Ever Wondered…

Why Arabic translations often don’t hit the same as what other language speakers get?

Chances are, at some point, curiosity got the better of you. You checked out the Arabic translation of a film, show, or game you already love in its original language. How did they handle that powerful speech? Did the wordplay survive the jump? What happened to those dialects?

And chances are even higher that the experience left you disappointed more often than pleasantly surprised.

Where’s all the style? Why do all the characters sound the same? And even when the translation is technically accurate, why does it suck the life out of the story?

The answer is simple: Because the editor role is absent from most Arabic translation agencies. And it shows.

Editing

What Is Editing?

Editing is the process going over the first translation draft, refining its form and phrasing, and ensuring it fits the narrative’s tone and its target audience—not only in meaning, but also in tone, style, and cultural context.

It’s the sauce that thickens the watery, tasteless soup that is the first translation draft into a broth to die for. Making it an engaging experience, one that captures the essence of the source script without blindly following in its stead.

Editing, unlike revision and proofreading, goes beyond correcting mistakes; it’s about elevating the translated script and bringing out the soul of the original text in clear, expressive and natural Arabic.

Here’s how editing differs from revision and proofreading:

Editing Stage	Revision & Proofreading Stage
- Enhances expression and composition. - Guarantees translation accuracy. - Unifies translation styles.	- Corrects spelling errors. - Corrects grammar and morphology. - Unifies terminology.

The Cost of Skipping the Editor

Writers are their own most disqualified critics, and translation at its core is writing. So it follows: Translators are their own most disqualified critics. That’s why editors exist.

In every facet of writing, taste matters—not everyone is a gourmet. A skilled editor introduces a sharper, more refined palate to a translated script and brings it all together.

When there’s no editor, players don’t need to wait until the credits roll to know, because it shows. Especially when the translation leaves a lot to be desired to begin with.

With an Editor	Without an Editor
- Wonky syntax is improved. - The translation flows better. - Translation styles are unified. - Translation quality is drastically improved.	- Wonky syntax remains. - The translation is rarely clear. - Translator styles jarringly contrast. - Translation quality is inconsistent.

An editor’s role, in essence, is to rein in the translators’ idiosyncrasies, surgically removing them from the final product while unifying their different styles. The end goal is to make the player feel like script has a unified voice, and to mold the translation into a shape matching the tone and spirit of the original script.

loclait and Editing

loclait’s Editorial Approach

We identify the tone and linguistic registers of the original text.
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We define the target age group and keep them in mind throughout the process.
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We mirror the original text’s tone and registers in our editing.
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We refine the translation and unify its writing style.
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We revise and proofread the text.

Our Approach in Action

From our Arabic localization of the visual novel「The House in Fata Morgana」/ 「البيت في الفاتا مورغانا」.

English Source	Translation Draft	Edited Translation
Have you ever considered leaving the convent?	أما فكرت بترك الدير؟	أما فكرت بترك الدير قط؟
You can’t just stop being a nun, you know. It’s not that simple. I’ve made vows—sworn my life to the service of God.	لا تستطيع الراهبة ترك عملها. إن اﻷمر ليس هيّنًا؛ فأنا نذرت وحلفت بحياتي أن أخدم الله.	ليست الرهبانية بوظيفة تترك. ولا يُخفى عليك حال من مثلي؛ فقد نذرت دنياي وآخرتي في خدمة الله.
If I were to leave the church… it would have to be in my next life. I’d like to be a normal girl, lead a normal life.	لو أني سأترك الكنيسة… فذلك لعله في حياتي المقبلة. وسأحب أن أكون صبية تعيش كبقية الصبايا.	وإن هجرتُ الكنيسة فرضًا… فسيحصل ذلك في حياتي التالية لا بُد. أود، في حياتي المقبلة، عيش صباي كأي فتاة عادية.
Get married… have kids, and before I know it, I’m an old lady… thinking, “Ahh, it was an uneventful life, but it was the best I could have asked for.” That’s my dream.	فأتزوج… ويصير عندي أولاد، وما أشعر إلا وأنا عجوز… وأفكر: «آه، كانت حياة راكدة، ولكن والله ما كنت لأسأل أحسن منها.» هذا ما أتمناه.	ثم أتزوج… وأُنجب، ويمر العمر بحلوه ومرّه في طرفة عين… وحينها سأقول: “آه، كم كانت عيشتنا رتيبة، لكنها أجود ما كان لي أن أخير”. تلك أمنيتي.

Why aren’t Most Arabic Translations Edited?

Now you’ve likely started wondering: if editing has such a clear impact on quality, why is it missing from most Arabic translations?

And the answer is pretty disappointing. Our editorial approach is only feasible because its cornerstone is something most Arabic translations lack:

It’s feasible because it starts with a solid, well-composed translation that captures both the spirit and meaning of the source. A baseline that only needs refinement to go from good to great—not a full rewrite because the translator fumbled the basics.

And sadly, what we consider the bare minimum baseline for a “good translation” is a distant dream for most agencies.

The sad reality is that the average Arabic translator barely produces something readable, let alone anything editable. Most Arabic translators struggle with basic expression in their mother tongue.

Take our own test as an example—plenty of applicants just convert the source mechanically into Arabic, using phrasing no native speaker would ever compose. The end result only makes sense if you mentally back translate it to the source, word for word.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of Arabic translators across all sectors hardly do much more than stacking their words like bricks, disregarding any notion of flow, clarity, coherence, and of the course the poor, poor consumer stuck reading what they put out.

Because their top concern is a technically “correct” output that passes basic linguistic quality assurance checks. Whether it reads well, has the same impact as the source, or feels right? That’s an entirely unrelated matter, and evidently, not one they view as their problem.

And that’s why introducing the editing step to the localization process is nearly impossible for most Arabic translation agencies.

Because the average level of competence is so low, they’re busy just trying to get something vaguely readable out of the door. Add an editing phase, and they’ll spend twice as much chasing quality, with maybe five translators left on their roster who can meet the new bar.

And between you an me, let’s just say it’s clear which side most agencies will fall on when forced to choose between quality and profit.

Why Do We Edit?

Every piece of art possesses a distinct cadence. Every writer has their style. Every story has its soul.

That’s why a good localization needs to craft a new voice for each project, one that matches what made audiences fall in love with its vibe and style in its source language, for a new audience, in a new language.

We believe that narratives crafted with passion deserve to be translated with equal devotion. Our goal is for our Arabic localizations to faithfully replicate the same experience, just in a new language. That’s why we weave our localized scripts as if they were originally written in Arabic, not translated into it.

So while testing candidates at loclait, we don’t just look at accuracy. We look at style, at flow, at the level they command Arabic. Because a great localization can only start with a great translation.

From day one, one of our first decisions at loclait was to build an editorial identity—just like literary publishing houses do.

That’s why, no matter who worked on them, or who their target audience was, or what registers they used, our localizations all feel like they’re by us. Because the way we transliterate and use punctuation and diacritics is unified—and because they all prioritize the player’s experience above everything else.

We owe that consistency to our editors, who uphold our standards across all projects, making sure they’re cohesive and high-quality, both stylistically and linguistically.

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