Hello Seyoung,

Good questions! I hope my answers help.

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Q1. the mystical place of origin for the Korean race
> Korean 'race'면 한국인이라고 해야 하나요? (한국인의 근원인 신비로운 장소?)

-> Yes, that is correct. Here, I think another good word for ‘race’ would be ‘민족’ considering the context.

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Q2. In the coming weeks, the show plans to teach men how to wear eyeliners and smoky eye makeup for a night out at the club.
> how to wear eyeliners and smoky eye makeup for a night out at the club 부분의 해석을
[how to wear eyeliners and smoky eye makeup] for a night out at the club. (밤에 클럽을 갈 때 아이라인과 스모키 메이크업을 하는 방법)이라고 해야하는지
[how to wear eyeliners] and [smoky eye makeup for a night out at the club]. (아이라인을 그리는 방법과 밤에 클럽을 갈 때 스모키 메이크업을 하는 방법)이라고 해야하는지 잘 모르겠습니다. 문맥을 봐도 알 수 없을 경우에는 어떻게 하나요?


-> So here, you are basically asking:

Should I translate “how to wear eyeliners and smoky eye makeup for a night out at the club” as …

1. 밤에 클럽을 갈 때 아이라인과 스모키 메이크업을 하는 방법

or

2. 아이라인을 그리는 방법과 밤에 클럽을 갈 때 스모키 메이크업을 하는 방법

my answer is that both can be correct, or we simply do not know.

Now, let me just ask you this question. How did you understand the original sentence? Do you think it means #1 or #2?

The truth is that it simply does not matter because it depends on how you read it and how you understand it. Yes, indeed it is possible that the sentence could mean two different things but that is just depending on how the original sentence is written. If the context is not clear, it is not possible to always get this correct as we simply do not know what the author meant.

Let me give you an example in Korean.

그는 나보다 제인을 더 잘 안다.

How would you translate this sentence, without any context?

#1: He knows Jane better than I know her.
or
#2 He knows Jane better than he knows me.

Now, your English-speaking friend Mason, who is learning Korean, is asking you this question, (once again without any context), “how do I know which one this means? Is it #1? or #2?”

What would you answer to your friend Mason? You will most likely say that you don't know, right? because we can't know unless we have more information.

As a translator, we try to get the meaning of the sentence but this is not always possible. Understanding if it is possible or not, is what we need to understand as a translator.

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Q3. Our exclusive cuisine is difficult to find in even five-star restaurants.
> K to E 강의에서 나온 문장인데, 주어인 'our exclusive cuisine'은 '찾는' 행동을 할 수 없으니 'to be found'라고 해야하는 게 아닌지 싶어 질문 드립니다.


-> The sentence above is simply omitting the implied object: “Our exclusive cuisine is difficult [for you] to find in even five-star restaurants.”

Using ‘to be found’ would also be just as correct.

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I hope this helped!

Best regards,

Mason U, CMI-Korean
Business Interpretation and Translation in Korean (BIT-K) Instructor