It’s fundamental to grasp your native language at a deeper level than any other so you can effectively communicate what the original text says
Video game localization isn’t an easy job, be it due to the nature of the job itself —translating something without seeing the whole picture, because it doesn’t exist yet — or due to the nature of the field — video game development is always kinda chaotic — so you have to be a well-rounded translator.
Bear in mind, though, that you don’t have to be the best translator, but you have to have a general knowledge about many things, you have to be consistent with your quality, and you have to thoroughly master your most basic tool: language.
Even beyond that, video game localization requires a skillset that goes between technical and literary translation because, in the end, it’s both fields meeting in a common ground. Again: you don’t have to be the best at both, but you have to know what you are doing and you have to be consistent with what you do. So more often than not, I complain that many people want to get into the industry but lack mastery over the literary aspect.
That means they can’t write consistently well in their native language.
It doesn’t mean people don’t know how to write, but that they can’t keep a consistent quality with their work, or that they don’t understand the feedback given unless it delves into basic things about linguistics and styling that a translator should already know. It ends up being easier to teach a literary translator about the technical aspects of the job than to teach a technical translator about the literary ones.
And this is another thing I often complain about: translation is not only about understanding the source language, but also knowing the target one intimately well. Just being a native speaker doesn’t mean one understands how the language works at a deeper level. It would be like someone who only drives cars with automatic transmission thinking they know how to drive one with manual transmission: both require pressing the gas pedal to move the car forward, but the latter requires knowing how to use the clutch and transmission to make the car move.
It’s my (personal) belief that being a good translator means re-learning a lot about how one’s language works.
Anyway, I posted a bit about this on cohost, but talking about “creative writing”, and someone asked me what they could do to get better at writing in their native language. I gave it some thought and wrote an answer.
Fair warning: I’m not a teacher, nor a professor, nor a coach, or anything like that. Everything I say is based on my own experience, based on how I deal with the challenges of the job. This isn’t class or homework, but I hope people find this information useful.
So, here’s what I said:
It’s hard work. I mean, it’s not that hard, but as with everything regarding creativity, it requires practice to get good at doing it.
The first step, I would say, would be to study the grammar. In a lot of languages (Brazilian Portuguese included), the “everyday speech” is way different from the formal grammar rules, but to understand how the rules are broken, you have to first understand how they work. Then, things that seem random will start to make sense. You have to really learn something to be able to break it in an arbitrary manner that sounds “natural”.
Then, I would recommend reading lots of books in the target language. In most languages (again), the “classic novels” are the best for this, and not because they are “objectively better books” (they are not), but because the writers of so-called “high literature” are, usually, masters of bending the language at their will. One can learn a lot by reading how they write euphemisms and other figures of speech, or how they create new words, or analyzing why the structures they use sound this way or that way.
Also, learn expressions in the target language and compare them with the English ones. There’s rarely a direct translation for the expressions themselves but, usually, there are multiple ones that match their meaning. And the hardest job of creative translation is to keep the meaning of something while changing the words.
Participating in a creative writing course, or being part of a writing group, helps a lot too. However, the quality of the critique regarding your writing varies wildly. I would say that mean comments should be ignored. “Real critique” is someone explaining why they didn’t like something, instead of just saying it’s bad. If people offer ways to fix what you’ve written, ignore them too, unless you specifically requested this kind of feedback. Even so, take it with a grain of salt.
And last but not least, remember that language is a tool of trade, so you should do your best to learn to use it well and to refine some rough edges. Also, learn what your shortcomings are, try to develop a critical eye for your own writing. I, for example, am not that great at translating dialogues, so I always double-check what I do and how to proceed when working with this sort of text. On the other hand, I’m very good at translating UI elements and quests, but even so I still keep a watchful eye on what I do.
Over time, some things might get easier, but translation (and writing) is a job that always requires an active mind and full attention, it’s not possible to do it passively like some other jobs that rely on repetition. Never forget that, because it’s a common trap that a lot of experienced people fall into: “I’m now good enough, so I can work with my eyes closed”. Not really.
Anyway, I hope this is helpful in some way.
Keep in mind that I said “creative writing” because I do believe it helps exercise some of the mental muscles required to master a language, and I think it’s essential when a literary flair is required. After all, you are not copying words straight from a predefined glossary, but summoning them to create something new while trying to keep the original meaning as intact as possible.
That requires creativity and mastery of the language you’re writing.