There are several reasons for the current situation regarding the translation of novels. First, most novels are published online one chapter at a time, which means that authors earn more money the more chapters they produce. Among the thousands of authors, many are regular people without any prior writing experience, resulting in basic Chinese text. When this basic Chinese text is translated using AI tools, the outcome often leads to poor-quality translations. Many Chinese or Asian writers may not prioritize the quality of their writing, and even less so for English translations.
English translations of these novels are frequently done by AI, and if we’re lucky, some blogs offer manual edits. However, the majority simply copy and paste the original translation without any revisions, leading to the same text being published across various platforms. Blogs often prioritize traffic, as more visitors result in higher ad revenue.
Additionally, the average number of chapters in these novels ranges from 2,000 to over 3,000, with some exceeding this count. While many novels are completed in Chinese—especially those adapted for television—the translation process often continues indefinitely. Even with AI assistance, human input is still necessary to finalize and publish the translations on blogs, which can be time-consuming.
Human translation, proofreading, and copywriting require significant time and effort. As someone who knows this firsthand, I can attest to the challenges involved!
Despite the prevalence of poor translations, it is still possible to find some reasonably well-written novels with patience and dedication. By "acceptable," I mean they might still contain typos, grammatical errors, and awkward phrases, but they are generally readable. Unfortunately, such novels are rare, but they do exist.
