This is actually a rather random thing to discuss, but here goes: Subbing quality on Asian dramas, movies, etc.

Let me preface what I have to say with a bit of a... disclaimer of sorts. I, of course, respect that people who do fansubbing are doing hard work, without receiving compensation. Even having studied Japanese for nearly three years, without fansubbing, I still would not really know what is going on in my favorite shows. I do not have a right to ask for perfection; I am not doing subbing work myself, rely on them to provide  me with subs, and am perfectly aware that everyone makes spelling errors or grammar errors. Part of why I am discussing this here, rather than commenting on a fansub groups site--if that's even possible?--is because I am aware of this.

However, I do believe there exists a difference between errors that occur here and there, and consistent errors that, regardless of the target quality of the fansub, must be corrected. Generally speaking, if I find that several forms are always mixed together and never used correctly, I consider this not only detrimental to the quality of one's work, but a potentially misleading use of the English language. Fansubbers may one day be employed in professional subbing or translation work. (In this way, I actually wish to address quality control in writted translation such as manga as well.) Therefore, it is disappointing but not surprising fact that I find these errors in professional translation as well--though, fortunately, less often. Here is a rundown of the most common--and frankly, most annoying--errors that I find:

-there/their/they're= 'there' is directional, or used in phrases such as "there is a car". 'their' is  a plural possessive, used only in phrases such as "their potential is high" or "their relationship is good". 'they're' is a contraction of 'they are' to be used in phrases such as "they're annoying". Even if one is in a hurry and producing work without using commas, 'they're' could still never be "there"; it would be better shortened to "theyre".

-your/you're= 'your' is the second person possessive, as in "your cat hates me". 'you're' is the contraction of 'you are' as in "you're driving me bonkers". Even if one does not bother with commas, 'you're' is still "youre" not "your".

-its/it's= contrary to one's instincts about 's being the possessive, when it comes to 'it's'/'its', "it's" is a contraction of "it is", while "its" is the possessive, meaning "its tail is broken". Only if one had decided to leave commas out could one write "its" for "it's", and even then, this causes unnecessary error.

-were/we're= I suspect this is generally a case of people not bothering to use a comma, but since "we're" and "were" are pronounced quite differently in English, it would be better to just use the commas. In case there genuinely is some confusion, "we're" is a contraction of "we are" and "were" is the past tense of "are/to be/ is" or used in certain hypothetical phrases "I wish I were a movie star" not " I wish I was a movie star."

-till/'til= Perhaps this one has become acceptable in the eyes of professionals; people almost ALWAYS use "till" where " 'til" belongs. " 'til" is a contraction of "until"; "till" with two 'L's should not be seen as the same thing. It is the spelling used in "till the ground" or as a word for a cash register.

-to/too= I understand why this mistake is so common. It can happen as much from a mistype as anything else, and I mess it up in writing all the time. However, if your fansub group has an editor, it should also be really easy to catch. 'to' is directional, or the beginning of the English infinitive: "to drive to the store". "too" is used in phrases such as "I want to go to the store too".

-too/either/neither= In a dialogue such as "I want to go to the store", someone might reply "me too." or "I want to go too." However, in a phrase such as "I don't won't to go to the store", the reply would more naturally have something like "Neither do I", "Me, neither" or "I don't want to either". The first form is more formal, the other two more colloquial. This one's a bit tricky because many English speakers don't use it clearly either. However, 'too' is not to be used in negative phrases.

There are other ones that are not as eyecatching as these, but there above forms are the ones that could, with practice, become fairly easy to keep straight. If you're an editor, you should be checking for this much at the least. For those who are basically one- or two-man shows, of course, more errors in this area can be expected. I know that, even with proofreading, I mess things up all the time.

