Month: August 2013

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Writing & Grammar: It’s All About Me, Myself and I

by Jennie Ruby View our profile on LinkedIn

Thanks go out to each of the 40 people who responded to the Me, Myself, and I challenge. The three of us don't feel so lonely now. Correct answers to the Me, Myself, and I challenge are brought to you by Marta Nelson. Explanations are from (me, myself, I).

  1. I went to the store to buy myself a new shirt. [Myself is the indirect object of to buy and is also reflexive because I bought it for myself.]
  2. The first shirt I tried on was too large for me. [Me is the object of the preposition for. No reflexive action.]
  3. The clerk told me that another department carried shirts the right size for people such as I [am. With comparisons, the best policy is to complete the comparison and actually add the additional words. Here I would add the verb am to clarify that I is the subject of the verb. Without the word am, it looks as if the pronoun should be me as the object of the preposition.]
  4. I hired myself to that department forthwith. [Myself is the reflexive pronoun with the action done by the same person who is the object of the verb.]
  5. No one was happier than I [was] when I found the perfect shirt. [See sentence 3.]
  6. I went home and congratulated myself on a successful shopping trip. [Myself is the reflexive pronoun since the direct object of the verb has the same person as its subject.]

Challenge: Fewer Versus Less

  1. The plant had less / fewer strawberries than we expected.
  2. There was less / fewer space in the garage after we parked the SUV.
  3. We had less / fewer money after the reinvestment.
  4. We had less / fewer dollars than Euros.
  5. Ten items or less / fewer  [not a complete sentence because it is on on a sign]
  6. Less / Fewer people attended the play than the drama teacher had hoped for.
Answers? Feel free to post them below.
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Localization & eLearning: Taking Dialect Into Account When Translating Content

by Jen Weaver View our profile on LinkedIn

Everyone has a dialect. Sometimes we think of dialect as an accent; however, an accent is merely how words are pronounced. A dialect has its own grammar, vocabulary, syntax, slang, and pronunciation rules that make it distinct from other dialects of the same language. The United State alone has more than 30 different English dialects. Sometimes the application of a dialect is intentional as we acclimate to a new community. However most of the time, we do not choose our dialects; we simply accept the language we are exposed to.

When working with foreign language learners, it is important to not only translate into the appropriate language, but also into the correct dialect. Here are some quick facts to keep in mind for these commonly translated languages:

Chinese

In verbal form, there are two primary dialects for Chinese: Mandarin and Cantonese. In writing, Chinese is actually two separate languages: Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Mandarin is the spoken name for Simplified Chinese and Cantonese is the spoken name for Traditional Chinese. Simplified is used on mainland China, Traditional (also known as Hong Kong) Chinese is used in Taiwan.

Spanish

There are many regional flavors available when translating into Spanish

  • Universal Spanish: this takes the most general "flavor" rather than a flavor specific to a region or country.
  • Latin American Spanish
  • Spanish for Mexico
  • Castilian Spanish (Spoken in Central and Northern Spain. This is also the language standard for radio and television speakers.)

Location Variations

Some languages use the same name but are very different based on the country your learners are based in:

  • French for France vs. Canadian French
  • Portuguese for Portugal vs. Portuguese for Brazil
  • Arabic for Iraq vs. Arabic for Algeria vs. Arabic for Syria (Arabic is different in most countries)

Dialect is an important part of making sure your translated materials relate to your specific target audience. Your translation service provider should ask you about dialect requirements prior to the start of your translation project. If you are uncertain of which regional dialect to use or your target market includes several different regional dialect areas, a more universal translation may be the best option.

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If you would like to learn best practices for managing translation projects, contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.