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January 31, 2007
Do-re Lee Mi-do: hard English training
South Korea's leading film translator subtitles his life for Korea Times' Jane Han. Lee Mi-do has translated over 450 movies from English to Korean, but his career began with Kieslowski's Blue. "After starting to work at an agency importing foreign films, one of the brokers asked me if I would be interested in translating the film 
myself... 'Why not?' I thought, and that first film led me all the way here... I grew up getting hard English training,'' said Lee, recalling that his father, who served as an English translator in the military, had him memorize word after word and familiarized him with American culture by showing him movies. "My father had a heart for emigrating abroad, so that's another reason why I was pushed to learn the language.'' ... The single 45-year-old who says he doesn't have many other personal commitments begins each day at his local Starbucks coffee shop. "I drink coffee, read three different dailies and think of ideas. It's a great place for me to work in a vibrant atmosphere,'' the full-time translator said, smiling. "But most of all, it's boring to work at home alone.'' ... Translating one or two movies a month, he recently put out his second book, titled "100 Movie Dictionary, English Encyclopedia," which consists of stories about 100 popular movies, catchy keywords in each film and detailed explanations of proper English usage." He's a publisher, too: his company's called "FISH library." "Fashion equals following the trend, ideas must be fresh, stories should always be extraordinary and each piece should carry its own heart, giving inspiration to the audience... The four letters of each word led to FISH _ that's my publishing company. I only publish books that carry those characteristics.''
Posted by Ray Pride at January 31, 2007 02:34 PM
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