Sometimes I come across certain words like 吃瓜 or say 爱人如己. Some people might transliterate them as eating melon seeds or Love the other as loving thyself and then adding a translator's note underneath to explain what they mean. Some people might use an english equivalent (or near equivalent) of the term to replace it like eating popcorn or Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. While I am aware that not every chinese term/idiom may have an equivalent english term for it, for those where you can think of one, do you use the first approach (transliterate and add translator's note) or the second approach (localize using similar english terms)? Or do you switch around the two approaches?
I almost always localize, especially for modern/sci-fi settings. I find adding t/ns cumbersome, but if the English doesn't fully capture the meaning, then I will. If the setting is historical/cultivation, then I may consider a more literal approach + t/n... because they're obviously not even gonna know what popcorn is!
Not really bothered with this, my local language isn't that different from Chinese so I have never felt the need to localize it.
It depends on your person belief. I swing different ways on different things. Culture quirks: Personally, I don't like the "professional" approach of making things feel at home as possible. Without some shock value we'll never understand other cultures, like eating melon seeds. Outside of pumpkin seeds, westerners don't generally touch much else. It's the Chinese culture charm that made these popular so quick, before the cultivation writing style became overwhelming. Idioms: Since translation basically never works literally, I focus on either trying to integrate an English saying or making it a good phrase using rhymes or something. Trying to keep puns isn't worth it, even for native speakers.
I prefer localize, unless it's something very obvious or didn't have the English equivalent in English. Not translating term like white lotus is still fine, but I find translation that keep word like anyonghaseo, keikaku, and other normal words to be odd.
I do both ^ ^ Depends on the idiom but I prefer finding the English equivalent if I can. Sometimes for ambiance, I transliterate them.
I keep most unless it affect the flow of the translation or it simply doesn't work well after translating. There are, at times, English idioms that had a similar root to begin with... So those are self-explanatory. Regarding slang/online terms/etc, I tend to leave as is. I like to preserve as much of the sentiments and ambiance as possible. My rule of thumb is always: how do I best preserve this "feeling?" Con being, it's based on my analysis. /shrug
I'd say that the most important thing with translations is to have them flow properly. Overly literal translation wrecks this flow and makes the material hard to parse. If an idiom is easy to understand for native English speakers, then go ahead and keep it. But if it requires any effort to figure out (something like 鸿门宴) then you should just localize it; or at least explain what it means.
I make sure that it flows properly, and if I can't localize it I add a footnote. Overall, I find that footnotes are essential to making sure the message is conveyed properly to readers.