AI translation: I thought translating the words was enough! | Akabane Red’s Dev Log 14

01 · It’s translated. But who’s going to read it?

Before we get into making a game, I want to write down what I learned while preparing the English and Japanese versions of our last article.

At first, I thought translating the body text would get us most of the way there. Then I put a Korean thumbnail beside the translated article, and it looked a bit odd. Some readers wouldn’t even be able to read the title, would they?

Kirari

I want people to read what I wrote under my photo, too. It’d be a shame if they only looked at the picture.

Red

Then let’s translate the words in the pictures, too. Speech bubbles and all.

Kirari pointed at the thumbnail, then scrolled down to the pictures in the article. I listed everything that needed translating: titles, dialogue, captions, words inside images. There was almost as much text outside the body as there was in it.

I’d love more people to read our story. But I didn’t want to fill the page with English and just assume everyone could read the whole thing.

02 · The same meaning, in a form readers can understand

Translation carries words into another language. Adapting the expressions, available services, and reference materials for the reader as well is called localization.

The Korean version of Episode 13 introduced guidelines for writing and editing Korean. If we only introduced those same Korean editing tools in the English and Japanese versions, readers would have a hard time using them on their own writing.

So the English version introduced humanizer for reviewing English prose, while the Japanese version introduced textlint and its Japanese rule preset for checking writing against rules. These tools don’t all do the same job, though. textlint checks text against configured rules; that’s different from giving an AI writing instructions.

Red

I thought we could just swap in an English link.

Nea

We’ll need to update the explanation, too. They’re different tools, so we shouldn’t describe them as having the same features.

You can keep a Korean resource if the article needs it. Just label it as a Korean resource and add a short explanation. We can’t send readers to a page they can’t read and expect them to figure it out on their own.

The language someone reads doesn’t tell you which country they live in. English readers don’t all use the same prices or time zones. Giving the region and basis you’ve checked is more accurate than converting prices or guessing whether a service is available.

03 · Different words, but still the same people

Kirari

Does Shiro-chan just become Nea in translation?

Nea

I think we can choose a form that makes it clear it’s a nickname. As long as it stays the same from one article to the next.

Deciding how to spell names and how each person addresses the others saves confusion later. We also need to distinguish how Kirari talks to me, how Nea speaks to older club members, and AIKO’s polite manner.

That doesn’t mean we can translate Korean politeness with one particular word in another language and call it done. We need to look at how someone makes a request and the tone of the whole sentence. Names, forms of address, and two or three short sample lines are enough to give us a reference for review.

AIKO

If you provide the name spellings and sample dialogue, I’ll use them as a reference. I’ll flag any forms of address that are unclear.

04 · “It sounds fluent” isn’t enough

Last time, we used guidelines for polishing Korean sentences. We can provide suitable guidelines for other languages, too. But a tool that improves the writing doesn’t necessarily check the facts.

Both English sentences look perfectly readable. But the first one turns a plan for next week into something we did last week. Smooth wording shouldn’t give me experiences I’ve never had.

I split the review into separate tasks. First, I put the original and translation side by side and compare facts, numbers, dates, and what is planned or completed. Then I read the translation on its own, checking awkward wording and each character’s voice. Finally, I click the links and check the text inside images and the line breaks.

If you don’t know the language well, asking another AI to review it is one option. Both AIs can miss the same error, though. Translating it back into Korean can help spot missing meaning, but it doesn’t prove the translation matches the original. If the meaning is unclear or an instruction matters, it’s worth asking someone who knows the language to check it.

A translation review prompt you can copy

Compare the original and translation below.
Audience: General readers who are new to AI
Target language: [English or Japanese]
Target region: [Specify if decided; don’t guess if undecided]

1. First, check for changes to dates, numbers, names, links, negation, conditions, and whether something is planned or completed.
2. Don’t add experiences or achievements that aren’t in the original.
3. Follow the name spellings, character relationships, and sample dialogue below.
4. Fix expressions that sound awkward to readers of this language, while preserving the meaning.
5. Provide sources you have checked for regional services and alternative resources.
   If you haven’t verified something, mark it as needing verification.
6. Review the title, image text, captions, buttons, and links as well as the body.

Present the results in a table: Location of issue / Original meaning / Suggested revision / Reason.
Flag anything uncertain separately, and leave sentences that are already fine unchanged.

[Name spellings, character relationships, and sample dialogue]
[Original]
[Translation and text inside images]

05 · Carry the final edits through all three languages

If you correct a wrong date in Korean, check the English and Japanese versions, too. Editing only the original after translation can leave the three articles telling different stories.

You don’t need a complicated management tool to start. Save the original and translations separately, and leave a short note saying what changed and whether each language version has been updated. If you change an illustration, check that the image files belong to the same version, too.

Red

Are we really done now?

Kirari

Hang on. This text is way too small on my phone.

I reopened the preview I’d been about to close. When I zoomed in on the speech bubble under Kirari’s finger, every word fit, but the text wasn’t a size I’d want to read. We decided to shorten it a little while keeping the meaning.

I’d like people who don’t know Korean to read about what we’ve tried and where we’ve struggled, too. And someday, I’d love to hear what they’ve tried. That’s why I went back over every last speech bubble today.