RE: English variant in Telecom materials

["Lauren" <lt34 -at- csus -dot- edu>]

My first instinct would be to look at documentation in the area and see how
it is written.  Are you the first technical writer for telecom-related
software and hardware in the area?  Can you get a hold of Pakistani, other
Eastern European, and Central African technical support documents?  What
matters here, I think, is what are your readers accustomed to reading?  

I would have a hard time dealing with instructions written in
British-English because the support documents that I read are normally
American-English.  Not that I wouldn't be able to read the documents, but I
would get very annoyed and proofread the document in my head while I read,
so I might get too annoyed and never finish the document, thinking to
myself, "I don't need instructions for wiring a sub-panel."  <I recently
electrocuted myself on my sub-panel while installing a circuit-breaker.  So
this thought is fresh in my mind.  I'm not hurt, I tend to get a shock a
couple of times a year during household repairs and stuff.>

Both your technical support documents and your marketing documents need to
be written for your readers.  The readers will be able to read them
regardless of how they are written, but you will want your documents to be
approachable and palatable to the readers, so you don't want to create a
hurdle with language that doesn't resemble their own.  Granted, when writing
for readers in non-English-speaking countries, you will not write in their
native languages, but you should try to write with the English style that is
familiar to them.  This requires that you read the documents that they have
read and determine what style is best suited for them.

Now there could be a marketing spin to this if the company wants to sound
"American."  If it is the case that software supported by British-English
documentation doesn't sell as well as software that is supported by
American-English documentation, then you may be encouraged to use
American-English.  Is your company trying to market the product as well as
support the product with the documentation that you are writing?  That is
sometimes the case with smaller companies.  If it is the case, then you will
need to determine what writing style sells the product the best.

Marketing collateral in the US should probably be written in
American-English because the primary audience will be American.

Lauren
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com 
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On 
> Behalf Of Moshe Kruger (AllWrite)
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 4:22 AM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: English variant in Telecom materials
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> A company I am servicing is located in the Czech Republic. The company
> develops telecom-related software and hardware and provides 
> them mostly to
> Pakistan and other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Africa.
> 
> The question: There should be a policy decision about the 
> English variant to
> use in user documentation.
> 
> But which should it be? Looking at the British influence in 
> the regions I
> have mentioned, it seems British English is the proper decision ... or
> should my thinking tend in the direction of those who 
> maintain that American
> English is the de-facto variant in today's hi-tech environments?
> 
> Does it matter?
> 
> And one last thought: what about marketing collateral used in 
> telecom trade
> shows held in the USA?
> 
> Please share your experience.
> 
> Thanks.
> -- 
> 
> Moshe Kruger
> AllWrite Information Design
> Mobile: +972-54-24-64-774
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