If there should happen to be anyone who finds my opinion troublesome, please keep in mind that these are simply recommendations. If I ever have the opportunity to work in such a group, I would likely wish to do proofreading, as my strengths in technological pursuits and in listening comp are not very high. As such, I respect the work done and really only make this comments because I truly enjoy the English language

I hope everyone had a very lovely Independence Day? I think I did! I did not do much of anything early in the day, but around 3:00 p.m. I went over to my aunt's house to take a nice little swim in their nice little hole. I was rough-housing with my cousin when she suddenly thought grabbing the ladder would be a great idea. This resulted, naturally, in a puncture wound to the pool. (It's the type with an inflated ring around the top rather than metal bars.) My uncle brought out the patch kit, but I decided just to get out of the pool--I had already been in for nearly two hours anyway... though I could easily spend HOURS in a swimming pool. Well, I did that none too soon as the neighbor kid went spilling over the side, slopping water everywhere.

A little after that, we went and got pizza, and I ate two and a half slices, it was pretty nice. I could have done without eating the "bacon cheeseburger" pizza, I discovered, but otherwise it was fine. Then we went to blowing off fireworks in the greenbelt behind their house. No real need to worry about grassfires--aside from some basic caution of course--as there are puddles of water to be found just about everywhere, and the grass is the greenest I have ever seen it. Unlike my backyard, which somewhat resembles a kid who's just received a swirly.

We did not have too many "big" fireworks, but it was nice anyway, especially since other families were blowing loads of big fireworks anyway--so it's not like it mattered. Plus the 20 minute firework show that a nearby church put on Sunday gave me plenty of the "REALLY FREAKIN' BIG" fireworks fix that I generally require.

So how was everyone else's 4th?

Oh, and I have a bruise developing where my cousin kicked me in the pool. LOL Family. I'll have my revenge ^_^ <3

Soooo... nihon ni totemo ikitai yo! I wish I could use proper font, but unfortunately, my computer is an evil britch, and I am a smidgeon computer illiterate. In any case, here comes the Valentine's Day love:

On this warm (except for the temperature) day, I hope everyone is enjoying someone's love. It might seem a strange thing for me to wish since I rarely broadcast my overly romantic tendencies, but the truth of the matter is that my grandparents are totally to blame. (yep yep, I speak the truth). When I was little, my basket of candy for Valentine's Day from them was nearly as big as what I might expect on Easter, except with lots of hearts. The lovely little toys and candy from my grandfather and grandmother alongside all the giving of cheap Valentines to all your classmates (even though I was horrible with names) really soaked me in the idea that Valentine's Day is about Love in every conceivable way.

It's obviously a day built primarily around the love a couple should have for one another, especially when you consider that it falls around the same time as the old Roman celebration/ fertility rites of the Lupercalia, which included (ZOMG) some whipping. *wriggles eyebrows suggestively.*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Valentine%27s_Day

However, I think that it is still an excellent opportunity to celebrate loves of all kinds. The relationships we hold with people are very precious, and we should occasionally reflect on how to maintenance them. (gah, that sounds stupid ^_^). Romantic and Sexual love aren't the only sorts of love-based relationships that hold us together and give us the support we need year-round in our oft-hectic lives.

I love my family.

I love my friends.

I love my hot boys.

(*chortles* Ah, the advantages of being single...)

In any case, I hope everyone single, less-than-single, and coupled-up has an amazing Day of Love, ne!!!!

*huggles you all, even if you didn't want it* Bring on the chocolate ^_~

It's nights like tonight that make me seriously ponder how much longer it will be before I become completely and royally desensitized to "dronk" people. My room-mates came home, and apparently brought guests with them (which is fine, because someone needs to finish the copious amounts of alcohol in my fridge so that it can be re-stocked with real food). Anyway~ I heard someone outside my door, and suddenly my door is actually opened by someone other than me. This absolutely never happens, which is nice, because it gives me some confidence in my ability to maintain my own little "personal space bubble" (or whatever). A relatively young blond woman wanders in, clearly not "all there" (the glazed eyes sort of clued me into the fact that she was inebriated... well that and the fact that I did not know her yet she was coming into my room)

I think I said "Ah.Yes...?"

