Imported from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace (
plugins/productivity/content-multiplier/skills/transcreation/SKILL.md). Install upstream withnpx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill transcreation. Copyright stays with the author (MIT).
Transcreation
Overview
Transcreation adapts content into another language so it feels native, preserving intent, brand voice, and emotional impact rather than translating literally. The wording is reworked; the effect is kept.
Literal translation breaks marketing: idioms fall flat, humor is lost, and register goes wrong. This skill loads the base brand profile and the target locale's overrides, reworks the copy for that market, protects do-not-translate glossary terms, and re-checks compliance and channel limits for the new language. It is instruction-driven and writes localized files, with no accounts, keys, or network access.
Prerequisites
- Source content to localize and one or more target locales in
xx-XXform (for examplede-DE,ja-JP). - The base brand profile plus any
content/brand/locales/<xx-XX>/overrides. The skill uses Glob and Read to find and load them and Write to save each localized asset. - The
style-guide.mdglossary section (Product and Trademark Names) for do-not-translate terms, and the locale'scompliance.mdfor market-specific rules.
Instructions
- Read the base brand files, then read any
locales/<xx-XX>/overrides. Locale rules win for that market. - Adapt, do not translate: rework idioms, humor, and references into locale equivalents, keeping the effect rather than the words.
- Set the register: choose the correct formality and honorifics for the persona and locale (Sie or du, keigo, tu or usted).
- Convert locale specifics: units, currency, date and number formats, names, and examples.
- Protect the glossary: never translate product names, trademarks, or taglines unless the brand supplies a sanctioned translation.
- Check the channel limit: text expands or contracts across languages, so re-fit each asset with the
channel-formatsspec. - Verify compliance against the locale's
compliance.md: disclaimers and prohibited terms can differ by country. - Handle scripts: apply right-to-left rules for Arabic and Hebrew and correct spacing for CJK.
- When asked, emit a back-translation plus a short note on adaptation choices so a non-native approver can sign off.
Output
One localized file per asset per locale, mirroring the source filenames under a locale folder (for example de-DE/linkedin.md). Each asset is transcreated, glossary-safe, compliance-checked for that market, and re-fitted to its channel limit. When a back-translation is requested, each localized asset is paired with a literal back-translation and an adaptation note for approver sign-off.
Error Handling
| Condition | Behavior |
|---|---|
| No locale override found | Use the base brand rules; note that no market-specific overrides were applied |
| Glossary term has no sanctioned translation | Keep the source term verbatim; never invent a localized name |
| Compliance rules differ by market | Apply the locale's compliance.md; flag any claim that cannot cross the border |
| Text overflows the channel after adaptation | Re-fit with channel-formats before writing the file |
| Idiom or joke has no equivalent | Substitute a locally resonant alternative and record the choice in the adaptation note |
Examples
Example: localize into two markets
/localize post.md --locales de-DE,ja-JP
Loads each locale's overrides, transcreates the post for German and Japanese, protects glossary terms, and writes de-DE/ and ja-JP/ versions.
Example: request a back-translation
/localize offer.md --locales fr-FR --back-translation
Produces the French asset plus a literal back-translation and an adaptation note for sign-off.
Example: localized as part of multiply
/multiply brief.md --channels linkedin --locales es-ES
Drafts the LinkedIn asset, then transcreates it for Spanish and re-fits it to the channel limit.
Related skills
See also the companion skills brand-voice (per-locale voice and compliance) and channel-formats (re-fit expanded or contracted text to each channel).
Resources
- references/transcreation-guide.md — worked before/after transcreations, formality-by-locale guidance, glossary handling, unit, currency, and date conversion tables, right-to-left and CJK notes, and how to produce a back-translation.
- references/locale-checklist.md — a step-by-step per-locale checklist and the common failure modes (literal idioms, broken glossary terms, compliance carried across a border, overflowed channel limits).