Produces literary translations of English fiction that read as if originally written in
the target language. The goal is not fidelity to the source sentence — it is fidelity
to the source *experience*.

## Key Points

1. **Calqued syntax** — Carrying English sentence structure into the target language.
2. **False cognates & literal idiom** — Translating `"it was raining cats and dogs"` as
3. **Register mismatch** — The target-language word is denotatively correct but sits in
4. **Source-language rhythm carried over** — English prose has a particular cadence.
5. **Cultural placeholders** — References, metaphors, and assumptions that are invisible
6. **Invisible grammar** — Every language has constructions that native writers use
7. **The narrator's nationality** — Good translators don't just translate words — they
- The text to translate
- The target language (and regional variant if relevant — Mexican Spanish vs. Castilian;
- Genre and tone (literary fiction, thriller, romance, fantasy, etc.)
- The author's narrative register (spare/Hemingwayesque, lush/Proustian, conversational,
- Target reader — who will read this translation? (general adult, literary audience,

Novel Translate Skill

Produces literary translations of English fiction that read as if originally written in the target language. The goal is not fidelity to the source sentence — it is fidelity to the source experience.

The feeling you get when you can tell a book is translated has a name: translationese. This skill is built entirely around identifying and eliminating it.

---

What Makes a Translation Feel Like a Translation

Before translating a single word, understand what you are fighting:

Translationese is a register that belongs to no language — it is the ghost of the source language haunting the target. Readers feel it as a slight wrongness: sentences that are grammatically correct but rhythmically off; idioms that are technically accurate but nobody would say; a narrative voice that is slightly too formal, too literal, too flat.

The seven sources of translationese:

1. Calqued syntax — Carrying English sentence structure into the target language. English is Subject-Verb-Object dominant. Many languages aren't. Force the source syntax on the target and every sentence has the faint smell of somewhere else.

2. False cognates & literal idiom — Translating "it was raining cats and dogs" as cats and dogs. Or choosing a cognate because it looks right when the real word a native writer would use is completely different.

3. Register mismatch — The target-language word is denotatively correct but sits in the wrong social register: too formal for casual dialogue, too literary for a tough character, too colloquial for a solemn scene.

4. Source-language rhythm carried over — English prose has a particular cadence. Translated directly, it imposes English musicality on a language that has its own. French prose breathes differently. Japanese sentences resolve differently. Spanish can sustain a clause longer than English usually does.

5. Cultural placeholders — References, metaphors, and assumptions that are invisible in English (because they're culturally embedded) become opaque or jarring in translation.

6. Invisible grammar — Every language has constructions that native writers use instinctively and that translators forget: the imperfect vs. preterite in Spanish, the narrative present in French, the topic-comment structure in Japanese, the subjunctive in German. Miss these and the text reads as written by a foreigner.

7. The narrator's nationality — Good translators don't just translate words — they re-voice the narrator. The narrator needs to sound like a native speaker of the target language who is telling this story, not like someone who read it in English first.

---

Step 0 — Gather Inputs

Before translating, collect:

Required

• The text to translate
• The target language (and regional variant if relevant — Mexican Spanish vs. Castilian; Brazilian Portuguese vs. European; Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese; etc.)

Important

• Genre and tone (literary fiction, thriller, romance, fantasy, etc.)
• The author's narrative register (spare/Hemingwayesque, lush/Proustian, conversational, elevated, fragmented, etc.)
• Target reader — who will read this translation? (general adult, literary audience, young adult, etc.)

Helpful

• Any existing translated pages for style reference
• Author's nationality / cultural context (affects which cultural references need adaptation)
• Any terms, names, or references the user wants kept in English

Then: Load the language-specific reference file before translating a single line.

---

Step 1 — Load the Language Reference

Each supported language has a dedicated reference file covering its specific grammar traps, idiomatic registers, rhythm patterns, invisible grammar rules, and cultural adaptation needs.

