Tag Archives: facebook

Lost in Translation, Found in Humor

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hyoungThis is Hyoung Eun. She translated Little Bookstore into Korean and got it a whole bunch of great publicity over there. And we really enjoyed chatting while she was working on the book and she loves cats, so of course, we became Facebook friends.

With the result that sometimes my Facebook timeline reveals lovely, inscrutable conversations like this one, which appeared below the picture of this lovely, fluffy white cat that I think is Hyoung Eun’s, and pregnant:

hyoung cat 2

원고료 받으면 얘꺼부터. 달라고 기다리고 있지만, 너 아까 간식 먹었잖아…
나는 아직 겨울옷 장만도 못했는데, 겨울 다 가버렸네.

The manuscript fee received, showed it off. Waiting for him, but if you like I ate a snack …
I still haven’t get winter clothes, winter is gone. -_- (Translated by Bing)
Okay, let’s admit that’s a beautiful haiku, but say what, Bing Translator? Hyoung Eun speaks flawless English, but of course she was talking to her other Korean friends there, people who are also friends with me but read my book in their native language and don’t use English as their primary on Facebook. Thus I offered the following.
Wendy Welch Adorable! (This seemed like appropriate and safe commentary.)
Yunjung Sung 나비다~~^^ 혹시 저 박스가 다 나비먹을꺼?The butterfly is a butterfly that is ^^ all ~ ~ have you ever eat? (Translated by Bing)
홍장근 나도사줘I give Imam (Translated by Bing)
Hyoung Eun H Wendy Welch He is, isn’t he? – a proud [cat] mother. : )
Hyoung Eun H Yunjung Sung 모래도 있어.^^ 모래랑 간식. 이제 사료는 병원에서 따로 처방사료 사서 먹여야 해 ㅠ ㅠIt’s also Sung sand Yunjung. ^^ Sandy lang snacks. Now feed in hospitals set aside to buy feed and fodder prescribed ㅠ ㅠ (Translated by Bing)
Hyoung Eun H 홍장근 뭐 사줄까? ^^Hong Chang-Geun what buy? ^^ (Translated by Bing)
Hyoung Eun and friends, I want to thank you for the fun you’ve added to my life, and I hope your pregnant male cat enjoys the coffee. (Yes, everyone, we all know that cats mustn’t have caffeine.) And I want to say that Hyoung Eun is a better translator than Bing will ever be. And that the butterfly in the winter snowstorm is beautiful – almost as beautiful as Hyoung Eun’s sweet kitty. God Bless us, every one!
Hyoung cat 1

Big in Korea

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book cover KoreaApparently, I’m big in Korea just now.

HyoungEun is the nice lady who translated my book for a Korean publishing company (whose name in English, as near as I can tell, would be “Aladdin Books.”) She emailed me some questions a few weeks ago and we had a good time laughing about the idiosyncrasies of language. (See blog post “Found in Translation” if you’re interested.)

Apparently, things move fast in the Asian book market. About two weeks ago my agent Pamela tweeted the cover on the left, with a link to the publisher’s website, saying the book was out. That was fun (and fast!). I must say that, of all the translations so far, this cover is the most adorable.

Then late last week HyoungEun sent me a frantic email saying basically, “Can we use the pictures on your shop’s Facebook page to promote the book because a really big national newspaper here has shown interest in it?”

Umm, yes, that would be acceptable. Thanks.

**Wendy and Jack do happy dance around the bookshop front room, cats streaking away in terror as books jounce off shelves** Okay, we now return you to British decorum, already in progress. No wait… *a few more happy dance steps*

So now I have a bunch of Facebook friends whose posts I can’t read (Korean alphabet) and a small red dot forming in the middle of the night on my WordPress Stats site’s Asia map, tracking where people are reading my blog. Every day the Korean dot and its corresponding number grow.

I’m big in Korea? Oh, this is fun. And then this morning a woman married to a Korean engineer stopped by and said, “You’ll never guess. Peter was reading his hometown newspaper online last night, and what pops up but a photo of Jack? He called me out of bed, so excited! ‘Look, it’s the Little Bookstore!’ ”

This is what our friends Peter and Sandy – and the Korean public – saw. One can only wonder what people are thinking now.

crazy bookstoreSo my book has found some fun people to hang with in Korea? I’m down with that. But personally, I think it’s all due to HyoungEun’s excellent translation, plus that cover the Korean publisher designed. Did you ever see anything cuter?