Past and present tense

[sverremunthe]

This is not a complaint just a request.
I'm just going through Clannad and notice something I also notice when editing White Album 2. Why is it that the translators has such a problem with the tense. In Clannad it seems like Tomoya is telling a story, not that the story is unfolding as it's read, everything is in past tense when it should be in present. When I edit WA2 I see much of the same, although the scripts I'm editing now is a mix of both past and present, it probably takes me longer to edit a script than a translator uses to translate it heheh. If the translators could do the tense correct the job for the editors would be much easier. The average script in WA2 takes me 3-4 hours, plus the breaks I have to take because it's so tedious.

[Gradagon]

Understanding may be different, but it's similar to your comments and not different at all.

[Lunar Vitae]

If I understand your request/question correctly, this would be the answer.

Now, in my humble opinion, it is our -- the editor's -- job to make sure the text flows correctly. This is due to many reasons, including (and very much not limited to) translators not translating into or out of their native languages. I believe the majority are actually students of one or both, and are working as a kind of studying or practicing, or even just for fun. That is where we come in. As editors, our sole purpose is to correct grammar, typographical, stylistic, or punctuation errors, mistakes, and/or oversights. Putting this load on translators (who may not know better) would just slow translations down, and probably dampen the fun of it. They could even give up a project if the level of language used is too high, and are being held to the English equivalent.

Sure, our job would be much easier if some of these were perfect from the get-go. But the reality is that they're not, and that's fine. It's why we're here.

Side note: be sure the original material is written in the tense that you're changing it into. This would have a direct affect on story pacing and interpretation.