Welcome to !translators@lemmy.ca!
This is a community for all things translation. Whether you need help translating a phrase, want to practice your language skills, or seek feedback on your work, you’ve come to the right place.
How to Participate
Need a translation? Post your request with the original text, target language, and any context. Our polyglot community is here to help!
Want to practice? Share your translations and ask for reviews. Constructive feedback is always welcome.
Offering help? Browse requests and contribute your expertise. Please only translate into your native or fluent languages.
■ Rules & Guidelines
★ Be clear and specific: Include the source language, target language, and context for accurate translations.
★ No machine translations: Human translations only—this is a space for learning and collaboration.
★ Respect others: Keep discussions civil and supportive.
★ No spam or low-effort posts: Avoid repetitive or overly simple requests (e.g., single words).
★ Use tags to in the post title to clarify the language pairs: Use the two-letter ISO language code. e.g. [ja > en] This tag means that the poster is requesting to have Japanese text translated into English.
■ Tips for Quality Translations
★ Provide context (e.g., formal/informal tone, audience).
★ Mention any specific challenges or nuances.
Let’s build a helpful and inclusive space for language lovers!
Note: this is an example of a translation request.
Per the title, what does this tattoo say?
Note: this is an example of how to respond to a translation request.
It's supposed to be 武神 — bushin; warrior god or god of martial arts. It should be noted that the characters are mirrored so be sure to find a tattoo artist who knows how to read Chinese characters.
At least it doesn't say... well, any number of things it could say.
This guy translates tattoos for people:
Ooh nice, thanks for the link. Looks like they haven't updated in years. Time for the community to fill the niche!
I wondered why I was having so much trouble with it, i thought it was a made up "just make it look japanese" thing. Yes its mirrored as k0e3 says.
As someone who has been asked for kanji tattoo advice for decades, pre Internet, its ok to draw inspiration from this picture for the design but then you check the text in a dictionary, draw up the tattoo pattern and these days check with knowledgeable people online on the final design. AND whatever else you need to do with the artist. I don't have any tattoos or piercings, I can't speak to that side.
"DUDE."
What's mine say?
I should mention anybody is free to add more context. But don't trash the tattoos so much lol
Also, please point out any mistakes a translator might make, but remember to be respectful!
RESPECT?!?!? Are you fu...
Oh, wait. I forgot that this isn't Reddit. Sorry about that. Thank you for taking the time to demonstrate, and apologies for old habits dying hard.
Yeah, I get what you mean!
Sometimes, I go back out of habit and people are just annoying there and it's as if even the posts are made specifically to piss me off lol
Enough bitching about Reddit, though, wanna try to keep positive vibes here.
Thanks for participating!
Neat, I support this effort big time.
I was so paranoid when I got my memorial tattoo done.. it’s in Latin, and my Latin is not awesome.. I did weeks of research and was very confident I had it right, so I had my prof take a look and somehow I did indeed get it right, yay!
I was paranoid because my first tattoo was supposed to say one thing in Japanese, had the right character on the stencil and everything, and the artist fucked it up figuring I wouldn’t notice, and it’s not a word at all. Thankfully it’s covered unless I’m naked, and nobody who has seen me naked can read Japanese..
Unfortunately I’m so rusty on all my languages I won’t be much help, but I’m for sure gunna lurk!