Linguistic Resources for Translators

froggie1o1 · July 3, 2024, 7:10pm

Are you ready to elevate your translation skills on Roblox?

The following style guides and glossary offer linguistic guidance for producing accurate and fun translations for Roblox experiences. They’ll help you keep terminology and style consistent with the platform and offer handy tips on dealing with “DNTs” (Do Not Translate) like tags and usernames.

General Translation Guidance

Addressing users

The tone and voice used in experiences should generally be casual and conversational. No need for formalities.

Usernames (DNT)

Usernames, just like the IRL, should not be translated. Usernames are often easy to detect, especially when they are prefaced with an @ sign, e.g. @builderman.

Tags (DNT)

You may come across tags in curly brackets while translating experience strings. Most often, they represent a number, e.g. {number1}, or a player, e.g. {player1}, {Player_Name} or {Display_Name}.
Do not translate the contents of the tags, for example:
EN: You earned {number1} rewards.
DE: Du hast {number1} Belohnungen erhalten.
A string may have multiple tags in them. Note that the order may change in your translation, e.g. for dates:
EN using US date format MM/DD/YYYY:
A new reward unlocks in {number1}/{number2}/{number3}.
DE using German date format DD.MM.YYYY:
Eine neue Belohnung gibt’s am {number2}.{number1}.{number3}.

Consistency

Key terminology, such avatar, Robux, and inventory should be used consistently to make it easier for the users to follow. Avoid the use of synonyms for essential Roblox terms.

Context

As you know, one word can have many different meanings. Consider the context before deciding on a translation, e.g. does the term apply more likely refer to a job application or UI button? Feel free to ask the developer if you’re unsure.

Language Specific Style Guides

For the time being, we offer language specific guidance for German, Japanese and Thai. More languages to follow.

German

Use informal du to address the user. Wir sind doch unter uns
Avoid literal translations. We want to convey concepts, not words. Sometimes, it’s better to take a step back to make a translation sound natural. Which translation would you pick for the last man standing – der letzte stehende Mann or der letzte Überlebende? Or maybe you have an even better idea. Feel free to share in comments.
Stick to German punctuation and letter case. English title case capitalization does not apply in German, for example:
EN: The Little Prince
DE: Der kleine Prinz
Texts that are written in ALL CAPS, on the other hand, should be reflected in the translation, for example:
EN: YOUR AVATAR
DE: DEIN AVATAR
Keep it short - German text is usually longer than its English counterpart and takes up more space. This can lead to truncations, i.e. cut-off or overlapping texts in the UI.
Look it up! The Duden, for example, is an excellent reference for spelling and grammar.

Japanese

Dialogs - Use casual language. Match the style with the character’s personality, age and gender. Pronouns should change based on the character’s personality.
Instructions, systems messages, disclaimers should generally be in polite form. Taigendome can be used to match any style.
Experience description - Try to use consistent style throughout the description. (Do not mix casual and Teineigo. Use Taigendome as needed.)
Try to be concise and write in short phrases for in-experience directions such as Click here or back as these phrases could be buttons and cannot be too long.

Thai

Always omit the period (.)
Keep “!” and “?” the same as the source.
Place one space after a repetition mark (ๆ), such as in รายการอื่นๆ อีกมากมาย
When handling placeholders {number1} that will be replaced with Thai text, you don’t need to include spaces before and after the placeholder. However, if the placeholder’s value might be a number or English text, or if you’re uncertain about its value, it’s advisable to include a space before and after it to avoid grammatical issues.
- Example:
  EN: You have {number} items
  TH: คุณมีไอเท็ม {number} ชิ้น
For dialogues, use informal language reflecting the character’s personality and context. Match the tone to the character’s role.
- Example: Casual for friends
  สวัสดี, สบายดีไหม, ฉัน, เธอ
- Example: Use polite expressions for senior or authoritative figures
  สวัสดีค่ะ/ครับ, สบายดีไหมค่ะ/ครับ, ผม/ดิฉัน, คุณ
For Instruction or system message, use formal, clear and concise language.
- Example:
  EN: Please select your items
  TH: โปรดเลือกไอเท็มของคุณ
When handling a question sentence, ensure that the Thai translation is also phrased as a question.
If applicable, ensure your sentence shows the appropriate tense or action required for the translation.
Please translate (แปลภาษา) or transliterate (ทับศัพท์) as much as possible; avoid leaving text in English unless it’s DNT (Do Not Translate) or a proper name that should remain in English such as Roblox, Robux.
- Example: translate or transliterate words like lobby (ล็อบบี้), teleport (เทเลพอร์ต), device (อุปกรณ์), event (กิจกรรม), code (รหัส), quest (ภารกิจ)
Please refer to the platform’s translation when available as a spelling guideline to maintain consistency.

Glossary

Follow the glossary to ensure consistency with key Roblox terminology.

English	Description	German	Japanese	Thai
experience	a creation on Roblox that users can visit, game	Erlebnis	バーチャル空間	ประสบการณ์
Robux	the virtual currency of Roblox	Robux	Robux	Robux
avatar	a visual representation of the user used in games and social features	Avatar	アバター	อวาตาร์
inventory	a place that holds avatar items	Inventar	持ち物	คลังไอเท็ม
friend	a designation that allows additional interaction between two users	Freund, Freundin	友達	เพื่อน
creator	a community member that creates on Roblox	Creator, Creatorin	クリエーター	ครีเอเตอร์
Obby	obstacle course	Obby	障害物アスレ	อ็อบบี้
item	an individual article (for avatars, on the marketplace…)	Artikel	アイテム	ไอเท็ม

For information on Roblox localization tools, check out Tips and Tricks for Translators.

