ChatAndBuild Book Translation
Use this skill when the user wants to translate a book, chapter, or other long-form document into another language.
Before you translate (collect constraints)
Ask for (or infer from context) the minimum required details:
- Target language and locale (e.g.
fr-FRvsfr-CA) - Audience and reading level (general, academic, YA, technical)
- Tone and style (literal, literary, businesslike)
- Scope (entire book vs specific chapters/sections)
- Output format (Markdown, plain text, bilingual, chapter-per-file)
- Terminology preferences (terms to keep in the source language, preferred translations)
- Whether to translate code blocks / inline code (default: do not translate code)
Workflow
1) Ingest the source
If the user provides a PDF:
- Determine whether the PDF has extractable text or needs OCR (scanned images).
- Extract the text in reading order.
- Remove repeated headers/footers where possible.
- Keep page numbers or section markers so the translation can be traced back to the source.
If the user provides text (or Markdown):
- Preserve structure (headings, lists, numbering, quotes).
- Preserve markup (Markdown syntax, links, emphasis).
2) Build a translation glossary
Create a short glossary of:
- Proper nouns (people, places, organizations)
- Technical terms
- Recurring phrases
If there are ambiguous terms, present 2–3 options and recommend one for consistency.
3) Translate in chunks
Translate section-by-section to maintain coherence and avoid drift:
- Preserve headings and numbering
- Preserve citations, footnotes markers, and references
- Keep code blocks and inline code unchanged unless explicitly asked
4) Quality pass
Run a consistency pass:
- Terminology consistency (glossary adherence)
- Names and capitalization
- Locale-appropriate punctuation/typography
- Flag unclear/ambiguous sentences and provide alternatives
5) Deliverables
Provide:
- The translated text (in the requested output format)
- A short “translation notes” section including glossary decisions and any open questions
Output defaults
- Default output is Markdown (if structure is present).
- If the user wants a bilingual version, output “Original” and “Translation” per section.