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Chris Morton wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 12:03 PM, Bonnie Granat <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com>wrote:
>
> I'm having to rewrite works originally created by
> ESLs accustomed to the world of the FDA and
> high-brow academia. Especially in realtion
> to this user manual, I'm attempting
> to translate all of this into works that
> can be more easily read and understood.
The person you need to help you with this is the product manager, the
native English speaker who knows exactly how it works and how it is
intended to be used.
Going back to the author would probably get you a circular conversation
ending with a citation of the original non-English expression and the
explanation that 'See? It says that a physician is indicated.'
So skip that step if you can, and find the PM, who would ideally be
seated a few cubies away from you, and should be able to answer ALL of
your questions and give you a much better expression in English of what
the awkward translations are supposed to mean.
It would obviously be a big help if you had background in the subject
matter, but even then I suspect you'd need the stump-pulling power of a
native English-speaking SME to uproot the translations of the more
specialized terminology from their foreign soil.
Been there, done that, learned some German.
Ned Bedinger
doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com
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