Translations (JP to English)

[AkiRouscelia]

That artwork is from the Final Fantasy 25th anniversary collectors pack, it's inside the book "Crystal Works". The Artwork itself has "Free Companies" written at the bottom but in that image it's half cut off.

[HiirNoivl]

Holy FreeCOM Chocobo Barding Batman!!! Flags and everything...? *swoon* Please don't over promise and under deliver, SE, but please say it's true!

[AkiRouscelia]

If you made any attempt to read my post I said below the image is a caption with the title "Free Companies". I actually own the set in which this came.

[Warlock]

If you made any attempt to read my post I said below the image is a caption with the title "Free Companies". I actually own the set in which this came.

well then post a better pic of it some professional scanning and stuff

edit: when is the nico show gonna start?

[Warlock]

well then post a better pic of it some professional scanning and stuff

edit: when is the nico show gonna start?

Any news from the Niconico? O.o anyone watching it? or something!

[Elexia]

Any news from the Niconico? O.o anyone watching it? or something!

You're not going to see or hear anything for another 7 hours.

[Reinheart]

They do have commas and periods and used the same way, but their sentence structure is different from English.
It's sometimes backwards, like for example "Is anyone selling potion?" would be written "potion selling anyone?" ポーションを売ってる人いませんか？ So when translating stuff like this I have to read through the whole stuff first then translate.

For stuff like live translations I tried in the past for the Producer Letter Live, this was the part that always slowed me down since I have to listen to the whole thing before I start... but by that time they are already onto the next topic/question. I could translate as is but like above example, it's going to be backwards which may cause people get confused even more.

---
VoltaAsura's post above is better example.

[Psion]

As far as localizing your translations goes, I would recommend reading books. Lots and LOTS of books, especially ones that deal in fantasy and science fiction. The reason why is because the whole point of science fiction and fantasy genres is to tell a good tale, using your words to captivate and paint a canvass in the reader's mind. If you can't do that, your book is sunk. :P

As you read a lot, you tend to start noticing how different authors write in different styles, and you might find yourself mimicking some of them in your own writing. (this is a good thing.) Even if you don't, when you go to write an essay or whatever, you have a very large depository of words, phrases, metaphors, and imagery to pull from and use in your own writing. I've been reading since a very young age, yet I've never struggled to write a compelling essay in my English classes (despite no planning and just writing it the night before a 5-10 page essay is due XD ), managing to pull off an A in almost all of them. It's not due to special talent in writing; it's simply from reading so often that I can pull off repeating the point for emphasis in an essay while finding a hundred different ways of phasing it to keep it fresh.

Pretty much, to be a good writer you must first be a good reader! And I'd advise staying away from historical texts and other "dry" forms of writing unless you must, as such works primary purpose is to inform, not entertain. Sadly for them and the rest of us, most such texts don't realize the best way to do the former is to use the latter.

[Rustyhagun]

Nico is starting.

http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv119347878

[mbncd]

Nico is starting.

http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv119347878

Ugh, it seems to require paid premium membership ~_~ Please fill us in afterwards Reiny!