The following content is translated from Chinese source by machine translation without post-editing.
With the acceleration of globalization, cross-cultural communication has become increasingly important. Especially in recent years, online novels and comics, as important components of digital culture or pan entertainment, have become the focus of attention for readers and audiences worldwide. As a translation company, how to provide high-quality translation services and meet the needs of different languages when dealing with such works has become an undeniable challenge.
1、 Background of customer project requirements
This customer is a leading Internet company in China. It has cultural platforms such as comics and online texts. In the process of globalization, it attaches great importance to content distribution and cultural communication, aiming to enhance user experience and enhance market competitiveness through high-quality translation and localization strategies.
Online articles are delivered weekly, including manual and MTPE parts. Manga is a full process work, including character extraction, text and image organization, translation, proofreading, QA, and typesetting.
2、 Specific cases
1. Online article (taking Chinese to Indonesian online article as an example)
1.1 Project Overview
Complete at least 1 million words per week, deliver in batches, and involve around 8 books per week. A small number of people use MTPE, while the majority use MTPE. Require the translation to be authentic, fluent, and without any visible traces of translation.
1.2 Project Difficulties:
Require native language proficiency, with limited resources but a heavy workload and tight budget.
The customer has very high requirements for the translation, even for the MTPE part, they hope that the language of the translation is beautiful, smooth, fluent, and can maintain the original flavor. Translation should not simply refer to the original text word for word, but should be localized according to the customs and habits of the target language country. In addition, when the original content is lengthy, it is necessary to integrate and paraphrase the translation to ensure accurate communication of information.
There are many original terms in the novel, and there are some fictional worlds, place names, or new words created on the internet, such as Xianxia dramas. When translating, it is necessary to maintain novelty while making it easy for the target readers to understand.
The number of books and chapters involved each week is large, with a large number of participants, and they need to be delivered in batches, making project management difficult.
1.3 Tang Neng Translation’s Response Plan
Recruit suitable resources locally in Indonesia through various channels, and establish mechanisms for translator admission, assessment, use, and exit.
Training runs through the entire project production cycle. We arrange translation training every week, including analyzing guidelines, sharing excellent localized translation cases, inviting outstanding translators to share translation experience, and providing training on key issues raised by customers, aiming to improve translators’ localization translation consensus and level.
For new styles or genres of novels, we use brainstorming to have translators cross check the translation of terminology. For some controversial or unconfirmed terms, everyone can discuss together and seek the best solution.
Conduct spot checks on the MTPE section to ensure that the translated text meets customer requirements.
Adopting a group management system, a group is established for each book, with the person in charge of sampling the book serving as the group leader. The team leader records the progress of tasks in real time according to the schedule formulated by the project manager, and synchronously shares the latest project updates. The project manager is responsible for overall management of all projects, conducting regular inspections and supervision to ensure the smooth completion of all tasks.
2 Comics (Taking Chinese to Japanese Comics as an Example)
2.1 Project Overview
Translate over 100 episodes and approximately 6 comics per week. All translations are done manually, and the client only provides JPG format images of the original text. The final delivery will be in Japanese JPG format images. Require the translation to be natural and fluent, reaching the level of original Japanese anime.
2.2 Project Difficulties
The guidelines have many requirements, including punctuation in full width format, handling onomatopoeic words, expressing inner os, and handling sentence breaks. It is difficult for translators to fully memorize these contents in a short period of time.
Due to the final need to embed the translation into a bubble box, there is a certain limit on the number of characters in the translation, which increases the difficulty of the translation.
The difficulty of terminology standardization is high because the client only provides original images, and if we only provide translated monolingual versions, it is difficult to check consistency.
The difficulty of image layout is high, and adjustments need to be made based on the original image, including the size of bubble boxes and the setting of special fonts.
2.3 Tang Neng Translation’s Response Plan
Equipped with a dedicated Japanese project manager, responsible for comprehensive quality control of submitted translation files.
In order to facilitate the consistency check of terminology, we have added a step of extracting the original text from the original image, forming a bilingual source document with both text and images, and providing it to translators. Although this may increase costs, it is essential to ensure consistency in terminology.
Tang Neng’s project manager first extracted the key content from the guide and provided training to all translators involved in the project to ensure a clear understanding of the key points.
The project manager will develop a checklist according to the guidelines to promptly identify and supplement any deficiencies. For some regulated content, small tools can be developed for auxiliary inspection to improve work efficiency.
Throughout the entire project execution cycle, the project manager will promptly summarize the problems that arise and provide centralized training to the translators. At the same time, these issues will also be documented so that newly added translators can quickly and accurately understand the relevant specifications. In addition, the project manager will also communicate customer feedback in real-time to the translator, ensuring that the translator better understands customer needs and can make timely adjustments to the translation.
Regarding the text limitation, we first asked our technicians to provide a reference for the character limit based on the bubble box size in advance, in order to reduce subsequent rework.
3、 Other precautions
1. Language style and emotional expression
Online articles and comics usually have strong personalized language styles and emotional expressions, and when translating, it is necessary to preserve the emotional color and tone of the original text as much as possible.
2. The challenge of serialization and updates
Both online articles and comics are serialized, which requires consistency in every translation. We ensure the efficiency and consistency of translation style by maintaining the stability of our team members and utilizing translation memory and terminology databases.
3. Internet slang
Online literature and comics often contain a large number of internet slang. In the translation process, we need to search for expressions in the target language that have the same meaning. If you really can’t find a suitable corresponding vocabulary, you can keep the original form of online language and attach annotations for explanation.
4、 Practice Summary
Since 2021, we have successfully translated over 100 novels and 60 comics, with a total word count exceeding 200 million words. These projects involve personnel such as translators, proofreaders, and project managers, with a total of up to 100 people and an average monthly output of over 8 million words. Our translation content mainly covers themes such as love, campus, and fantasy, and has received good feedback in the target international reader market.
The translation of online novels and comics is not only about language conversion, but also a cultural bridge. As a translation service provider, our goal is to accurately and smoothly convey the rich connotations in the source language to the readers of the target language. In this process, a deep understanding of cultural background, proficient use of existing tools or development of new tools, attention to details, and maintaining efficient teamwork are all key factors in ensuring translation quality.
Through years of practice, Tang Neng has accumulated rich experience and developed a comprehensive translation and localization process. We not only continuously optimize our technology, but also improve our team management and quality control. Our success is not only reflected in the number of completed projects and word count, but also in the high recognition of our translated works by readers. We believe that through continuous efforts and innovation, we can provide better cultural content for global readers and promote communication and understanding between different cultures.
Post time: Jun-25-2025