Q, Please introduce yourself.
A, Hi everyone, I am Wendy, the interviewer, and translator for LPL English.

Q, You've been working as an interviewer since LPL Spring. How did you get to work in LPL?
A, I used to watch a lot of League of Legends tournaments before, and I was impressed by Candice’s hosting at that time. She is my role model and her story has motivated me to get into the esports industry. Then, I have seen the official host recruitment in 2019, so I submitted my resume and entered the LPL system after five or six rounds of interviews. After that, in the summer of 2019, I worked both as a simultaneous interpreter for the post-match interview in LCK Chinese Stream and as the caster in the academy league. From 2020, I would like to concentrate on the hosting and translating jobs, so I started to do the simultaneous interpretation for LPL English. At the beginning of this year, as LPL English would like to add an individual interview session, I have become the interviewer for the LPL English Stream.

Q, I was really surprised because you speak Korean fluently as well as English. How did you study Korean? How good is your Korean?
A, As I am a KPOP fan, I have taken some Korean courses as electives in college. In the summer of 2018, I went to Sungkyunkwan University as an exchange student. Due to the relaxing course arrangement, I have enough time to watch LCK at the venue almost every match day that summer. After that, I realized that if I would like to work in the esports industry, mastering Mandarin, English and Korean can really help me a lot. Therefore, I started to put more effort into studying Korean. At the same time, I have to say that I am not that confident in my Korean skills, especially in terms of oral expression, but I will definitely continue working on improving my Korean.
Q, You have good English skills. Did you study abroad?
A, From 2012, I studied in Singapore after being admitted to a scholarship program, called SM1. After studying in Singapore for more than four years, I decided to continue to study at the University of Hong Kong. Then, I successfully graduated in Philosophy Major with the first-class honor this summer, so I can concentrate on the work in LPL now.

Q, Did you have any difficulties to interview Korean player? And who was the most impressive Korean player in the interview?
A, First of all, I do think that some LPL Korean players, such as Doinb, Scout, and Rookie, have the native speaking level of Chinese proficiency. As they can answer in fluent Chinese, there will not be any difficulties when interviewing them. However, if the KR/EN translation is needed, definitely I will be a bit nervous because both of them are not my first language.

The most impressive Korean player is Doinb. He is very friendly to every staff and actively interacts with fans at the venue. He can always provide coherent, sincere, and informative answers. When I interviewed him for the first time in Spring Split, he noticed that I was a bit nervous. Then, he tried to help me relax and encourage me before the interview. His words gave me lots of strength.
Q, When you have an interview with a certain team, you wear the team's headband. Was it the concept or is there a team you like?
A, Most of my headbands are borrowed from fans at the venue. Some fans know this habit of mine, so they will lend me these lovely headbands or other fan products before the interview. Meanwhile, staff from some teams, such as JDG, may talk to me backstage: “Hey, we have some new fan products today! Give them a try!” I really appreciate that. I think that most of the headbands are made by talented fans. LPL fans are the best!
Q, 'Iris' is the LPL's representative Interviewer who can speak Korean-Chinese-English. What do you think on 'Iris' and get help from her?
A, We often talk about the matches together and discuss how to translate some content better. She is an experienced interviewer and a good translator, so I have learned a lot from her. In daily life, we are close friends. As we have similar personalities and habits, we often hang out or eat hot pot together after work. As LPL English and the Chinese stream share the same lounge in the arena, when Iris and I work on the same day, the lounge is always very very noisy HAHAHA.

Q, Zeetwo is the LCK's representative interpreter. Do you have any thoughts of her?
A, Jeesun's translation is very professional, and I have listened to a lot of her LCK English stream translation clips to learn and practice my interpretation skills. I really admire Jeesun as the working pace at international tournaments including World Championship is very intense, and sometimes she needs to host the LCK interview, and then immediately helps English Stream translate. After that, she has to translate for overseas media. On top of that, she can do every job perfectly. She can give me the motivation in doing my own work, and I want to say something to her: “I miss you, and let’s eat more local food together at Worlds this year!”
Q, What kind of work do you want to do in e-Sports?
A, To be honest, I am not the kind of person who usually sets many goals. I just would like to focus on every single interview. I enjoy the enthusiastic atmosphere while watching LPL, so I would like to pass this feeling on to more people. I hope to help overseas audiences understand the culture of LPL and know more about our diligent players.

Last but not least, thank you so much for inviting me to have this interview!

김용우 기자 (kenzi@dailyesports.com)