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Tireless Author Wrestles with Movie Mistranslations

With his new book, renowned translator and writer Ahn Jeong-hyo has turned his attentions to mistranslations, casting a cold eye on examples from some 3,000 movies. Often using the original script, the book aims to show in an accessible way how these misreading come about.

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At 72, Ahn comes from Korea's first generation of literary translators. He started his career back in 1975 by translating "100 Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Marquez and has since translated 137 other books.

The "Dictionary of Mistranslations" is a labor of love by a film buff and took more than 10 years to write and three more to edit, though other work also intruded.

His wife is also a translator, and the entrance to their living room is lined with dozens of books she translated, while his own take pride of place in the room amid video tapes and DVDs.

"I wake up at 4 a.m. every day and write until 10 a.m. when my mind is clear", Ahn said. "After 10 a.m. it gets hot and noisy outside, so that's when I start doing other things like watching movies, gathering material and drawing illustrations".

He added, "Translation is a process of turning foreign languages into something that is ours". But simply speaking a foreign language well does not make a good translator. "Understanding something and translating it are different. Translation requires a knack for languages. It is something that only those with the highest command of Korean and foreign languages can do".

Ahn's level of productivity is amazing. In addition to translating 138 books, he has written a dozen novels. One of them, "White War", was made into a movie starring Ahn Sung-ki.

The secret of his productivity is his ability to select the right material and to focus. He says he refrains from any activities that distract him: he has no mobile phone and does not send or receive e-mails. His only other hobby is fishing.

He learned the language on his own, and by his freshman year at college, he was good enough to write novels in English. How was that possible? "I think I have a knack", Ahn said. "In fact, my whole family has that talent".

His twin daughters are also polyglots. One works for the Goethe-Institut and can speak 13 languages, and the other, a professor of theology at the Catholic University of Korea, seven.

The septuagenarian is still a voracious writer who works at least eight hours a day. "I've worked hard and consistently so that I can have books to sell when I become too old to write any more", he joked. In addition to the new book, he has five ready for publication and is working on or planning at least 10 more.

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