Language	Reference File	Section
Spanish (ES/LATAM)	references/lang-es.md	Full file
French	references/lang-fr.md	Full file
German	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# GERMAN (DE)
Italian	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# ITALIAN (IT)
Portuguese (PT/BR)	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# PORTUGUESE (PT/BR)
Japanese	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# JAPANESE (JA)
Mandarin Chinese	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# MANDARIN CHINESE (ZH)
Russian	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# RUSSIAN (RU)
Arabic	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# ARABIC (AR)
Korean	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# KOREAN (KO)
Dutch	references/lang-de-it-pt-ja-zh-ru-ar-ko.md	# DUTCH (NL)

For a language not listed: apply the universal principles in this SKILL.md and the methodology in references/universal-literary-craft.md.

---

Step 2 — Analyze Before Translating

For any passage longer than one paragraph, perform a brief analysis pass before writing the translation. Do not skip this step.

2a — Voice Analysis

What is the narrator's register? Identify:

• Formality level: colloquial / conversational / neutral / literary / elevated
• Narrative distance: close third-person / omniscient / first-person intimate / detached
• Rhythm pattern: short punchy sentences / long flowing periods / mixed / fragmented
• Emotional temperature: cool and restrained / warm / ironic / lyrical / brutal
• Vocabulary register: plain / precise / ornate / slang-heavy / period-specific

2b — Cultural & Reference Scan

Read through the passage and flag:

• Idioms that cannot be carried literally
• Cultural references that may not translate (place names used metaphorically, brand names used generically, culturally-specific institutions)
• Humor that relies on English wordplay or phrasing
• Names and their connotations (a character named "Grace" carries meaning; translate the resonance, not necessarily the word)
• Measurements, dates, formats (imperial vs metric; date formats; currency)

2c — Syntax Pattern Map

Note the source text's dominant sentence patterns — then consciously depart from them in the target language. If the English is relentlessly SVO, let the target language move. If the English has short staccato sentences, find the equivalent rhythm in the target language — which may use different structural tools to achieve the same effect.

---

Step 3 — Translate

The Prime Directive

Translate the effect, not the sentence.

For every unit of text, ask: What does this do to the reader? Then ask: What would a native author writing in [target language] write to achieve that same effect?

The answer is almost never a word-for-word rendering.

The Three-Pass Method

Pass 1 — Meaning Draft Translate for complete semantic accuracy. Get everything the source says onto the page in the target language. Don't worry about style yet. This pass catches omissions and mistranslations.

Pass 2 — Naturalization Pass Go through the meaning draft and remove every trace of English syntax, idiom, and rhythm. For each sentence ask:

• Would a native author write it this way?
• Does this phrase/construction belong to the target language, or is it calqued from English?
• Is the register correct for this character, this scene, this narrator?
• Does the sentence flow correctly in the target language's own musicality?

Rewrite any sentence that fails these questions — not adjust, rewrite.

Pass 3 — Voice Pass Read the translation aloud (or in your internal voice) in the target language.

• Does the narrator sound like a native speaker of this language telling this story?
• Does each character's dialogue voice remain distinct?
• Does the prose rhythm match the author's original rhythm — achieved through the target language's own tools, not English tools?
• Is there a single sentence that feels foreign? Fix it.

Dialogue Translation

Dialogue is where translationese is most obvious and most damaging — readers hear it.

Rules for dialogue:

• Match the social register of the character, not the literal words. A working-class character should sound working-class in the target language, using that language's specific class markers — not English working-class speech translated directly.
• Contractions and elisions: every spoken language has them. Use the target language's oral contractions even if they're non-standard in written form.
• Speech rhythm: a character who speaks in fragments in English should speak in fragments in the target language — but using that language's natural fragmentation patterns.
• Swearing and profanity: translate the force, not the word. The strongest swear word in the target language for this register — not a cognate or a literal equivalent.
• Terms of address: these are deeply cultural. Who says tu vs vous? Who uses surname? Who uses given name? Get this wrong and social relationships collapse.

Prose Rhythm & Sentence Structure

This is the hardest thing to get right and the most noticeable when wrong.

Each language has its own way of creating momentum, suspense, and breath in prose. Do not impose English patterns. Instead:

• Identify what the English sentence is doing rhythmically (building, landing, hanging, rushing, pausing)
• Find the target language's natural way of doing the same thing
• This may require: reordering clauses, splitting sentences, joining sentences, changing the position of verbs, using subordination the English doesn't have, or dropping connectives the English uses explicitly

See the language reference file for language-specific rhythm guidance.

