Proofreading and Me by Uranium

The English language is vastly underestimated in the expanse of the business we call "scanlation." The least bits of information are the majority of your worries when proofreading. It is a proofreader/quality checker's job to make sure that correct usage of English is appropriately and adequately used in order for the next wheel in scanlation (generally a second proofreader or a typesetter) to smoothly traverse through your wild and thoroughly enjoyable expedition of reading through the abominable "Engrish" script you receive from your translator. For the lucky few, we have translators who do more than their job and make their English sound as though they are actually English by birth. For the even rarer few, there are translators fluent enough to proofread their own transcript! But for the unlucky buttwipes who snatch away a transcript without fully knowing the full extent of bad spelling/grammar/whatnot your translator has given you; it is only you who takes responsibility for what people read in the final version.

Scanlation Exhibition A: The Simple (and general) process of Scanlation

1. Obtain RAWs from RAW provider (RAW Providers)
2a. Clean RAWs (Editor - Cleaners)
2b. Obtain RAW manga chapter and create translated transcript (translator)
3. Proofread said transcript into a wholly readable and semantically adept form (Proof-reader)
4. Obtain cleaned RAW and proofread transcript and begin process of placing the said proofread and scripted text into the empty (and cleaned) speech bubbles/whatnot in said manga chapter (Editor - Typesetter)
5. View the final product one last time through the eyes of a critique and point out mistakes where seen or improvement suggestions where possible (Quality Checker)
6. If there are any problems with either the English displayed or the level of cleaning on the manga chapter pointed out by the Quality Checker, revise steps from 2b. onwards (everyone)
7. Box and Ship out to leechers (Quality Checker + Manga distributor)

What do I do as a Proofreader?

a) You find spelling mistakes within the script.
b) You find grammatical mistakes within the script.
c) You make sure that every sentence sounds prim and proper when read out and not something out of a telephone servicing machine.
d) You make sure that any background knowledge regarding any one/place/thing is thoroughly researched and worded correctly; because the last thing you want is to throw your readers off the storyline with a little English ****-up that was totally avoidable.
e) You make sure the correct verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, correct form of nouns, pronouns, collective nouns and punctuation symbols are used appropriately for every sentence.
f) You read through your script not once, but a minimum of two times to ensure that you haven't missed anything. The whole point of proofreading.

Now that you have the basics of what a Proofreader has to do... knock yourself out applying for different groups and whatnot... but remember that if this regular routine of exercising your vocabulary and checking what you write is not... regular; your skills could diminish.

Here is how I think a proofread script should read provided that whoever is in charge of typesetting hasn't given you a method on how to submit said proofread transcript (what I would accept judging through the eyes of a HQ typesetter):

Manga - Air Gear:

Helpful hints regarding Proofreading:

* There are no more than multiples of three ellipses [...], [... ...], etc.
* What my mentor told me as the "Sticky Finger Syndrome" should not be used. This involves using punctuation symbols more than what is necessary, ie: [ikki: so?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] as opposed to: [ikki: so?!]. It carries the same meaning... less vulgar and more professional.
* It is suggested that you actually read and understand the manga project you proof-read as to gain an idea on how individual characters speak. For example, in Air Gear, Agito is a really badass AT-rider. If he had said: [Agito: Gosh wally Ikki, I really messed up man!] would most probably be: [Agito: **** Ikki, I really messed up man!].
* The Japanese language can include words that mean one thing but requires one or two more synonyms from the English language to explain. This helps alot in relation to the point above. Where "bakemono" simply means "monster" in Japanese... if our characters are surrounded by ghosts... "bakemono" could mean "ghosts/phantoms/spectres" as well. It all depends on the context. So choose your words wisely.
* It is always a good idea to read through the RAW (if you have a slight understanding of the Japanese language like I do) or check with your translator regarding anything you want to have cleared up or anything in the text you don't understand. They gave you their version of the script... the last thing we need is a Chinese whisper erupting in the process of a scanlation project where the proofread product is far from what the translator intended the script to be.
* Don't freak out if you find a script where from the first read-through, you find nothing. Every script has a flaw... you just have to be willing to put in the effort to see it.
* You have the last word over a script... a Quality Checker could also come up to a specialist proofreader concerning a nuance, proverbial sentence or the semantic origins of a specific monologue regarding a character etc. Don't be afraid to raise your opinion amongst the group.
* If you see a sentence that you think could be totally scrapped and re-worded whilst retaining the same meaning... do it! Make sure to go through with your translator to see if the meaning fits the text before you do though. However taking the script into your own hands is nothing new.
* Finally, make sure you ALWAYS read through your script. I cannot stress enough how many newbies I have caught out in proofreading simply missing out on simple mistakes within their script that could have been prevented had they take the extra 5 minutes to simply read through their work.

And with that; I bid you all at [random scanlation team's name >.>"] a good day and pray that my take on proofreading may have enlightened some of you to take this job very seriously... if not moreso than other jobs. We are ultimately the story-tellers here... we make or break the backbone of the manga. So tread this path carefully.

-uranium.

Ahhhhhhh, I love this. Snarky and sarcastic yet helpful and well-meaning at the same time.

Thanks for posting it. XD

Glad it help and that you liked Uranium's sense of humour^^!

I laughed out loud a few times reading it, hahaha. It's really well written.

Best proofreader I knew^^

I hope to live up to his expectations.

Hi, I have a grammar question:
I was reading Rosario Vampire http://www.mangareader.net/319-57243-33/rosario-vampire-ii/chapter-34.html and the sentence "doesn't that means that she's was man-maid?" what mean she's was? it's been a while that when I read English translation i see things like "she's is" "he's is/has..." but I really don't understand the meaning! Isn't it like to say "she is was made..." or "she has was made..."?

Basically, the word "she's" is a contraction. It's the combined form of the words "she" and either "is" or "was". You can see more information about contractions here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraction_%28grammar%29

In this instance, the sentence context can be in either the present or past tense, so it could be "she is" or "she was". The extra "was" in the sentence is unnecessary.

So, either I missed that part while I was proofreading or abcd made a typo while typesetting. ): I apologize on our behalf - we're only human and sometimes we miss things.

I hope this explanation made it a little clearer and easier for you to understand?

Perfect, thank you!

Awesome, you're very welcome!

haha that same mistake was pointed out in the release thread XD

https://mudascantrad.forummotion.com/latest-releases-f7/rosario-vampire-ii-34-by-muda-scantrad-t139.htm

Proof reading isn't that easy of a job. Even though a lot thinks proof reading is just simple and easy.

we, who only knows how to read English, thanks you

Well I have seen some minor grammatical errors in Rosario + Vampire Season 2, its true that we are all just humans and can't actually make mistakes. To be direct to the point, to attain perfection as what this thread is talking about, proofreaders should reread a Chapter for up to 3 or 5 times so that this mistakes can be lessened or totally purged.

That's the reason why I am willing to apply to become one of the Proofreaders in this forum, to share my knowledge and passion in English for I am an English Teacher.