translation-files/skills/translation-review/SKILL.md

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name: translation-review description: Review Chinese↔English translations for quality issues — terminology, grammar, consistency, formatting. Two workflows: CSV/XLSX batch review (write .dj suggestions) and .dj comparison line-by-line review (surgical patching).

Translation Review

Two workflows, used depending on input format.

Workflow A: CSV/XLSX batch review

Use when input is a CSV/XLSX with Chinese/English columns. Produces an edit-suggestions.dj file.

1. Get the data into CSV

If XLSX, export to CSV (or use openpyxl). CSV is faster.

2. Read the full file

Use read_file with offsets for complete coverage. Don't sample.

3. Write a systematic analysis script

Write to /tmp/script.py, run with python3 /tmp/script.py. No heredocs or -c.

The script should:

• Parse CSV with csv.DictReader
• Apply detection rules per category
• Collect issues: row number, CN text, EN text, problem, suggested fix
• Group/deduplicate identical issues

Common detection categories:

• Buddhist terminology: 正念→mindfulness (not "righteous thoughts"), 布施→generosity (not "alms")
• Identity terms: 学士/修士/胜士/智士 are practice stages, not titles
• Literal machine translations: "hard drive" for 硬盘 (endurance)
• 四摄法 terms: 同事→"acting in harmony", 爱语→"kind speech"
• Grammar: subject-verb agreement, unbalanced quotes
• Typos/formatting: Chinese punctuation in English, "IOS"→"iOS"
• Inconsistency: same CN term translated differently across rows

4. Write edit-suggestions.dj

Format:

# 1

original: <Chinese text or key term>
translated: <current English>

<Explanation and suggested fix.>

# 2
...

One entry per problem category, not per row. Mention affected row numbers.

Workflow B: .dj comparison file review

Use when input is a .dj comparison file (Chinese/English alternating line pairs). Produces translation-findings.dj and applies patches.

1. Read the full file

Use terminal: cat — read_file deduplicates within a session.

2. Scan for problems (ordered by severity)

Terms database drift (systematic):

• Cross-reference glossary terms against the MPI terms database
• HTTP API: http://localhost:8910/search?q=... (start: python3 /home/user/documents/mpi/terms-search/server.py &)
• Prefer DoT定稿 > 内部特色词 > 佛教术语 > 经论名
• Fix both glossary comments AND body text
• See references/terms-db-alignment.md for batch-lookup patterns

Real errors (affect meaning):

• Mistranslation of key terms
• Garbled/malformed source text
• Wrong proper names or technical terms

Inconsistency (confusing but not wrong):

• Terminology drift across file
• Numbering style chaos
• Grammatical voice/person shifts

Cleanup needed:

• Processing artifacts (HTML comments, markers)
• Stray spacing in Chinese text
• Awkward line splits
• Odd word choices

Missing content: bare headings with no body — flag, don't invent.

3. Dump findings to translation-findings.dj

Finding N — Title (line numbers)
  Chinese: ...
  English: ...
  Issue: description

4. Apply fixes with patch

Surgical string replacement. Verify every patch with cat — never rely on read_file (session dedup).

Buddhist terminology reference

See references/buddhist-terminology.md for Chinese-English term mappings and common pitfalls.

Pitfalls

• Don't use heredocs or -c — write to /tmp/script.py first
• Deduplicate aggressively — group by problem type, not per-row
• Buddhist terminology is technical — don't guess. When uncertain, flag for review
• Never delete .dj comparison files — intentional work artifacts
• Verify patches with cat — read_file dedup makes it unreliable
• Re-read before fixing — user may have made interim edits

References

• references/buddhist-terminology.md — Chinese-English Buddhist term mappings and pitfalls
• references/terms-db-alignment.md — Batch-aligning glossary terms against the MPI terms database