Translation Help/Dilemma

[Xecty]

So i have been dying to translate a full game from start to bottom, sadly i dont know Japanese i have some vocabulary knowledge but cant read or write. this is where i hit my dilemma im using various tools to machine translate a game and as all of you guys know machine translation dont make much sense. so far i am able to make decent partials for most game but nothing else as far as translating the actual scenes from the game itself i hit a wall.
Is there actually a way to normally convert machine translation to decent quality translation without knowing japanese?
Also which order of scenes will it make me easier to translate going by events on each map or by the common event section?

 

[elfloren]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

The thing that seemed to work for me when I started translating was skip any text you can't seem to translate fully, and translate the easier phrases. After you get the hang of grammar and stuff it gets somewhat easier.

And you'll always find some walls of text that won't make sense in any machine translation, so you'll have to break them down and work a lot on those. Also, there are some words that are literally in no dictionary. I dunno if that's slang or weird words the creator uses, but yeah.

I'd recommend to start translating a game and seeing how it goes. It's actually quite fun translating stuff, at least for me.

 

[ToaruLL]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

Hey, i can understand your frustration I used to be the same before delving deep into learning japanese when i was 15.

But as for machine translators that aren't completely horrible, I used this helpful tutorial (in my signature) on a weblog all credit guys to them by the way to make your machine translator slightly more readable. I also use VNR instead of what they're suggesting like ith and so on but you do need translator aggregator and agth i believe, either way all the best.

 

[Xecty]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

I also use VNR instead of what they're suggesting like ith and so on but you do need translator aggregator and agth i believe, either way all the best.

I am actually using all of those programs. so do i fill the untranslatable phrases with what i just see fit for the scene? or just use something unrelated that actually make sense, what i also figured out actually playing the game before translating it could help a lot a mistake i actually did on the first translation i ran (starting translating without playing) made my head explode on several occasions, and what actually made harder to translate were the actual H scenes with all the sexual phrases descriptions and what not.

 

[ToaruLL]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

yeah in my opinion translating a game you enjoyed and loved is enough motivation to begin translating.

Also although agth and ith are good tools to set up automatic translations they don't improve the quality of translation. The use of ATLAS a free online dictionary thing is a good addition just follow the steps on the blog in my signature.

 

[Cadgy]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

Learning the grammar will help you out a ton. For the kanji I use

You must be registered to see the links

, since kanji can mean different things based on the context this site helps me find the most appropriate meaning.

I also like to translate as I play since it helps me understand the context more.

 

[habisain]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

In terms of looking up individual kanji, I'd strongly recommend Rikaichan (Firefox extension)/Rikaikun (Chrome extension) if you're working with RPGMaker Trans or other patch based translation tools; you can load up the patch files in the web browser (as they're just text files) and you have a point-and-lookup functionality. Rikaichan/kun are less useful if you don't have the things to translate in text files, obviously.

 

[asestado]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

Things are always the same:

-First you will use a lot the machine translator that you have. You will edit what it gives and if its too strange you will try to improve it.

-Second you will start to learn by translating and get some meanings. Its quite possible that you will start to use less the translator or at least you will translate faster.

-Third you will continue to improve, find some challenges within the text... until it becomes quite easy to translate some sentences by yourself.

-Fourth you will try to not use the translator.

The first step is the hardest of all. You feel lost or that you dont get it, however in time and by practise you will start to understand, there are games that are easier than others to start, or if you want to be kamikaze take one of the hardest games to translate.

Be aware on one thing, its quite possible that the first game translation that you do will be of low quality so dont worry, its normal.

If you want to learn a lot and faster... i would recommend that you take a game already translated to english and try to translate it yourself, you will learn from your mistakes a lot, however the game should be translated by a GOOD translator with the highest quality possible, the best option is to find a game with an official translation and use it as a base.

 

[Yugifan3]

Re: Translation Help/Dilemma

If you get stuck in Rgg Maker VX Ace or can't find something, feel free to PM me. Ive helped translators in the past and i try to answer any/all PM's i get and help out if i can. : )