The Social Network – Chinese subtitles translation
The Social Network, the movie about the creation of Facebook, opened in Taiwan last Friday. The movie features excellent dialogue throughout, and while the Taiwanese release still had an English soundtrack, there are subtitles that we can have a look at.
The following are the subtitles from the notorious scene of the movie when Mark Zuckerberg tells the prosecuting lawyer that he is only giving him the bare minimum attention, and that no one in the room could have created Facebook due to their lack of creativity.
The subtitles are fan subs that were downloaded from Shooter.cn (a great place for Chinese subs should you ever need them), though having seen the movie in the cinema with official subs I can say that these are quite close, if not identical for the most part.
For those who haven’t seen the movie, or cant remember the scene, here’s a refresher:
The English below is a translation of the Chinese (essentially a translation of a translation) and so will differ a bit from the movie clip. Though we can still learn how to take someone down a notch in Chinese:
這是在問我嗎？
这是在问我吗？
zhè shì zài wèn wǒ ma?
are you asking me?
在第三十二封，你才提到網站存在一些功能上的缺陷
在第三十二封，你才提到网站存在一些功能上的缺陷
zài dì sān shí èr fēng, nǐ cái tí dào wǎng zhàn cún zài yī xiē gōng néng shàng de quē xiàn
It was only in the 32nd email that you finally raised concerns about the functionality of the website
你是不是故意拖了他們六個星期
你是不是故意拖了他们六个星期
nǐ shì bú shì gù yì tuō le tā men liù ge xīng qí
Did you purposely delay them for six weeks?
沒有
méi yǒu
no
為什麼你從未提及這些…
为什么你从未提及这些…
wéi shé me nǐ cóng wèi tí jí zhè xiē
Why didn’t you mention…
下雨了
xià yŭ le
It’s raining
你說什麼？
你说什么？
nǐ shuō shé me?
What did you say?
外面下雨了
wài miàn xià yŭ le
It’s raining outside
扎克伯格先生，你在全神貫注地聽我說話嗎？
扎克伯格先生，你在全神贯注地听我说话吗？
zhā kè bó gé xiān shēng, nǐ zài quán shén guàn zhù de tīng wǒ shuō huà mā
Mr Zuckerberg, are you giving me your full attention?
沒有
méi yǒu
no
你認為我值得嗎？
你认为我值得吗？
nǐ rèn wéi wǒ zhí de ma?
Do you think I deserve it?
值得什麼？
值得什么？
zhí de shé me?
Deserve what?
我說的話值得你全神貫注嗎？
我说的话值得你全神贯注吗？
wǒ shuō de huà zhí de nǐ quán shén guàn zhù ma?
Is what I am saying worthy of your attention?
我之前宣過誓, 不想因偽證罪被捕
我之前宣过誓, 不想因伪证罪被捕
wǒ zhī qián xuān guò shì, bù xiǎng yīn wèi zhèng zuì bèi bŭ
I swore an oath before, so I don’t want to be arrested for perjury
所以我必須說”不”
所以我必须说”不”
suǒ yǐ wǒ bì xū shuō ” bú”
so I must say “no”
很好 我說的話你都不必聽
很好 我说的话你都不必听
hěn hǎo wǒ shuō de huà nǐ dōu bú bì tīng
very well, you don’t need to listen anything I am saying
如果你的客戶想把我踩在腳下，顯得自己高高在上
如果你的客户想把我踩在脚下，显得自己高高在上
rú guǒ nǐ de kè hù xiǎng bǎ wǒ cǎi zài jiǎo xià, xiǎn de zì jǐ gāo gāo zài shàng
If your clients want to stand on top of me to make it appear like they are better than anyone else…
他們有權試試看，但是我不會因他們的謊言而高興
他们有权试试看，但是我不会因他们的谎言而高兴
tā men yǒu quán shì shì kàn, dàn shì wǒ bú huì yīn tā men de huǎng yán ér gāo xīng
they have the right to try, but I won’t be happy about their lies
我會騰出一點注意力聽你說話 一點點而已
我会腾出一点注意力听你说话 一点点而已
wǒ huì téng chū yī diǎn zhù yì lì tīng nǐ shuō huà yī diǎn diǎn ér yǐ
I’ll give you a bit of my attention, only a little bit
至於其餘的部分 都留給了臉書
至于其余的部分 都留给了脸书
zhì yú qí yú de bù fēn dōu liú gěi le liǎn shū
the rest (of my attention) is at Facebook
在那裡 我們所做的事情，這個房間內沒人能做
在那里 我们所做的事情，这个房间内没人能做
zài nà lǐ wǒ men suǒ zuò de shì qíng, zhè ge fáng jiān nèi méi rén néng zuò
where what we are doing, no one in this room can do…
尤其是你的客戶，因為他們缺乏智識和創造力
尤其是你的客户，因为他们缺乏智识和创造力
yóu qí shì nǐ de kè hù, yīn wèi tā men quē fá zhì shì hé chuàng zào lì
especially your clients, because they lack knowledge and creativity
我的答案你滿意了嗎？
我的答案你满意了吗？
wǒ de dá àn nǐ mǎn yì le ma?
Are you satisfied with my answer?
Keywords
They dialogue actually isn’t extremely difficult, but there are a few important keywords that are valuable to understanding it. Also the subtitles shoot by so fast during the movie, anyone but a native speaker of Chinese would have a hard time reading them all.
When the DVD is released we’ll come back and compare the official subtitles to the fan-subs and see if there are any important differences.
Did you spot any mistakes or have an idea how to better translate any of the text? Then let us know below, only by sharing can we all improve our Chinese 
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Dave Flynn
Dave is a designer of websites, learner of Chinese and lover of technology. Originally from the UK , he's been living in Taiwan and learning Mandarin Chinese for the last four years. He founded and runs Chinese Hacks, a blog dedicated to effectively learning Chinese.
5 Comments
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你有非死不可？
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Hi Kedafu, We do have a Facebook page you can find us here:
http://facebook.com/ChineseHacks
Thanks!
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Hi Dave,
Two typos:
“only be sharing” -> “only by sharing”
Missing ‘i’ for “yóu qí sh”I did not know about 非死不可, where is this used?
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Cheers, Nick. Making the corrections now.
I first heard the phrase 非死不可 from my teacher earlier this year, and is a nickname for Facebook as you can probably tell by the pronunciation. well, if you pronounce Facebook with a Chinese accent
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that reminds me of my joke
a:為什麼你不要每天玩開心農場?
b:我不知道啊 [o]___[o]
a:因為… 你一定會非死不可
You’re welcome.
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