Translate a diagram while keeping a bilingual term key
A translated diagram can keep every arrow and still change the decision. "Review" and "approve" are different instructions in any language, and AI translations blur them more often than you'd hope.
Example output
A bilingual diagram key
Fictional visitor procedure: the French labels change, the steps and limits don't, and review stays separate from the decision.
| English source label | Supplied French key |
|---|---|
| Request | Demande |
| Details complete? | Détails complets ? |
| Missing → return | Manquants → retour |
| Approved → record | Approuvé → consigner |
| Rejected → notify | Rejeté → notifier |
Read the prompt
Translate the displayed labels of this source-led diagram into [language].
Keep all node IDs, arrows, branch conditions, values and stop routes fixed.
Use the supplied term key. Keep review distinct from approval.
Show source label, proposed target label and the contextual meaning
for each term. Flag ambiguity rather than silently choosing a meaning.
Return an editable diagram and separate bilingual key. Do not add policy.What you'll make
a translated version of a process diagram with exactly the same steps, arrows and limits, plus a two-language term key saying what each label means in this procedure.
What you'll need
the original diagram with its labels in text, the terms your organisation already uses in the other language, your work AI account (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini) and a fluent colleague for the final read. About 20 minutes. For wording that people will act on, the fluent read isn’t optional.
1. Freeze the logic before changing labels
Number every box and decision in the original (N1, N2…). Write down the arrows, any numbers or limits, and the words that carry authority: who checks, who decides, who is told. Give the AI any terms your organisation already uses in the target language.
Translate the labels of this diagram into [language]. Keep every node number, arrow, condition, number and limit exactly as it is.
Use these agreed terms where they apply: [term list].
For each node, give the original label, the translation and what the action means in this procedure.
Keep "review" (someone checks) separate from "approve" (someone decides).
If a label could mean two things, flag it instead of choosing.[language] is the target language; [term list] is your organisation’s agreed translations, if any.
Why this works: a numbered node list turns “is the translation right?” into a row-by-row check, and the meaning column exposes a word that sounds right but gives someone more authority.
What you should see: a table with one row per node: number, original, translation and meaning, plus any flagged terms.
2. Check one ordinary route and one exception
Follow a normal request through both versions, then one that goes a different way, such as a rejected or incomplete request. At each node, ask: does the same person do the same thing under the same condition? Check every number and comparison: “more than 5” and “5 or more” are different rules, whatever the language.
Compare the original and translated diagrams node by node.
Confirm the arrows, numbers and comparisons are unchanged.
Trace [route] through both, and flag any translated action that gives someone more authority than the original,
such as a review that now reads as an approval.[route] is the path you’re checking, such as “an incomplete request” or “a visit longer than 5 days”.
Why this works: a route check catches meaning that a word-by-word check misses, because it asks what happens to a real request.
What you should see: a node-by-node comparison with any changed meaning, number or comparison flagged.
3. Get the fluent read, then update the key
Send the translated diagram and the term key to a fluent colleague. Ask them one question per flagged node: does this word mean the same action here? Put their answers into the key, so the next diagram starts from agreed terms.
Why this works: the AI can flag doubtful words. Only someone who knows the language and the workplace can settle them.
What you should see: a key with every flagged term either confirmed or corrected.
Check the result
- The translated diagram has the same node numbers and arrows as the original.
- Every number, currency and comparison is unchanged: “more than 5” hasn’t become “5 or more”.
- Every “review” node is still a check, not a decision.
- The term key covers every label, including the review steps.
The usual failure: the translation gives a reviewer the power to decide. “Review by line manager” becomes a word meaning approval, and the diagram now says the line manager can sign off a visit they were only meant to check. Spot it by reading the meaning column for every review node.
Node [node] says [translated label], which means approval, but the original says review.
Use the agreed term for review at that node and every other review node,
keep the diagram otherwise unchanged, and list every node you changed.[node] and [translated label] are the node number and the wrong wording.
Worked example: a visitor request for the Lyon office
Fictional example. A facilities team translates its visitor request diagram from English into French for colleagues in Lyon.
N1 Request
N2 Details complete? No → N3 Return to requester
N4 Review by line manager
N5 Visit longer than 5 days? Yes → N6 Review by site security
N7 Site manager decides: approved → record, rejected → notify
Agreed term: review = examenFirst translation (wrong): N4 “Approbation par le responsable hiérarchique” and N5 “Visite de 5 jours ou plus ?”.
Repair: the repair prompt above for N4, then the step 2 prompt with the route “a visit of exactly 5 days”, which flags N5.
Repaired key:
N4 Review by line manager → Examen par le responsable hiérarchique (checks; doesn't decide)
N5 Visit longer than 5 days? → Visite de plus de 5 jours ? (exactly 5 days: no)
N6 Review by site security → Examen par la sécurité du site (checks; doesn't decide)
N7 Site manager decides → Décision du directeur du site- “Approbation” moved the decision from N7 to N4. Every arrow was still in place; the meaning wasn’t.
- “5 jours ou plus” would have sent five-day visits to security. It’s a rule change dressed as a translation.
- The meaning column is what caught both. A list of translated words alone would have looked fine.
Task kit for this job: Download (ZIP) · Reusable instructions
Go deeper
Keep the original beside the translation
Store both versions with the same node numbers. When the procedure changes, you update the node in each language, rather than trying to work backwards from the translated image.
Fix an unclear original first
If the English label is ambiguous, such as “Sign-off” for a step that might be a check or a decision, settle it before translating. The message ambiguity guide shows how to turn unclear wording into a question.
Ask for editable labels
A flat image is hard to correct. Ask for the diagram with editable text, such as a slide, a diagramming file or SVG, and keep the term key as a separate table, so a reviewer can fix one word without rebuilding the diagram.