 2011, I published the first of two posts summarising my general approach to the type of translation/adaptation services I was ...