RE: in order to - and localization

["Diana Ost" <Diana -dot- Ost -at- msmcorp -dot- com>]

My research (and experience) supports direct sentence construction like
this:

	Select Colors from the menu to change the color. 

My translation experience is mainly for Portuguese, Spanish, and
Japanese, which could make a difference I guess. The translators I
worked with asked me to use only the words needed to get the job done,
and to leave out any colloquialisms or extra phrasing. 

My $.02.   :-)

Diana Ost
Technical Writer/Reporting Analyst
Production Administration
Market Street Mortgage Corporation
diana -dot- ost -at- msmcorp -dot- com
Phone (727) 431-7209
Fax     (727) 724-9096
2650 McCormick Drive, Suite 200
Clearwater, Florida  33759
 
 
 
 

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-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+diana -dot- ost=msmcorp -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+diana -dot- ost=msmcorp -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Mary Dulin
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 12:23 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: in order to - and localization

I was taught that using the phrase "in order to" in technical
communication is bad, i.e., imprecise, wordy, unnecessary, and
especially bad form when documents are to be translated.
 
A co-worker was taught just the opposite - that especially in documents
that will be translated, "in order to" is preferred, as the meaning
comes across better when instructions are translated.
 
So what do you say - should the instruction read:
To change the color, select Colors. 
In order to change the color, select Colors. 
 
I'd appreciate any input on this, especially from folks with
localization expertise! thx!  
 
Mary Dulin
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