Thank you, and happy translating!

0Tenth · July 3, 2024, 7:11pm

This will help improve consistency with Roblox vocabulary and terms across the platform, and will also help games improve their translation quality!

Darkvsx · July 8, 2024, 7:28pm

Fairly sure almost no one hire translators in favor of the automatic translation system
(which is quite notorious for being inaccurate)

However this guide is fairly basic and cover what a beginner in translating on roblox should knows.

Yuuwa0519 · July 30, 2024, 5:36pm

Thank you for the great resources!
As a translator, I often find myself having to take a little longer when deciding on how to translate certain terms like inventory which are omnipresent in games, due to the inconsistency of the translation across the platform (Some say インベントリ, others say 持ち物, or even バッグ), so an official guideline for these common terms is much appreciated!

However, from what I have observed when I see Japanese players, they seem to adopt the English names like Obby as 「オビー」(also commonly, 「アスレ」), and friend as 「フレンド」, while terms like creator is often said 「開発者」(or informaly, 「鯖主」). I am not saying that the guideline is wrong, but I think it would be interesting if these already widely used terms are also considered too!

BuilderBird_Dev · August 16, 2024, 2:50pm

As a Korean, I am leaving some tips for translating into Korean. Since I am not a translation or language expert, the content may be lacking.

Korean Specific Style Guides :

Korean has honorifics. When writing or speaking to someone who is of higher status, older, or requires respect and courtesy, it’s important to use honorific language. If you start with honorifics, it’s best to continue using them throughout the conversation.
For example, when guiding a player through the game system, translate the content using honorific language.
On the other hand, for the dialogue of a rude and hostile NPC, translate it using informal language.
If you’re unsure about what constitutes honorific language, it’s recommended to ask the AI chatbot you’re using. Even native Korean speakers find honorifics challenging. However, a simple tip is that if a sentence ends with “다” or “요”, it is likely to be in honorific form.

There are multiple styles of honorific and polite speech in Korean. Unless there’s a special reason, it’s recommended to maintain the same style from beginning to end.
If you start translating sentences to end with “다,” continue to end them with “다.”
The same applies to endings like “요” and “야”.
If you start translating “You” as “너” or “네가”. continue to use those forms.
If you start translating “You” as “당신”. stick with “당신”. The same rule applies to other words as well.

Korea is very accustomed to English. For short words (e.g., Start, Reset, Play), it’s often more natural to leave them untranslated or to transliterate them as they are pronounced. Since there are many words in Korean that share the same meaning as their English counterparts but have different nuances, If you are not so good at korean, it’s better to let Korean players interpret short words on their own. Or, ask your Korean friend or a chatbot AI for an accurate translation along with a description of the situation.

Glossary :

experience = 체험 (But I recommend not translating it if it is single word.)
Robux = 로벅스 (transliterated; there is no direct translation in Korean.)
avatar = 아바타 (Transliterated. Transliterated is better then translated. direct translation = 화신)
inventory = 인벤토리 (Transliterated. Transliterated is better then translated. direct translation = 물품 목록)
friend = 친구
friends = 친구들
creator = 개발자
Obby = 점프맵 (The direct translation would be ‘장애물 코스’, but ‘jump map’, transliterated as ‘점프맵’, is more familiar to Koreans. It can also be translated as ‘파쿠르’, which is the transliterated term for ‘parkour’.)
item = 아이템 (Transliterated. Transliterated is better then translated. direct translation = 물품)

BuilderBird_Dev · October 27, 2024, 8:45am

Translating from Korean to English hard as translating English to Korean.
Korean is in the top 5 difficult languages to learn. Therefore, you will need more information for Korean translation.
If you know how to translate from Korean to English, I think it will also be helpful to translate from English to Korean.

First, let’s start with easiest one.
There are honorifics in Korean, but there are relatively few in English, so when translating Korean, which uses polite or informal speech, into English, the problem of polite speech is solved by simply changing it to English without much thought.
Of course, if you translate it into English, you will lose a lot of the feeling you were trying to express in Korean. But there are no translation problems.

Second, This is easy too.
Korean has a wide variety of expressions. For example, There are two words, “빨간” and “붉은”, which mean “red", and they are also “red” in korean too. RGB(255,0,0) thing.
However, “붉은” has a slightly different feeling from “빨간”. uhh… First, let me give you example, Koreans call soviet flags “붉은” and red apple “빨간”. “붉은” gives off a…communist feel.
Although I only used ‘붉은’ and ‘빨간’ as examples, there are many expressions in Korean that have the same meaning but different feelings.
But well… like the issue of honorifics, if you just translate it into English, most of the time it will be translated without a big translation problem. It’s just a difference in feeling. There are a lot of things that can’t be translated perfectly in the first place.

Third, idk is this hard or easy
In Korean, subject omission occurs a lot. As far as I know, I heard it’s the same in Spanish.
The problem is that humans can easily predict who the omitted subject is, but not Google translator.
If you just put ordinary Korean into Google translator, the translator will translate it into a strange subject. You have to add subjects to the Korean sentence in advance.
Conversely, when you translate English into Korean using Google translator, the result may look Google translated because the subject is not omitted. However, if you do not know Korean, do not freely omit the subject. Recruit a Korean friend or just leave it as is.