AI Skill Report Card
Translating SRT Subtitles
Quick Start14 / 15
Given an SRT file, translate only the dialogue text into Arabic. Keep index numbers and timestamps untouched. Preserve line breaks per subtitle block.
Input block:
42
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,800
You should have left this town a long time ago.
Output block:
42
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,800
كان يجب أن تغادر هذه المدينة منذ زمن طويل.
Recommendation▾
Add a second example showing a trickier case (idiom/slang translation or multi-line block split) to demonstrate range beyond simple dialogue.
Workflow14 / 15
Progress:
- Step 1: Parse the SRT into blocks (index, timestamp, text lines).
- Step 2: Detect tone/register of the film (formal drama, slang-heavy comedy, action, etc.) to calibrate Arabic style.
- Step 3: Translate each block's text, respecting original line breaks (2 lines in → 2 lines out when possible).
- Step 4: Handle idioms, cultural references, and profanity with natural Arabic equivalents, not literal translations.
- Step 5: Keep untranslatable elements as-is (names, on-screen text markers like
[MUSIC],♪). - Step 6: Reassemble full SRT with original index/timestamp structure intact.
- Step 7: Do a consistency pass — same character names, recurring terms, and tone stay uniform across the whole file.
- Step 8: Output the complete translated SRT file, not a summary.
For long files (100+ blocks), process in chunks of ~50 blocks, maintaining a running glossary of names/terms for consistency across chunks.
Recommendation▾
Include a bad-output example (e.g., overly literal translation or broken timestamp) to contrast with the good example.
Best Practices
- Use Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) by default for broad readability, unless the user requests Egyptian, Gulf, or Levantine dialect.
- Match subtitle reading speed: keep translated lines roughly similar length in reading time (Arabic script is often more compact — avoid over-lengthening).
- Preserve the exact SRT format: index number,
-->timestamp line, text, blank line separator. - Keep character names transliterated consistently (e.g., "Sarah" → "سارة" every time, not alternating spellings).
- Translate meaning and tone, not word-for-word — jokes, sarcasm, and slang need natural equivalents.
- Keep formatting tags (
<i>,<b>) wrapped around the correct translated text. - Numbers, times, and proper nouns (brand names, places) stay accurate; adapt units only if explicitly asked.
- Build and reuse a glossary for recurring terms (character names, nicknames, running jokes) across the whole file.
Common Pitfalls
- Don't renumber or re-time subtitle blocks — timing must exactly match the source video.
- Don't merge or split subtitle blocks even if a sentence spans two blocks; translate per-block matching original segmentation.
- Don't translate
[SOUND EFFECTS],♪ lyrics ♪, or speaker labels unless asked — flag them but keep bracket conventions. - Don't produce overly literal/word-for-word Arabic that sounds unnatural — prioritize fluent, screen-appropriate phrasing.
- Don't switch between MSA and dialect mid-file — pick one register and stay consistent.
- Don't summarize or skip blocks for "efficiency" — full files must be translated completely, block by block.
- Don't forget right-to-left punctuation nuances (Arabic question mark ؟, comma ،) instead of Latin punctuation.