(Shouldn't I have a better response to people randomly walking into my room? I practically view it as territory...) She quickly realized she was in the wrong room, and, I assume, began to apologize or explain herself, but I cannot verify that because she was either drunkenly slurring, speaking another language, or (my guess) a mixture of both. Then she promptly wandered right back out of my room.

At least she seemed nice. And... I'm not going to hold it against her that she wandered into the wrong room while drunk because... well... I've wandered into the wrong apartment while dead sober. Of course, I had thought it my apartment; I just missed it by one building. (The resident did not seem too disturbed by my presence... even though I just stood there dumbstruck before I said "Oh, Uh, sorry... this isn't my apartment... Um... I'm Amber, nice to meet you. I'll go now." Therefore, I now know the name of the french person living in the next building over (which is more than I know about the neighbors in this building.)

Also, I am thoroughly happy to say that, minus about... twenty-seven chapters, I have the scanlations for a favorite series of mine. Some of the scanlations are Low Quality, but they are that way purposely, and I may well end up buying several tomes of the series by the time it's done anyway, so I'm not flustered. It beats staring at Chinese and wishing that it could at least be Japanese so I could try to read it. I also spent a nice amount of time compiling 54 chapters of another manga that I like... I might make an extra gift of it to my little sister, since it has a flair for dark humor in it and her response to Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the movie) was "Wicked <3". ^_^'

I think I might also have stumbled across a series that my sempai in particular would enjoy, but it's only four chappies so far (and I have no idea whether it'll be ongoing or not). Of course, I could be misjudging her preference for plot-development-style and what-not, but I'll never know unless I happily thrust it upon her to try it.

I've had this horribly nagging feeling I've forgotten something this weekend, and it is bugging the heck out of me. I think it's just the lack of classes I've had because of school-days, but I'm still paranoid about it. That and I think I might have to walk in the snow for about an hour or so tomorrow to get to a performance (well, I could try at least to catch a bus and shorten my walk by thirty minutes...) The JOYS of taking a class about Understanding Dance. I have every respect for dancers; I know they work hard; I just do not particularly like being mandatorily shoved out into the cold to trudge my way through slush to a student ballet performance (is that really necessary).

On that whiny note, I think I've said everything.. at least 'til the next time I feel like babbling via keyboard.

It seems to be a rite of blogging passage that I explain at least once my sleep patterns. As in, it might seem I have none. Last night being the supreme evidence towards my madness, I acquired one hour's sleep to Justin's disapproval and Sempai's utter lack of surprise. (It's sickening how well you know me, Kat @_@)

It's the inevitable combination of a certain need to release emotional frustration, a driving desire to try and understand my Latin assignment (which didn't happen 'til this morning, and yet somehow that worked ^^), and my already powerful late-night-owl urges.

My mother stays up ridiculously late too, and in that manner she and I are so alike. Only I stay up later-- sometimes. If I ever have children, I pity their sleep schedules should they take after me.

Part of my sleeping may be due to a slightly different body clock. I once heard that a study was done in which a group of people were isolated so that they could not tell the actual time outside. The majority came out to roughly sixteen hours awake and eight hours asleep. A minority--but still notable-- group in the study instead snapped into a schedule of twenty hours awake and ten hours of sleep. If someone has this tendency, it's not surprising that life and sleep would conflict, given that their bed-time would become nightly later.

Also, there's the fact that I just never feel like I have enough hours of the day to socialize, study, have alone time, study (^^ again), work, and eat. I think I may have one of those unusual body-clocks, but I'm not helping the situation with forcing myself awake even when I am tired. On that note, I am going to go to bed early tonight.

If you like, feel free to tell me what YOU think your sleep pattern is?

p.s. oh, and I'm NOT going to let last semester happen again, I pulled two, sometimes three all-nighters a week then ^_^' .