# Multilingual Family Message Checklist

For the method in
[A Multilingual Family Communication System That Does Not Fake Nuance](/articles/multilingual-family-communication-system).

## Not for

Medical appointments, legal documents, immigration paperwork, or any conversation with a
professional where mistranslation could affect a diagnosis, a legal right, or an official
decision. Use a qualified human interpreter for those.

## Family glossary

Terms that don't translate cleanly between our languages. Add to this whenever a translated
message causes confusion.

| Term | Language A | Language B | Note (literal translation loses / use as loanword) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |

## Before sending a message that matters, check

- [ ] Ran a back-translation and compared it to what I actually meant
- [ ] Checked tone, not just literal meaning ("does this read warm/formal/casual the way the original does?")
- [ ] Asked for ambiguity to be flagged if the source message could be read two ways
- [ ] Confirmed this isn't a medical, legal, or official document that needs a human interpreter instead

## Back-translation log

| Date | Original message | Back-translation | Drift noticed? | Rewrote before sending? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |

## The three prompts to reuse

**1. Build the glossary**

```text
Help me build a glossary of terms that don't translate well between
[language A] and [language B] for a family context. I'll give you a
list of words or phrases we use often; for each one, suggest either a
literal translation with a note on what's lost, or a recommendation to
just use the original word as a loanword in the other language. Flag
any where you're genuinely unsure which is better.

Our list: [paste your terms]
```

**2. Back-translation check**

```text
Translate this message from [language A] to [language B]: "[message]"

Then translate your own translation back into [language A], as a
separate step, without looking at my original wording. Show me both
the forward translation and the back-translation so I can compare them
to what I actually meant.
```

**3. Ambiguity flag**

```text
Translate this message from [language A] to [language B]: "[message]"

Before translating, tell me if any part of this message is ambiguous
in a way that could change the translation — for example, unclear
pronoun references, idioms with more than one common meaning, or tone
that could read as either serious or joking. List the ambiguity, then
give your best translation with a note on which reading you assumed.
```

## The line for human interpreters

- [ ] Medical appointment or result → qualified interpreter
- [ ] Legal document or hearing → qualified interpreter
- [ ] Immigration or benefits paperwork → qualified interpreter or bilingual professional
- [ ] Everyday logistics, casual messages → this checklist is fine