The fan translators who subtitle Korean dramas – volunteer enthusiasts for whom it’s a ‘secret treat’ or ‘a hobby ... like doing a crossword puzzle’
- A K-drama streaming platform crowdsources subtitling free of charge from fans – who can translate episodes into 20 different languages in less than 24 hours
- Interest in Korean dramas is growing worldwide, with Netflix and AppleTV+ now investing heavily in Korean productions
Most nights around 10pm when her family heads off to bed, Carol Holaday signs onto her computer. She’s not falling down internet rabbit holes of random information or combing through social media at her home in San Diego, California. Holoday is signing on to volunteer with the subtitle translation of Korean TV shows – often referred to as K-dramas – on the streaming platform Rakuten Viki.
“It’s my secret treat,” says Holaday, who has helped to subtitle 200 titles for Rakuten Viki, commonly just called Viki.
Viki has both original and licensed content from Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan and subscribers around the globe. Its largest audience is in the United States, 75 per cent of which is non-Asian. It offers a tiered subscription, or limited content is available for free with ads.
The translator programme enlists volunteers, from beginners to contributors designated as gold status based on the quality and quantity of their contributions.
Holaday, who doesn’t speak Korean, is an editor of subtitles. She looks at portions of video that have already been translated to English, and checks the grammar, word placement and spelling. Besides translators and editors, there are also “segmenters” who separate portions of video to be subtitled, so one person is not translating an entire episode.