Natural Evolution or Cause for Irritation?

Having been in the language business for 30 years, I realize, as I’m sure you do, that languages have a natural tendency to evolve. They change, sometimes rapidly. They are living organisms. Take the last 10 years of IT terminology that will surely make it into the next edition of Webster’s – “blog”, “spam” (I’m thinking that one should be in there already?), “phishing”, etc.

Of course, I welcome new terminology when it’s needed. Otherwise we would all be saying things like “I read ‘that thing’ you put on the Internet, you know, ‘that thing’ you wrote the other day….” or “I hate checking my email. I get so many unsolicited, unwanted emails from people I don’t know trying to sell me something or looking for a date.” (Think of how much ink the word “spam” has saved when you look at that last sentence.)

What I REALLY don’t like, however, are people who use the idea that languages evolve and change to just be lazy and completely ignorant of the basic grammar we were all taught in school. At least everyone in my generation was taught those rules. Given the alarming increase in poor spelling and grammar of recent college applicants as evidenced by college entrance essays, I’m not so sure the standards are still as strict as they used to be.

For example, I have noticed an alarming increase in the number of people who pronounce the “t” in the word “often”. Please look it up, the “t” is silent.

And here’s a short list of the most obnoxious violations as I see them. At least, I personally find these the most irritating.

1. There is NO SUCH WORD in the English language as “irregardless”. It’s “REGARDLESS”.
2. The word “nuclear” only has three syllables “NU-CLE-AR” – come on people, you can do it.
3. You don’t put “assesories” into your home. You use “accessories” to decorate. The first “c” is a hard “c” – please pronounce it “AK-SESSORIES”. I hear that one pronounced wrong all the time on HGTV. You would think a decorator would know better.
4. Please don’t’ feel “badly” about something. That means you don’t know how to feel about something in an efficient manner. The correct phrase is “I feel BAD about that”.
5. I personally get irritated by the word “utilize”. It’s a perfectly good word, but it just means “use” so please use “use” instead of “utilize” – otherwise you sound pretentious. (Sorry, I know that last sentence is awkward).
6. I hear the word “SUPPOSEDLY” pronounced many times “supposably” – that’s not a word. Please take note.

And finally, I was watching a commercial the other day for a popular language-learning software. One young woman said when her clients found out she could speak Spanish “….they looked alleviated”. I’m sure she meant to say “relieved”, but maybe they actually left the room so her problem with them was “alleviated”.

When in doubt, LOOK IT UP. Let’s keep our language healthy so it can grow and change, but still be governed by basic good grammar.

5 Tips for selecting fonts for your documents that will be translated

Font choice for your source documents is critical as it will need to be used by a foreign language translator and graphic designer.  Keep these five items in mind when you choose a font for translation projects to avoid hiccups in your final translated project.

1. Try to simplify the total number of fonts used in the document.
2. Ideally select fonts that are available on both Mac and PC.
3. Avoid custom and proprietary fonts that can add extra expense to the project.
4. Remember, character styles used in Western Europe or US English layouts are not always transferable to Asian languages (e.g., bold and italic, upper and lower case).
5. Decorative fonts can be make accents and special foreign language characters difficult to read or illegible.

There are ways to work around these issues, by sending over your fonts or by converting files to a foreign language font that is similar.  We are used to working in these situations but your forethought is greatly appreciated.

Expansion of Languages when you translate from English

Thinking about how your document will look in English is what most of our customers think about.  But there is more when you are translating your documents.  Specifically expansion and contraction of your text when translated.

For example, when translating into a romance language such as French or Spanish, text can expand as much as 20%. Other languages such as Dutch and German tend to use longer words than English and can expand as well. This can present formatting and desktop publishing challenges if not planned well. For example, a table in English that fits nicely on one page may spill over to the next page if translated into Korean.  I have provided approximate expansion or contraction rates below when translating from English into the following languages:

Language % Difference

Arabic                                         104

Chinese                                        61

Czech                                         117

Dutch                                         128

Finnish                                       103

French                                        111

German                                       108

Hindi                                            83

Hungarian                                   113

Italian                                         109

Japanese                                    115

Korean                                        123

Portuguese                                 110

Russian                                       115

Spanish                                       117

Swedish                                        95

Keep this in mind when formatting your English - don’t squeeze all of your text into a cramped space with tiny font as this will cause issues for your translation projects.

Tips for using Translation Memory Systems

Translation Memory (TM) can save you and your organization time and money.  There are certain tips to keep in mind to get the most bang for your buck when writing your technical documentation and translation and localization of your information.  Consistency is key but here are a few tips to help you navigate the items to keep in mind while writing your source content.

1.  Don’t use synonyms - For example: log in vs. log on - stick with one and use it

2.  Don’t change your formatting - For example: Click the next button vs. Click the NEXT button. 

3.  Create segments that can be used in several contexts.  Insert CD vs. Insert Disc

4.  Make generalizations - the three steps are vs the steps are

By keeping these technical writing tips in mind you will not only save money but create consistency and standards for your content.

3 Tips for Successful Foreign Language Translation

Translation of your English text can be a big endeavor.  Keep these translation tips in mind to help you save time, money and confusion.

1.  Keep your target market in mind.  Creating copy for global audiences should not include acronyms, puns, plays on words and national contexts as these will lose impact when they are translated into a foreign language.

2.  Proofread your English source documentation.  This will help the foreign language translator understand your text and prevent delays and confusion.  In addition, be sure to have your translations proofread.  An omitted word, a spelling error, and incorrect punctuation can harm your organization’s reputation in your new market.  First impressions are everything.

3. Translating from English into a foreign language typically means an expansion of text.  Translations typically require more words to communicate the same thing in English.  This concept is called the expansion factor - a 250 English word document could expand to as much as 400 words after translation.  This is important for two reasons.  One - be sure your formatting and layout allows for text expansion - so leave plenty of white space.  Additionally, check with your translation or language service provider charges by source or target word as that will effect your costs. 

Taking the time to translate your documents with these tips in mind can help your organization take their products/services global. 

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