TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
RE: Reviewers for localized materials - are they required?
Subject:RE: Reviewers for localized materials - are they required? From:"Kwiatkowski Richard (ST-VS/DOC-La)" <Richard -dot- Kwiatkowski -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 31 May 2006 09:04:43 -0400
We also send our material to a translation firm, and for the most part they do an excellent job. We are fortunate to have sales offices in many countries and we send the localized documents to a proofreader in each country for their review. The upside to this strategy is that the proofreaders are knowledgable about our technology and industry (my experience is that many translators are not technologically savvy - but they do not have to be). The downside, however, is that the proofreader step usually adds a few weeks to the translation process and must be tracked closely to avoid bottlenecks and to prioritize projects.
>With kind regards | mit freundlichen Grüßen | Met vriendelijke groeten
>
Richard Kwiatkowski
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Kwiatkowski
Bosch Security Systems
Senior Technical Writer (ST-VS/DOC-La3)
850 Greenfield Road - Lancaster PA 17601 - USA
Telephone: +1 (717) 735-6538 Fax: +1 (866) 429-5380
richard -dot- kwiatkowski -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com
www.boschsecuritysystems.com
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+richard -dot- kwiatkowski=us -dot- bosch -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+richard -dot- kwiatkowski=us -dot- bosch -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Localization Question
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 7:40 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Reviewers for localized materials - are they required?
My company localizes its software using a third-party firm. For the most
part, the service and quality seems excellent. However, there have been a
few glitches and imperfections. I am wondering if we should be using
reviewers or editors, who are, of course, fluent in the relevant language,
to improve the localized documentation. The localization firm does include a
reviewer.
So, three questions:
1) Does your company get linguistic experts, or any other sort of expert,
to review localized materials?
2) Is it reasonable to simply trust the localization firm to be doing a good
job? My colleagues and I have edited materials and caught the odd error,
despite a complete lack of fluency.
3) If you do have additional reviewers, how did you get them and what is the
relationship to your company?
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
