RE: in order to - and localization

["Joe Malin" <jmalin -at- tuvox -dot- com>]

I thought about this some more, and concluded that Diane's observations
may be correct.

However, I prefer "To change the color..." because it identifies the
goal before the procedure for accomplishing it.

It may be that the localization staff/translation house want to decrease
word count to decrease cost. Fair enough. One wishes that technical
translators would be able to quickly and correctly choose a grammatical
form that preserves both the meaning and the rhetorical device.

What *I* would like to know is how a tech writer working natively in
another language would phrase this to preserve the rhetorical device I
use. In French, Russian, or Japanese, what is the preferred way?
Directness? Goal before procedure? Procedure before goal? Does it
matter?

I would like to know Diana's answers to these questions.

Joe

Joe Malin
Technical Writer
(408)625-1623
jmalin -at- tuvox -dot- com 
www.tuvox.com
The views expressed in this document are those of the sender, and do not
necessarily reflect those of TuVox, Inc.	

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Diana Ost
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 9:44 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: in order to - and localization

 
My research (and experience) supports direct sentence construction like
this:

	Select Colors from the menu to change the color. 

My translation experience is mainly for Portuguese, Spanish, and
Japanese, which could make a difference I guess. The translators I
worked with asked me to use only the words needed to get the job done,
and to leave out any colloquialisms or extra phrasing. 

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