The Virtual Project has entered the translation phase. After a busy week of editing, editing, and more editing, we finally handed our document over to our French colleagues for translation.
We were relieved with their initial report that the document seemed clear and straightforward to translate. However, the conversations currently happening in the Translation channel in Slack are sparking my interest.
We have explored localisation in a few lectures and readings. Until now it was still an abstract concept to me. I understood it but it was not something I had any hands-on experience with. I am excited to see this concept come to life in the translation phase, although it may add to our extensive to-do list.
The first query that arose was the phrase ‘pop quiz’. The translators interpreted this as a quiz on pop culture. As I researched the term pop quiz in order to give them a precise definition, it also dawned on me that ‘pop quiz’ is not a phrase commonly used in Ireland either. I know the phrase from American television, but I have never had a teacher who gave us a ‘pop quiz’. We were given tests or exams. Note taken: ‘pop quiz’ is not suitable for a global audience.
We began a step with the word ‘Continue’. For example, ‘Continue filling in all sections of the form’. In writing this document as a group, we overlooked this phrase and how it may not be the clearest way to instruct the user. The translators pointed out that this would not make sense if translated directly into French. They suggested we change ‘continue’ to ‘repeat steps ___ to ___’. This will make more sense in French and it makes the step clearer for English-speaking users.
The translators’ input will lead to some changes to the document. Some team members are reluctant to go back into the editing phase and I understand this reluctance. The editing phase took a long time and we realised the more we looked at the document the more we would change. It was a relief to hand it over to the translators. However, I have learned from the editing phase and from my previous post that it is essential that we have a strategy before we start making any changes. Formulating such a strategy is my goal for next week.
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