How to write instructions for the translator

The instructions box is the cheapest way to improve a dub. Write a few lines before the first translation and every line follows them. Skip it and you will fix the same thing over and over.

What the instructions do

The text you write is added to the request that translates your script, to every re-translation and to the automatic shortening of lines that do not fit. They guide the translator. They do not guarantee a result, so read the script afterwards.

What to include

1. Audience and purposeOne sentence: “Students of a first-year economics course” or “Viewers of a cooking channel”.
2. Register and how to address peopleFormal or casual. In languages with a choice, name it: tú or usted in Spanish, du or Sie in German, tu or vous in French, je or u in Dutch.
3. Regional varietySpain or Latin America, Canadian or standard French, Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect, Simplified or Traditional Chinese.
4. Names to keepYour name, your channel, product names, and any person or place that must stay as written.
5. Terms to translate your way“Always translate dashboard as …”. List the five terms that matter, not fifty.
6. StyleShort sentences, spoken style, no filler. Say what to avoid: jokes that do not travel, idioms, slang.

Three examples

A course, Spanish for Latin America.

Audience: university students in Latin America.
Register: clear and polite, address the students as "ustedes".
Keep these names exactly as written: Dublio, Keynes.
Always translate "supply and demand" as "oferta y demanda".
Short sentences, no slang.

A friendly channel, German.

Casual, like talking to a friend. Use "du".
Keep English tech words that Germans normally use (Software, Update).
Keep the channel name "Make It Small" in English.

A company video, Persian.

Formal and polite written register, not colloquial.
Keep brand and product names in Latin letters.
Use correct half-spaces and Persian digits.

After the first translation

Read a dozen lines. If the tone is off, change the instructions and translate again from the Translation tab. A whole-script re-translation replaces your manual edits, so Dublio asks first, and each project allows two. If only one line is wrong, edit it or press the circular arrow beside it, which translates that line again and leaves the rest alone.

What instructions cannot do

• They cannot make an uncommon name pronounced right. If the voice says a name oddly, change how it is written in that line.
• They are not a search and replace. If a word must be exact in every line, check the script for it.
• They do not change the voice. For that, pick another voice or add a note on delivery.