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Subject:Re: Need to translate... From:Betsy Maaks <bmaaks -at- TELLABS -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 20 Jan 1999 08:52:23 -0600
Diane,
Indeed, the wheel has been invented. And it's probably
a bigger wheel than you think. There are many tech writers
who manage translations, and for those who care about
quality, they will tell you to avoid translation software.
Translation is not a word-for-word match, which is
all that software can do. There are subtleties that only
humans can assess...even if you use software, a person
who knows both "language pairs", i.e., source language
and target language, needs to review the output. So why
spend money on an incomplete effort?
I suggest buying the current primer on translation:
Nancy Hoft, _International Technial Communication_,
John Wiley and Sons, 1995. It has enough information
to lead you in the right direction. Plan this effort well...
or it will be even MORE expensive.
Remember the stories about poorly translated instructions
that made it nearly impossible to follow??? Decide whether
you and the company want this kind of quality. Then assess
whether you and the company want a document that
represents your best effort--and the interests of the
user in mind (isn't that what tech writing is all about?).
I recommend getting Hoft's book, researching methods
and writing a proposal to the company on how to do this.
I also recommend using native-language translators, not
software. If you need the names of some translation firms,
or where to start on getting estimates, please let me know
off-line.
Good luck,
Betsy Maaks
reply to: bmaaks -at- tellabs -dot- com