Cultural Adaptation vs. Foreignization

For every cultural reference, choose one of three strategies:

1. Domestication — Replace with an equivalent from the target culture. Best for: humor, idiom, colloquial reference, anything where the foreign texture would confuse without enriching.

2. Foreignization — Keep the English/American reference, possibly with light context. Best for: references that are central to the story's American/English character; references the target-language reader likely knows; moments where the "foreignness" is itself meaningful.

3. Neutralization — Replace with a universal/generic version. Best for: brand names used generically, cultural institutions with no equivalent, references that would require too much explanation to land.

Document which strategy you used for significant choices — the user may have preferences.

Untranslatable Elements

Some things cannot be translated — they can only be re-created:

• Wordplay and puns: find a pun that works in the target language in the same structural position. The specific words can change; the effect (the groan, the delight, the layered meaning) must be preserved.
• Sound effects: onomatopoeia is language-specific. Use the target language's own sound words.
• Proper names with meaning: when a character's name carries meaning in English, decide whether to translate the meaning, keep the name, or find a target-language name that carries equivalent resonance.
• Verse, songs, poetry within the prose: these need to be re-written as poetry in the target language — not translated as prose.

---

Step 4 — Self-Audit

After completing the translation, run the Translationese Audit before delivering.

Read references/universal-literary-craft.md for the full audit checklist.

Quick checklist:

• No sentence reads as if it was written in English first
• Every dialogue line sounds like a native speaker of the target language
• Idioms are in the target language — not translated English idioms
• Register is consistent and correct for each character and narrator
• Rhythm and sentence length variation is achieved through the target language's own structural tools
• Cultural references have been handled with a deliberate strategy
• Invisible grammar is correct (tense systems, aspect, mood, register markers)
• The narrator sounds like a native author, not a translator

---

Step 5 — Deliver with Translation Notes

For significant translation choices, append a brief Translator's Note section so the user understands the decisions made:

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

[Page/paragraph reference]
ORIGINAL: "She had that look — like she'd been rode hard and put away wet."
STRATEGY: Domestication
TRANSLATED EQUIVALENT: [the target-language equivalent idiom for exhausted/mistreated]
NOTE: The English idiom is from American horsemanship culture. No direct equivalent
exists in [target language]. Used [equivalent idiom] which carries the same register
(rural, physical, slightly contemptuous) and the same meaning.

[Page/paragraph reference]
ORIGINAL: The chapter title "Something Wicked This Way Comes"
STRATEGY: Foreignization with modification
NOTE: Kept the Shakespearean reference visible in the translation as [target equivalent]
— the literary allusion is central to the novel's tone.

Only note choices that were genuinely difficult or where the user might disagree. Don't document every word — just the interesting decisions.

---

Handling Long Novels

For full novels or long texts, work in chapter units:

1. Analyze the full chapter before translating (Step 2 for the whole chapter)
2. Translate in scene-sized sections
3. After each chapter, do a consistency check:
   • Character voice consistency across the chapter
   • Terminology consistency (character names, place names, recurring phrases)
   • Register consistency (narrator hasn't drifted)
4. Maintain a Translation Glossary — a running list of key terms, names, and recurring phrases with their established translations. Share with the user so they can review and correct before proceeding.

Translation Glossary Format

TRANSLATION GLOSSARY — [Title]
Target language: [Language]

CHARACTERS
  [English name] → [Translated/kept name] | Notes: [any decisions]

KEY TERMS & RECURRING PHRASES
  [English] → [Target] | Context: [when/how used]

PLACE NAMES
  [English] → [Target/kept] | Strategy: [domesticated/foreignized/neutralized]

CULTURAL REFERENCES ESTABLISHED
  [Reference] → [Strategy used] → [Target equivalent if domesticated]

---

Quality Standard

The translation is done when a native speaker of the target language, reading it without knowing it was translated from English, would not suspect it was a translation.

That is the only standard that matters.