[Bf-committers] "howto translate garlic ..." ( request for instructions )

[Knapp]

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 11:05 AM, Jass <gaia.clary at machinimatrix.org> wrote:
>
> Am 20.09.2011 07:05, schrieb Knapp:
>>> 1.) When i am in doubt how to make a pyrticular translation, who can i ask ?
>> Not sure I can help but I am a native USA speaker and live in Germany.
>> I German is far from perfect but I have been learning German for 5
>> years so perhaps I can help with the English side of it, if you have a
>> question.
>>
>
> 1.) Order of words
> Often the order of the words changes when translated. Especially
> we often have  the combination "<verb> <object>"  in english
> which translates to german as "<object><verb>".
>
> Examples:
>
> english:
>
>     Display Camera
>     Display Lamp
>
> translation (correct):
>
>     Kamera anzeigen
>     Lampe anzeigen
>
> alternative translation (bad but with emphasis on the function):
>
> Anzeige: Kamera
> Anzeige: Lampe
>
> 2.) Special words:
>
> I often find that the german translation of a GUI is simply not
> understandable when fully translated. It often makes sense
> (to me) when a set of "main objects" and "main functions"
> just keep their names as in english. Examples:
>
> Lattice
> Mesh
> Playback
> Quad
> Triangle
>
> So is there a dictionary of words which should keep untranslated ?
> Or is this up to the translators taste ?

First for these questions to get a good answer you need to ask a
native speaker. I would suggest the German Blender IRC.

Second the key to a good GUI is using words that the first time user
will understand without looking in the manual. This is often not
possible but is a good goal. Another factor is that here in Germany
most young people that are involved with computers have really good
English so I would guess that the users that want the German version
will be the older people that do not know much or any English thus you
should stick with good German and forget the English. Of course do
keep in mind that I am not a native speaker, I just live here.



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Douglas E Knapp

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