With the ever-growing popularity of gadgets such as smart phones and tablet computers, movies have emerged as popular study materials for those who want to improve their English and learn the culture in English-speaking countries. However, movies are ...
With the ever-growing popularity of gadgets such as smart phones and tablet computers, movies have emerged as popular study materials for those who want to improve their English and learn the culture in English-speaking countries. However, movies are authentic materials made with no regard for foreigners and, as such, cannot be easily understood by a typical Korean college student. For this reason, Korean subtitles in movies could provide tremendous help to those who are trying to study English through movies. Unfortunately, sub-standard translations found in many movies are undermining the reliability of movies as a means of mastering English. These misinterpretations can hamper students’ understanding of movies and even give the students an erroneous definition of many crucial expressions. This study, dedicated to analyzing the patterns of mistranslations in movies, focuses on the examples resulting from factors such as flawed understanding, lack of background knowledge, and simple carelessness. Examples are grouped into patterns and discussed in detail so that instructors and students of movie English may become more aware of the patterns of mistranslations and become better equipped to deal with them in advance. The identification and correction of mistranslations is essential for the movies to expand their role as a dependable means of studying English.