I have been working as a freelance English-to-Arabic translator since 2018. If you have a project, and want to hire me, then please get in touch.

Services I provide

I offer the following services:

  • Translation / Localization
  • Subtitling
  • Revision
  • Editing
  • Proofreading

When it comes to games, most translators talk about “game localization”. However, the distinction between “localization” and “translation” is not clear-cut. Therefore, and for the sake consistency, I only use the word “translation” to describe my services.

For games, translation can cover the game itself, manuals, official walkthroughs, marketing materials, and/or websites.

Revision entails comparing the Arabic translation with its source, and then writing up a report of anything noteworthy. This can include glaring errors, inaccuracies, omissions, and differences in register or tone. In contrast, editing and proofreading involves working with only the Arabic text, without reference to the source. 

In editing, the focus is on polishing the text by improving grammar, spelling, syntax, and style. Before embarking on the project, I need to gather as much context as possible to know what is the purpose of the text and its intended audience. Proofreading, on the other hand, is limited to finding and correcting mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Projects I accept

I mainly translate games, but I enjoy working on other kinds of projects, such as:

  • Literary texts (Novels, novellas, and short stories)
  • Movies and TV series
  • Technical texts about computer science and programming

My approach to translating games

I follow a specific approach when it comes to translation. I do not claim that it is unique to me, however, I believe that it is the only approach that guarantees success. Before outlining it, we need to agree on a couple of things. 

First, I believe that the ultimate purpose of video games is to entertain its intended audience, and all my decisions are considered with reference to this purpose. Second, for any project, I need to be given the freedom to do everything that in my perspective will lead towards achieving this goal. However, freedom does not mean no accountability, and all my decisions will always be justified by clear and detailed reasons. If you do not agree with any of those things, then you should look for another translator to translate your game.

And now we can turn to my approach. The backbone of it is gathering as much information as possible about your game, and taking ample time to study every aspect of it. Simply speaking, the more information I have, the less mistakes I will make. If you are the type of person who merely provide an Excel sheet to the translator, and expect him to produce a quality translation, then I am sorry to tell you that you came to the wrong person.

So, what do you need to provide me with? First, it depends on your release model. If it is post-gold, then a full access to the game will usually suffice. This is necessary in order to familiarize myself with the plot and game mechanics. However, if seeing all the text requires 15+ hours, then it is unreasonable to expect me to spend all these hours, and this is when a “localization kit” becomes necessary.

A localization kit is a collection of documents that includes information about the game. If you are adopting a sim-ship model, then it becomes a mandatory tool for translators. The kind of information it will have differs from game to game. For instance, in story-driven games, it might be an overview of the storyline, a list of characters, and so one. Of course it need not be a wiki, since in the end, I have full access to a large portion of the text.

On top of that, I need to be able to talk directly with your writing team, and I need to get all my questions answered at all times. If you check my resume, you will see that my job responsibilities does not include guessing. Therefore, I need to be sure of the meaning behind every sentence. That is it, there should be no ambiguities in the text, unless they are intentional.

Once I get all the information I need, we can start outlining the translation strategies that are going to be used. This is the time when we:

  • talk about concepts like foreignization, domestication, and adaptation (How much will the translation deviate from the original? Will it include Arabic cultural references? and so on),
  • decide what assets and materials need to be translated,
  • specify whether you are aiming for partial or full localization,
  • and decide if some aspects need to be changed, for instance, due to being offensive or incomprehensible to Arabic gamers.

For some games, the answers are straightforward, but for others, they might not be so clear. And although I mentioned the word “discuss” a few times, please keep in mind that I have the final say when it comes to any decision that has to do with translation.

Finally, I will start translating your game. How straightforward the process will be depends on many factors, but for the majority of games, there will be a portion that requires a process more akin to rewriting than translation. This applies particularly to names, dialogues, and passages featuring humor or puns.

Case studies

If want to know more about the way I translate games, then you might be interested in giving the following articles a look, where I discuss some games I have worked on and the decisions I made:

References

Is this the first time you consider translating your game into Arabic? Then the following articles might be of interest to you. They will help you familiarize yourself with Arabic and the challenges associated with translating into it.

  • Arabic Culture: A Myth? (not published yet)
    • The word “culturalization” is becoming a catchphrase these days, but is there such a thing as a shared “Arabic culture”?
  • Translating Terminology into Arabic
    • How does the lack of Arabic content on the internet affect the translation of item’s name such as weapons.
  • What Variation of Arabic Should Characters Speak in Games? (not published yet)
    • All languages have dialects, but Arabic is unique in that yhe variation that is understood by all Arabs (Modern Standered) exists only in books. This create a situation where spoken dialogues sounds archaic and simply does not feel real.
  • Arabic and Censorship (not published yet)
    • Why Arabic subtitles of movies and games (whether official or not) does not feature swear words, and other issues.