Live Translation Using LDplayer
Helping you to read your favourite untranslated mangas and light novels
If you like reading manga and light novel, or playing Japanese game, most of the time you will probably feel very frustrated because most of them are untranslated. While you always have the option to learn Japanese, some of you might cannot bear to wait, not to mention that Japanese is quite hard to learn. To help understand a little bit of your favourite mangas, light novels, and games, you can use live translation method using LDplayer.
What is LDplayer
LDplayer is a free android emulator. LDplayer supports Android 5.1 and comes with features that are necessary for high-performance gaming.
Compared with other android emulators, LDplayer has several strong advantages. One of them is that you are able to run multiple emulators that run several applications at the same time with ease. This can help you if you are playing untranslated Japanese mobile games.
How to Translate Using LDplayer
LDplayer can be used to live translate your Japanese manga, light novels, and games by using Google Translate. Although Google Translate is not famous for its accuracy, it can help you to get a gist or an idea about what is being talked about. You can easily achieve this by following these steps:
- Downloading and Installing LDplayer
Download LDplayer from its official website. The installer is only 2.8 MB in size as of March 2021. Once you download the installer, run it and you will see a windows pop up. You can install LDplayer in the default folder, usually in C:\ directory, or choose where to install it by clicking Setup Path in bottom left corner (blue rectangle):
Select where to install by clicking by clicking Browse (blue rectangle).
Once you have selected the desired location to install LDplayer, go back by clicking Back in the bottom left corner and the installer will download the emulator at the size of 426.01 MB as of March 2021.
After the installation is done, run the emulator, and you are ready to use LDplayer
Note: LDplayer might take some time in its first load. So, if you find the progress bar stucks, please remain patient and wait until LDplayer finished loading.
2. Installing Google Translate
Once in the emulator, search for Google Translate application in translator by clicking the Search Bar (Blue rectangle) and type Google Translate.
Once you find Google Translate, click it and proceed to installation by clicking Install (Blue rectangle)
You will be redirected to Google Store. Start installation by clicking Install (blue rectangle)
Note: You are required to login to your Google Account to search and download application from Google Play Store.
Once finished, open Google Translate by clicking Open (blue rectangle) and you are ready to use Google Translate.
3. Setting Up Google Translate
The first time you open Google Translate, you will be prompted to choose your primary language and language that you translate most often. Since we want to translate Japanese to language that we understand, in this case English, set the primary language to Japanese and language that you translate most often to English. If you have enough disk space and internet data, allow Google Translate to translate while you are offline by downloading offline dictionary (blue rectangle)
Note: The size of dictionary depends on the primary language and language that you translate most often pair. Make sure to have enough space and internet data to successfully download it.
Click DONE at the bottom right corner and wait until the preparation is finished. Once finished, you will find the menu bar open in the left side of window, showing your Google Account. Click Settings (blue rectangle).
Note: if the menu bar does not open after you finished setting up your Google Translate, you can open the menu yourself by clicking the three line icon (green rectangle).
Once in the Settings, click Camera (blue rectangle).
In the Camera setting, you can choose which camera you want to use. If you have external attached, choose Camera 2 (blue rectangle). If you do not have any external camera attached, leave the setting at Auto as it is.
Go back, and click the Camera icon (green rectangle) to start translating.
Note: If this is the first time you start using this feature, Google Translate will ask your permission to let them use your data to improve their machine translation performance. Check the box (blue rectangle) if you allow the to use your data, or uncheck it if you do not want to share your data. Scroll down until you find Continue in the bottom right corner.
4. Applying Live Translation Method
Once you open the Camera feature of Google Translate, you will be prompted to choose to use screen capture or camera. In this case, click Capture a screen option (green rectangle).
Once you click the Capture a screen option, You will find a blue rectangle appears in the screen.
This rectangle is the area of a screen that you want to capture. This rectangle can be moved by dragging it around and adjusted in size according to your need Google Translate will try to identify and translate the Japanese characters, such as hiragana, katakana, and kanji, inside this blue rectangle. As an example, we will try to translate one Japanese manga by using this method.
To start translating, drag the blue rectangle to the desired area. Since this is live translation, meaning that the translation are done simultaneously while you are reading, it might take some time for the translation to finish. This is an example of translation by using this method.
The translation of what the blue rectangle covers can be seen in Google Translate (green rectangle). The translation, as expected, are a little bit off. However, you can at least have some basic idea about what is being said and work you way to understand what is actually being said.
Note: To have a better translation, it is better to translate one part or area at a time. If the blue rectangle covers separate texts or items, the translation can be worse since the machine will try to make a connection between the each items.
If you follow those steps correctly, you now can enjoy your favourite mangas, light novels, and Japanese games with the help of machine translation. Although the quality of the translation are still not perfect, having a little bit of idea about what is going on can help you in your reading. Let’s just hope that the quality of machine translation can get better soon.
