Re: Question about localization

[bmaaks -at- TELLABS -dot- COM]

Yvonne,

It depends on the translator's language ability. I would be surprised if
you located a GOOD translator who is fluent in English, Hebrew AND Russian.
Usually I believe translators have language pairs (2), not triplets.
Anyway, you definitely want to find translators who are native in the
target language and fluent in the source language, who keep up with trends
in their native language, and who are fluent in the terminology of the
industry for which the document is intended. As for dialect versus a
separate language: a dialect is a form of language that is not recognized
as standard: argot, cant, jargon, lingo, slang, vernacular... When referring
to Brazilian Portuguese or Canadian French, I would suggest that the native
speakers believe that their language IS standard, and therefore, separate.

Regards,
Betsy Maaks
bmaaks -at- tellabs -dot- com
You wrote:

Date:    Tue, 21 Jul 1998 09:54:18 -0700
From:    Yvonne DeGraw <yvonne -at- SILCOM -dot- COM>
Subject: Re: Question about localization

What is the preferred source if you are doing a localized version (say
French Canadian) and you already have English source and a "standard" French
translation? Is it better and/or cheaper to work from the English source or
from the French translation?

We'll also have the same issue with Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.

I remember someone mentioned going from English->Hebrew->Russian rather than
English->Hebrew and English->Russian. That seems fraught with peril, but I'm
not sure when the localization is more a dialect than a separate language.
Yvonne DeGraw, Technical Services     o Technical Writing
<snip>