Do you translate interface items or button names? Thread poster: Pristine
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Pristine
Local time: 14:51
English to German
The customer is not available this week and left no instructions.
Generally, when you come across items like "LED indicator lights (NOT READY, READY and TESTING)" and "Emergency Stop Button", do you translate these or do you leave them in the source language?
I know that I could leave them in English with German in brackets behind them, however, these terms show up again and again in the file and repeating those brackets looks kind of silly.
What would you ... See more The customer is not available this week and left no instructions.
Generally, when you come across items like "LED indicator lights (NOT READY, READY and TESTING)" and "Emergency Stop Button", do you translate these or do you leave them in the source language?
I know that I could leave them in English with German in brackets behind them, however, these terms show up again and again in the file and repeating those brackets looks kind of silly.
What would you suggest?
I am thankful for any advice ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sara Massons 
France
Local time: 22:51
Member (2016)
English to French
+ ...
| In doubt, do not translate | Jan 17, 2019 |
Hello,
To my mind, those items should be in the same language as the one actually used on the final device that will be delivered to the users.
Don't you have any screen shots or sample text to know if translation for such items is provided for on the device itself? Mabe you can have a look at their website or google the name of the product to see some pictures.
In doubt, I would leave them in English (assuming they are not translated on the device itself) and pro... See more Hello,
To my mind, those items should be in the same language as the one actually used on the final device that will be delivered to the users.
Don't you have any screen shots or sample text to know if translation for such items is provided for on the device itself? Mabe you can have a look at their website or google the name of the product to see some pictures.
In doubt, I would leave them in English (assuming they are not translated on the device itself) and provide a translation between brackets on the first one only, or the first in each page/paragraph, depending on the size of the document.
I hope this helps. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stepan Konev
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:51
English to Russian
| Translate in parentheses | Jan 18, 2019 |
I always give translation in parentheses regardless of whether it looks silly or not. Be it silly, but still clear for the reader (which is much more important). Even if it will be localized in a different way later, the reader should understand it now when he/she reads it. All the more so some commands may have no effect visible on the screen (e.g. 'Save' or 'Go to top' (like Ctrl+Home) when you are already there, etc.).
To avoid typing same commands many times, I add them as terms to a ... See more I always give translation in parentheses regardless of whether it looks silly or not. Be it silly, but still clear for the reader (which is much more important). Even if it will be localized in a different way later, the reader should understand it now when he/she reads it. All the more so some commands may have no effect visible on the screen (e.g. 'Save' or 'Go to top' (like Ctrl+Home) when you are already there, etc.).
To avoid typing same commands many times, I add them as terms to a dedicated CAT termbase:
source term === source term ("target term")
etc.
Clients pay based on the original version, so they do not care about how much longer the translation is in this case.
Just my approach. Do not know if it fits you.
[Edited at 2019-01-18 10:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 22:51
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Pristine wrote:
I know that I could leave them in English with German in brackets behind them, however, these terms show up again and again in the file and repeating those brackets looks kind of silly.
Is this for a user manual, an article in a magazine, or the text on screens and dialogs inside a computer program?
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 22:51
Spanish to English
+ ...
And when I'm in doubt, I ask the client and suggest the different options available.
For example, just the other day, I had to confirm the correct translation of "origen" y "etiquetar" in a software manual, because the former can be translated as "origin/source" and the latter as "label/tag". As this client has different software suites, I need to check each time that my intuition is correct. For example, the enter button or key may be called Enter/Accept/OK.... depending on the software ... See more And when I'm in doubt, I ask the client and suggest the different options available.
For example, just the other day, I had to confirm the correct translation of "origen" y "etiquetar" in a software manual, because the former can be translated as "origin/source" and the latter as "label/tag". As this client has different software suites, I need to check each time that my intuition is correct. For example, the enter button or key may be called Enter/Accept/OK.... depending on the software in question, so you always need to check. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Maria Macovei
Romania
Local time: 23:51
English to Romanian
+ ...
| Notify also the client | Jan 18, 2019 |
... about this situation, when you finish translating, even if they are unavailable at the moment. You could tell them that, in this case, you thought it was best to leave the interface items / button names in English but with translation in brackets. And make a suggestion: something like "please let me know if I can proceed like this for future cases/projects such as this one".
I believe that not only completing the job is important for the client, but also how it is done.
| | | | Pristine
Local time: 14:51
English to German
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks to all for your reply | Jan 18, 2019 |
Sanuel, it is a user manual.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 22:51
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Pristine wrote:
Samuel, it is a user manual.
A user manual is not read from the first page to the last page. People open a user manual and flip through the pages, or consult the index, and go to the section that appears to answer their query directly. They're unlikely to read more than a page or two, at most. For this reason, I don't think you should worry about what it "looks like" when you consider the user manual as a whole. Instead, each page or each section in the manual must be comprehensible by itself.
If we assume that the device's UI itself will not have been translated into German as well, I would therefore suggest that you use the English, with German in brackets next to it every time.
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