Hi all, Recently, I worked in a rather ambitious project, a new product was being localized into 50+ languages, and the work included the translation of software strings, as well as website texts. All work was checked by third-party proofreaders, we controlled everything against checklists provided, signed a form to assure them that we did control everything against checklists provided, etc. etc... And today, surprise! I checked the website and found a horrible grammat... See more Hi all, Recently, I worked in a rather ambitious project, a new product was being localized into 50+ languages, and the work included the translation of software strings, as well as website texts. All work was checked by third-party proofreaders, we controlled everything against checklists provided, signed a form to assure them that we did control everything against checklists provided, etc. etc... And today, surprise! I checked the website and found a horrible grammatical mistake. It was such a basic one that a school kid wouldn't make it, but still neither me, nor the proofreader or PMs could have helped it. The mistake was in a heading (and, OMG, was it in large fonts!) that proudly declared that the website was available in 50+ languages. The problem is, in Turkish, when a plural word takes an adjective that makes it clear that it is plural, you just don't add the plural suffix. That is, we never say "50+ languages" or "many/several/few languages" in Turkish, but it has to be "50+ language". However, as you might guess, the string I had for translation was "Languages". The client saved the cost of "50+", and needless to say, they did save from the costs of online review, too Just wanted to share this experience, which, in my opinion, may bring up many issues like client education, pricing a work like translation by the unit of word, and maybe more than everything else, how all this strings business will eventually effect the evolution of languages. I'm sure many of you have similar experiences to share. Would appreciate accounts of them, as well as your comments. Many thank & best regard Özden
[Edited at 2006-03-17 01:59] ▲ Collapse | |