About Me

Welcome to my blog Red Ribbon!

Red Ribbon is where I post my English translations of popular mandopop songs. I try to keep as close as I can to the meaning of the Chinese lyrics while still keeping it understandable in English terms. It sometimes sounds like broken English but there are many translators who abbreviate/put their own twist on the meaning and I want you to be able to interpret yourself.

When translating, there are phrases and sayings in both languages that don't always translate smoothly. Usually I write them out as a raw translation before noting the actual meaning.

Why are you translating mandopop?

   -It occurred to me that as the hallyu wave spreads into the United States, there has been an increasing interest in K-pop and with it a high demand for English translations of K-pop. There is a large army of K-pop fans devoted to translating K-pop across the internet. Mandopop is not as well known in the U.S. but there are people (like me) who wish to understand the meaning of some songs. In comparison to the number of K-pop translators, there are just a handful of mandopop translators and of these, few provide accurate and comprehensive translations. I cannot tell you how many times I've searched the internet for an English translation of a song I like only to find there is none.

I hope to help increase interest in mandopop by bridging this gap and open the eyes of the public to pop culture in China.

Do you take requests?

    -No, but hopefully I've covered some of the ones you like and introduced you to others you've never listened to before. I spend my free time creating these translations so progress will be slow but Red Ribbon will continue to grow!

Why 'red ribbon'?
    -Do you know the tale of the red thread? There are many variations of the tale in different cultures but they all refer to some sort of connection between two parties. Here I refer to the connection of China's culture and Western culture.

Credits:
-Lyrics from mojim.com