| name | cuimao-translator |
| description | Claude Code skill for translating English PDF books into fluent, natural Chinese using a multi-mode, multi-style translation pipeline. |
| triggers | ["translate this PDF to Chinese","翻译这个PDF","英译中","帮我汉化这本书","translate PDF book to Chinese","精翻这个文档","quick translate English PDF","一键翻译PDF"] |
萃猫翻译 · Cuimao Translator
Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.
A Claude Code skill that translates English PDF books into idiomatic, natural-sounding Chinese. Designed for book-length texts, it avoids "translation smell" through mode selection, style presets, and automated Europeanized-Chinese detection.
Installation
git clone https://github.com/Cuimao777/cuimao-translator.git ~/.claude/skills/cuimao-translator
Restart Claude Code. The skill auto-activates when you say phrases like "翻译这个PDF" or "translate this PDF".
File Structure
cuimao-translator/
├── SKILL.md # Main skill file (auto-loaded by Claude Code)
├── README.md
└── references/
├── glossary-en-zh.md # 100+ English-Chinese term pairs
├── translation-guide.md # Sentence patterns, diagnostics, register guides
└── refined-workflow.md # 5-step refined translation pipeline
Three Translation Modes
| Mode | Trigger Words | Pipeline | Best For |
|---|
| ⚡ Quick | 快翻 速译 quick | Read → Translate | Skimming, short snippets |
| 📖 Normal | 翻译 (default) | Analyze → Translate | Most books, articles |
| 💎 Refined | 精翻 精细翻译 出版级 | Analyze → Draft → Review → Revise → Polish | Publication-quality output |
You can upgrade after Normal completes: reply 继续润色 or refine to enter the Refined pipeline.
Five Style Presets
| Style Key | Use Case | Characteristics |
|---|
storytelling | Novels, biography, narrative non-fiction | Natural transitions, Chinese rhythm |
academic | Textbooks, research papers | Formal register, precise terminology |
literal | Manuals, legal docs, contracts | Close to source structure, minimal rewrite |
elegant | Literary fiction, poetry, essays | Four-character idioms, musicality |
conversational | Self-help, memoirs, dialogue-heavy | Relaxed, reader-friendly tone |
If not specified, the skill auto-detects from content. storytelling is the safe default for most books.
How to Use
Basic Usage
Just say it naturally in Claude Code chat:
翻译这个 PDF
translate this PDF book to Chinese
帮我把这本书汉化，用 storytelling 风格
Specify Mode + Style
精翻这个PDF，academic 风格
快翻这几页，conversational 风格
出版级翻译，elegant 风格
Upgrade After Normal Translation
继续润色
refine
Translation Philosophy: 信 → 达 → 雅
信 (Faithful)
- Every English sentence has a corresponding Chinese sentence
- Facts, numbers, logic, proper nouns are preserved exactly
- No summarizing, skipping, or embellishment
达 (Fluent)
- Output reads as if written by a native Chinese author
- Topic-comment sentence structure (Chinese-native order)
- Split long sentences into 7–15 character natural chunks
- Active voice preferred; complement clauses over adverbial chains
雅 (Culturally Adapted)
- English idioms/slang → find Chinese equivalent expressions
- Untranslatable wordplay → translate meaning + add note
- Unknown cultural references → brief translator's note
Europeanized Chinese Auto-Detection (六重检测)
After every translation, the skill self-checks for six common "translation smell" patterns:
| # | Problem | Bad Example | Fix |
|---|
| 1 | 被字句泛滥 | 他被表扬了 | 他受到了表扬 |
| 2 | 连接词堆砌 | 因为…所以…虽然…但是… | Remove redundant connectors |
| 3 | 定语过长 | 那个在昨天下午三点去买东西的人 | Split into multiple short sentences |
| 4 | 之一滥用 | 最重要的问题之一 | 极其重要的问题 |
| 5 | 的的的 | ≥3 的 in one sentence | Restructure the sentence |
| 6 | 名词化过度 | 政策的实施 | 实施政策 |
Real Example
English Input:
The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.
He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream
and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.
Chinese Output (storytelling style):
老头儿教过那孩子打鱼，孩子也爱他。
他是个独自在湾流里的一只小船上打鱼的老头儿，
如今已经接连八十四天一条鱼也没打着了。
Working with the References
Glossary (references/glossary-en-zh.md)
Contains 100+ curated English→Chinese term mappings. The skill applies these automatically for consistency across an entire book. When translating a new domain-specific text, you can extend it:
<!-- Add domain terms at the bottom of glossary-en-zh.md -->
| machine learning | 机器学习 |
| gradient descent | 梯度下降 |
| overfitting | 过拟合 |
| hyperparameter | 超参数 |
Translation Guide (references/translation-guide.md)
Covers:
- Sentence transformation patterns (passive → active, noun phrase → verb phrase)
- Register-specific vocabulary lists
- How to handle culturally-specific content per genre
Refined Workflow (references/refined-workflow.md)
Documents the 5-step Refined pipeline in detail:
- Analyze — genre, register, key terms, author voice
- Draft — first-pass translation
- Review — check against 六重检测
- Revise — fix flagged issues
- Polish — rhythm, flow, final read-aloud check
Practical Patterns
Translate a Specific Chapter
翻译第三章，storytelling 风格
translate chapter 5 only, academic style
Batch Translation with Consistency
For multi-chapter books, mention the book title so the skill maintains term consistency:
这是《Thinking, Fast and Slow》的第二章，请继续保持之前的翻译风格和术语
Custom Glossary Injection
Paste a term list before the content:
请使用以下术语表翻译：
- neural network → 神经网络
- token → 词元
- prompt → 提示词
[paste content here]
Output Format Control
翻译后按段落对照输出（英文段落 + 中文段落交替）
只输出中文译文，不要对照
Trigger Reference
| Trigger | Effect |
|---|
翻译 / translate | Normal mode, auto-detect style |
汉化 / 英译中 | Normal mode |
速译 / 快翻 / quick | Quick mode |
精翻 / 精细翻译 / 出版级 | Refined mode |
继续润色 / refine | Upgrade current translation to Refined |
storytelling / 叙事 | Force storytelling style |
academic / 学术 | Force academic style |
literal / 逐句 | Force literal style |
elegant / 文学 | Force elegant style |
conversational / 口语 | Force conversational style |
Troubleshooting
Skill not activating after install:
- Restart Claude Code completely
- Verify file is at
~/.claude/skills/cuimao-translator/SKILL.md
- Check file permissions:
chmod -R 644 ~/.claude/skills/cuimao-translator/
Translation sounds too formal / too casual:
- Explicitly specify a style preset:
用 conversational 风格重译
- For mixed-register texts, specify per section
Terminology inconsistent across chapters:
- Start each session by referencing the book title
- Add domain terms to
references/glossary-en-zh.md before translating
Output contains Europeanized Chinese patterns:
- Run:
检查译文中的翻译腔，按六重检测标准修正
- For Refined mode, this check runs automatically
PDF content not parsing correctly:
- Extract text from PDF first, then paste into chat
- For scanned PDFs, run OCR before translation
License
MIT — see LICENSE
