Hyun Sun Ahn(안현선)

Concerned citizen, Educator/Teacher, Explorer, Job-seeker, Writer/Editor

I have loved films and music since childhood. I guess I prefer any movies or songs that are unique and rare to conventional ones. Back in my teenage years I geeked out about B-rated horror films and I really boasted about having my own rare collections of artsy stuff. And I was thrilled when I translated the first TED talk that was about film making.

I am native Korean with a Bachelor’s degree in English(Interpretation and Translation). I had worked as an English instructor as well as an administrator for more than 10 years in the private education field. The experience helped me attain English skills and also taught me the joy of teaching students and seeing them improve their language skills. Despite those satisfaction, I've always felt that being a translator perhaps would satisfy my thirst for English. I started working as a TED translator in March 2020 and have translated/reviewed several talks. I am currently working on a few more. Working as a TED translator has been a great opportunity for me to grasp how to emulate the speaker’s words in the target language so that the talk would be natural and make sense to viewers, not a word-for-word translation. I am so proud to be part of TED and helping spread words that are worth a thought. Plus, I have met some wonderful TED translators during the collaborative process! What I've learned working as one of the TED members is: "Two heads are better than one." I have seen how any translated works by anyone could be more improved to make sense through the arduous task of repeated reviews. This collaborative system of TED enlightened me in terms of what makes a good translation. I am always willing to meet fresh, daring ideas by translating a lot more innovative talks, and fellow translators too!