Re: fwd: you or he/it

["David Loveless" <daveloveless -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I haven't read the other responses, so forgive any repetition.

In my work, we translate our materials into 17 languages, 4 of them
being Asiatics (Japanese, Korean, 2 dialects of Chinese). In
particular, I spend a lot of time working with Japanese. I have
learned that the Japanese writing style is extremely different from
our own. Yeah, I know. That's pretty obvious now, but at first, I
couldn't understand why.

This is why:

1. The Japanese are formal. Informal writing is seen as impolite. For
example, whenever I speak with any of my Japanese counterparts,
whether by e-mail or phone or in person, we always take the time to
check up on life for a few moments. This is standard for them. To
plunge straight into a question or problem or explanation, as we do
here, is rude.

2. The Japanese also prefer to gather information in reverse order
from us. Generally speaking, Americans and Europeans like specifics,
we like logical order, we like things laid out in clear 1, 2, 3
formats. The Japanese do not. They take almost a perfect opposite
approach. Yes, that flies in the face of everything *you* have
learned, but it does not fly in the face of everything *they* have
learned.

In some ways, you and your manager are facing the standard "if it's
different, it's wrong" syndrome. If your audience is Japanese, you
really should follow your manager's suggestions. Your writing will
come out better on *their* end, even if it is awful to your ears. But
if your audience is American or European, you have a valid argument
and your informal style will be much easier to follow, especially for
Germanics (widely regarded as the most informal of all speakers).

For assistance, there was an excellent article written for the STC
Intercom journal on this very issue. I'm sorry, but I don't rememeber
what issue except that it was sometime between 2004 and 2002. If you
have access to the archives, a quick search should pull out several
relevant articles.

Good luck,

Dave
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