‘직역하지 마’ (Don’t Translate Literally) MV | Music by C.SWAG (씨스웩)

July 29, 2022 Billy

One thing I often tell learners is to avoid using any machine translation when learning Korean. This isn’t because machine translation is useless (it’s useful), but because it can often give incorrect answers that the learner may not be able to understand are incorrect. Using machine translation can also help form bad habits when studying, and can become a crutch that learners rely on – instead of practicing by making their own sentences. Dictionaries are an absolutely necessary tool for learning, but it’s important to think when writing sentences so that you can avoid some of the pitfalls that come with just using a translator or translating things directly.

I wanted to make a song about avoiding not only translating things directly, but also relying too much on literal translations (machine translation, etc.) when trying to learn Korean. Simply using what you know in the best way possible, and then learning and practicing, will be far more effective than keeping yourself trapped in a cage of translating everything literally.

What started out as a joke between friends is now officially a fully produced song and music video. Although it’s my first song, hopefully it won’t be my last. You can watch it here, and there are links in the video description to where you can download the song.

I’ve also included the full lyrics below the video.