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Localizing Papers, Please

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Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#31

Post by ekianjo »

burnte wrote: post #28
ekianjo wrote: post #18

In his second part of his article, he says... > There’s a system for making people sound generally non-Japanese (using lots of katakana and dropping prepositions), but it’s tiring to read and has an air of childishness, since this is one of the first scripts kids learn to read/write in Japan This is utterly wrong. Katakana usage in Japanese has nothing childish attached to it. If at all, Hiragana would be the one whi…

> By the way the french translation of "Your son is dead" as "Votre fils est mort" is very dry and tasteless That's exactly the point. You wouldn't really say it like this in English either, but in a Soviet style totalitarian state, it's easy to see.

I still disagree. Look at how the words are used in a formal context in English and in French: in English you say "Death Certificate" for the document recording the death and events leading to the person, but in French it translates to "Certificat de Deces", and certainly not "Certificat de Mort" - people would be laughing at such a translation in that particular context, hence the reason why I think the French translation in this particular context is inappropriate.

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#32

Post by nnnnni »

DrTung wrote: post #9

Very minor complaint but first of January 1984 is always depicted as '1984.01.01' in the game, regardless of I18N selected. While this is good in Germany, it many countries like US you instead prefer something like '1/1/84'.

I wish that everyone would switch to the YYYY-MM-DD ISO 8601 standard... It sorts nicely and there would never be any question about whether it's "January 5" or "May 1"!

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#33

Post by restalis »

daurnimator wrote: post #13
DrTung wrote: post #9

Very minor complaint but first of January 1984 is always depicted as '1984.01.01' in the game, regardless of I18N selected. While this is good in Germany, it many countries like US you instead prefer something like '1/1/84'.

Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1179/

Nitpick: the example was '1984.01.01' whereas the ISO format is from 1988. The ante-ISO form of representing dates may therefore be intentional, as a game design detail.

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#34

Post by herbertjacu »

brianmcconnell wrote: post #4

Localization professional and developer here. I'd recommend taking a look at Transifex. This is a well thought out tool for managing localization projects and assets (prompt catalogs, resx files, etc), and for managing the translation process (it supports machine, crowd and professional translation, so you can optimize for cost and quality). They also just released a really neat Javascript tool which makes translatin…

"My $0.02"

Why do people feel the need to write this after their posts? Were you afraid it would not be clear that it was an opinion? What purpose does it serve? Why did you go to such length to write it as "My $0.02" rather than "My two cents", or just "My 2c"?

It seems to be some kind of "thing" that people do here. Is it an in-joke?

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#35

Post by Kiro »

brianmcconnell wrote: post #4

Localization professional and developer here. I'd recommend taking a look at Transifex. This is a well thought out tool for managing localization projects and assets (prompt catalogs, resx files, etc), and for managing the translation process (it supports machine, crowd and professional translation, so you can optimize for cost and quality). They also just released a really neat Javascript tool which makes translatin…

How does the JS version affect SEO?

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#36

Post by gambiting »

herbertjacu wrote: post #34
brianmcconnell wrote: post #4

Localization professional and developer here. I'd recommend taking a look at Transifex. This is a well thought out tool for managing localization projects and assets (prompt catalogs, resx files, etc), and for managing the translation process (it supports machine, crowd and professional translation, so you can optimize for cost and quality). They also just released a really neat Javascript tool which makes translatin…

"My $0.02" Why do people feel the need to write this after their posts? Were you afraid it would not be clear that it was an opinion? What purpose does it serve? Why did you go to such length to write it as "My $0.02" rather than "My two cents", or just "My 2c"? It seems to be some kind of "thing" that people do here. Is it an in-joke?

I think you take it way too seriously. Relax.

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#37

Post by herbertjacu »

gambiting wrote: post #36
herbertjacu wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"My $0.02" Why do people feel the need to write this after their posts? Were you afraid it would not be clear that it was an opinion? What purpose does it serve? Why did you go to such length to write it as "My $0.02" rather than "My two cents", or just "My 2c"? It seems to be some kind of "thing" that people do here. Is it an in-joke?

I think you take it way too seriously. Relax.

I'm not angry about it or anything.

I just don't get it - is it supposed to be a joke?

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#38

Post by antimagic »

ekianjo wrote: post #31
burnte wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> By the way the french translation of "Your son is dead" as "Votre fils est mort" is very dry and tasteless That's exactly the point. You wouldn't really say it like this in English either, but in a Soviet style totalitarian state, it's easy to see.

I still disagree. Look at how the words are used in a formal context in English and in French: in English you say "Death Certificate" for the document recording the death and events leading to the person, but in French it translates to "Certificat de Deces", and certainly not "Certificat de Mort" - people would be laughing at such a translation in that particular context, hence the reason why I think the French trans…

Nah, you're still wrong - it's the correct translation - the tone is every bit as detached in both the English and French versions - a softer version of "Your son is dead" is indeed "Your son is deceased", or even gentler "your son has passed away". The tone of "Your son is dead" in English is every bit as cold and impersonal as "Votre fils est mort" in French...

(speaking as a native English speaker, that has lived / worked in Paris for the last ten years)

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#39

Post by ekianjo »

antimagic wrote: post #38
ekianjo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still disagree. Look at how the words are used in a formal context in English and in French: in English you say "Death Certificate" for the document recording the death and events leading to the person, but in French it translates to "Certificat de Deces", and certainly not "Certificat de Mort" - people would be laughing at such a translation in that particular context, hence the reason why I think the French trans…

Nah, you're still wrong - it's the correct translation - the tone is every bit as detached in both the English and French versions - a softer version of "Your son is dead" is indeed "Your son is deceased", or even gentler "your son has passed away". The tone of "Your son is dead" in English is every bit as cold and impersonal as "Votre fils est mort" in French... (speaking as a native English speaker, that has lived…

You didn't answer my point about the certificate part. Please explain why the words are different in French and in English then.

Re: Localizing Papers, Please

#40

Post by PhasmaFelis »

icelancer wrote: post #24
ekianjo wrote: post #18

In his second part of his article, he says... > There’s a system for making people sound generally non-Japanese (using lots of katakana and dropping prepositions), but it’s tiring to read and has an air of childishness, since this is one of the first scripts kids learn to read/write in Japan This is utterly wrong. Katakana usage in Japanese has nothing childish attached to it. If at all, Hiragana would be the one whi…

> I hate it when people do a literate translation from English to French, many words are similar but they are not used at all in the same situations. Yes, this is why most people generally hate doing translations in general - people like you who nitpick.

> Yes, this is why most people generally hate doing translations in general - people like you who nitpick.

I don't know a bit of French, or Japanese. But I do know that there are a awful lot of English translations, done by well-meaning people, which vary from mediocre to Godawful. Almost every anime subtitling job I've ever seen is at the very least somewhat stilted and awkward to my ear. (Though they're still better than the dubs.) And a lot of it comes down to native English speakers who fear losing the intended nuances of the original and so do a rigidly literal translation, because they think that's the "most accurate."

So the problem isn't nitpicking; it's the wrong kind of nitpicking. If you think you can do a translation by following a rulebook and wave off dissenters as "nitpickers," you are probably going to do a shitty job, and have no idea why.

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