Re: Wasteful internationalization

[Markus E Leypold <development-2006-8ecbb5cc8aREMOVETHIS@ANDTHATm-e-leypold.de>]

Bj�rn Persson <spam-away@nowhere.nil> writes:

> Dmitry A. Kazakov wrote:
>
>> As for renaming buttons and translating compiler messages, it is so
>> obvious that there is no any need to explain why this idea is evil.
>
> It's not obvious. I could of course try guessing what bad experiences you've
> had with button texts and compiler messages, but I don't think I should.
>
>> Even in entertainment industry, it is sometimes quite problematic. I
>> remember some quest games, virtually impossible to go through in localized
>> versions. Translated songs in a musical film, presented by local
>> third-rate interpreters, this can ruin any masterpiece.
>> 
>> It is always amusing to read Russian manuals written outside Russia.
>> Unfortunately due to universality of this argument (about wastefulness), I
>> cannot present any examples a non-Russian reader could understand... (:-))
>
> You're saying translation as such is a bad idea because the translated texts
> are of poor quality. That's an incorrect conclusion. If translations are
> bad it's because the translators aren't good enough at what they do. I

Or translation is done as an obligatory exercise ("must have i18n and
XYZ manuals to be able to sell in XYZ"), but not really seen as part
of the development. So it's done on the cheap, as an afterthought, not
as an integral part of design and development. 

> don't know about Russian translators but good Swedish translators do exist.

Yes. But do they work for nothing :-). I've seen companies giving the
translation of their otherwise relatively good manual to the cheapest
bidder. Of course they were not really satisfied
afterwards. Surprise. Not.

Regards -- Markus