Globalise the docs
summary
Argues that translating English docs needs concrete choices: use humans for boutique copy, leverage translation memory (CAT) tools to speed work, and use machine translation only for urgent or community content; cites 55% only buy from sites in their native language and >70% preference for localized docs; warns that crawling integrations (eg Smiling) can drop content and that screenshots/localized UI are expensive; prescribes clear source English (short active sentences, minimal punctuation), a bilingual STAR guide/glossary, and a translation manager.
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chapters (22)
- 0:00Globalise the docs
- 1:14Translation and localisation: siblings, not twins
- 3:33Tweak, but don't fork things up a
- 4:23Translation and localisation can be a new kind of product journey, governed by different cultural contexts: moving fast and breaking things isn't always an option.
- 5:59Arguments for investing in translation and localisation
- 6:15Fluency runs on a spectrum
- 7:15In one global study, 55% of people said they only buy from websites with information in their native language.
- 8:19Translation approaches
- 10:51Computer Assisted Translation (CAT)
- 15:38tl;dr: Human for quality. Machine for expediency. A combination for mega docs joy.
- 15:49Planning considerations
- 19:13Optimising for world domination
- 19:30True translation is not a binary affair between two languages but a triangular affair. The third point of the triangle being what lay behind the words of the original text before it was written.
- 20:56Diminishing returns: poorly written content means very poor translation.
- 22:11No figurative or idiomatic language Active language Consistency Keep punctuation minima Simple sentences
- 26:37What to review (even when you can't read the docs)
- 27:45Are the links correct? Does the new text look right on the page? How do tables, charts, and diagrams look? Has any rogue English slipped through?
- 29:10Useful things to pack for docs on tour TAJ
- 30:33Finding your balance
- 31:14Putting older content through the translation process helps to truffle out things to fix.
- 31:49Everyone benefits from better glossaries and style guides.
- 32:40Everyone benefits from the work you do to make localisation better.
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