Greetings ARMY! We welcome you to the first blog of the Spring Series. From June 2021, Borasaek Vision has had the pleasure to host the season series, posting blogs every fortnight under the Summer, Fall, and Winter series. As usual, this season's series also has a special theme.
What comes to our mind when we hear the word 'Spring'? Rebirth, joy, new chances, and hope come to mind. As RM once said - no season is eternal, and every time life challenges us, never forget that Spring will come again; our hard work will pay off. Spring is also the perfect time for being grateful after going through the long Winter. That is why in this series, we're going to shine the spotlight on several ARMY fanbases and fan accounts that have been helping us get to know BTS. This series is to thank them for their dedication.
Without further ado, let's begin!
Coming from South Korea and as proud Korean natives, BTS has always had a special place for their mother tongue in their hearts. But, as global artists with millions of fans from all around the world, it can be a little bit challenging to fully understand what they are saying. Yes, happiness, passion, and love transcend all languages, but there's a certain satisfaction and joy to being able to understand what they are saying completely, to dive deeper into their thoughts and personalities.
Even if their contents have been provided with subtitles, certain things such as live broadcasts, videos on their social media accounts, captions on their posts, and their comments on Weverse are mostly written in Korean. This is where the ARMY translators come to our rescue. Here are several accounts that provide translations from various BTS contents.
BANGTANSUBS
BANGTANSUBS is probably the oldest translator account in the ARMY community. Before BANGTANTV equipped their videos with English subtitles, BANGTANSUBS took on the work from their old pre-debut logs, Twitter videos, live videos, and even some of the variety shows they attended. They made a list of all the videos they have subbed on their website. On their Twitter account, @BTS_Trans, they also post translations of BTS’ social media captions and do live translations of live streams.
DOOLSET LYRICS
Doolset is also one of the longest ongoing translators in the community. It’s one of the most trusted websites that handle BTS lyrics translation. ARMY can find all of BTS’ songs, solo projects, projects with other artists, and any other song that has BTS credited as one of the people behind it. A more elaborate explanation behind the lyrics is also something to look forward to, as some meanings could be lost during the translation process, or some words aren’t perfectly matched with any direct translation. Going to their website to learn about BTS’ lyrics is more highly recommended than watching YouTube videos, as it digs deeper than just the literal translation, and can help us understand BTS’ intention behind their songs and explain dual meanings. It is also very helpful as some of the lyrics are tied to the Bangtan Universe.
HARUHARU_W_BTS, BTSTRANSLATION7, BTSTRANSLATION_, BTSINTHEMOMENT
Subtitles on live streaming that BTS does come a day later. That’s why, for ARMYs who want the live update, they would usually go to several translating accounts mainly on Twitter. Some of the most up-to-date translators in the platform are @haruharu_w_bts, @btstranslation7, @btstranslation_, and @btsinthemoment. Not only live broadcasts, but they also do the translation of BTS’ tweets, Instagram captions, interviews, and magazine articles. They would also do translations of any other TV shows, interviews, and artist’s posts that are related to or mention BTS.
Translating is a tough job. No matter how fluent we are or how many languages we’ve mastered, it still needs an amount of work for our brain to go back and forth between these languages. Not to mention that many words are hard to translate into another language.
For the Korean language specifically - as it's BTS' native language - there are several words where the complete meaning could be lost during the translation. It creates a gap and is sometimes able to make us overthink things if we're not at an advanced level of the Korean language, or don’t learn the language at all. More often than not, these translators had to provide a long explanation to fill in those gaps.
The time difference is also a challenge itself. BTS could be posting or going live at 9 pm in Korea, while it is early morning or rush hour on the other side of the world. ARMYs would rely on these translators when they miss it, but it’s a challenge for the translators as well. It might be more bearable if there are several people behind an account, but it’s a huge feat for a single person. Though the majority of ARMYs are understanding, it’s not unusual for these translators to face several over eager people. There’s no harm in keeping in mind that translators are human with real-life responsibilities too, like us. If they missed a translation or two or did not post something from a member, it’s not going to turn them into an anti-member or some sort.
With that being said, we’re coming to the end of our first Spring Series blog. In future blogs, we’re going to reveal more fanbases and fan accounts bimonthly to help you dive deeper and feel closer to BTS.
DISCLAIMER: We do not own any audio & visual content in this video except for the editing. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS. No copyright infringement intended.
Written By: RAM
Edit By: Juju
Checked By: Aury