Global English Skills: Why and How
Sue Kocher
STC TRIDOC Presentation
April 8, 2005
“In many cases, localization has proven to be the key factor for international product acceptance
and success.”
-- Bert Esselink, A Practical Guide to Localization
First: Why Bother?
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Do you know much of your work will be translated, and into what languages?
What percentage of your target users do not share your native language and/or culture?
Global English skills: Can you recognize text that will be problematic for non-native
speakers, translators, and translation software?
Contents
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Definitions
Why Be Concerned about Global English?
Our Target Population
What Does “Global English” Cost the Company?
What Contributes to “Globalization Awareness” Skills?
Localization Reviews: What to Watch For?
Examples and Exercises
Global English Resources
Definitions
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Cultural Linguistics: “English as an International Language” (EIL). Term used in ESL
teaching. This is not the definition we are using here.
Software and Translation Industries: English that has been written or revised for:
– speakers of any variety (locale) of “English”
– human translators
– machine translators
Definitions from the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA):
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Internationalization (i18n): generalizing a product to accommodate multiple languages and
cultural conventions without re-designing.
Occurs during program design and development.
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Globalization: relates to business issues associated with taking a product “global”.
Involves integrating localization throughout a company, after proper internationalization and
product design, as well as marketing, sales, and support in the world market.
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Localization(L10N ): translation and adaptation of a software or Web product (the
application and all related documentation).
“Global English Skills” relates to writing and developing for localization.
Why Be Concerned about Global English?
Relevant to:
• Graphical User Interfaces
• Documentation
• Personal communication, both spoken
and written:
• among colleagues in a company with multi-cultural employees
• between employees and customers (Sales, Tech Support, etc.)
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Reasons for Acquiring Global Language Awareness
#1: Your company, or target company, has clients who are not native speakers of your
“locale”
#2: Most users prefer to use software and doc in their own languages; some countries
require by law
#3: Global language awareness is a valuable, and therefore marketable, skill.
#4: Cross-cultural awareness is useful and interesting
(avoid cultural and linguistic imperialism)
Our Target Population
World population:
6,429,200,756
--as of 04/07/05 at 17:34 GMT 
US Population:
--as of 04/07/05 at 17:3 4 GMT 
295,828,675
Source: April 7, 2005, US Census Bureau, POPClock projections.
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
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Number of native speakers of English
Number of people who speak English
as a second language (ESL)
Number of people who speak English
as a foreign language (EFL)
Percentage of people who use English
with “some” level of competence
Number of people who comprehend
little or no English
Number of people who have little or
no knowledge of middle-class American
culture, idioms, slang, symbols,
customs, etc.
375,000,000*
375,000,000*
750,000,000*
20-25%* (1.3 –1.6 billion)
75-80% (4.8–5.1 billion)
almost everyone in the world
*according to the British Council
What Does “Global English” Cost the Company?
What It Costs NOT to Write for Translation
Activity
Uncontrolled
Controlled,
Single-sourced
English dev’t of field
definitions, revised from
programmer’s specs to
classroom texts, hardcopy
doc, online doc
$645 per field
definition x 1000
definitions
$260 per field
definition x 1000
definitions
Total: $645,000
Total: $260,000
Translation of 17 variations
of 100 field definitions at
.23 per word, etc. etc.
$13,048,000
$770,000
What Contributes to “Globalization Awareness” Skills?
1. Required: Interest in cross-cultural communication and linguistics principles
2. Required: Objectivity
• conscious effort to avoid cultural/linguistic bias
• conscious effort to avoid getting attached to one’s own writing
3. Big help: Experience in learning a second language, preferably as an adult
4. Also helpful: Training in linguistics, experience living abroad as a ‘foreigner’, experience in
translation or revision of documents written in a second language
Localization Reviews: What to Watch For?
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Terminology: Do words used in the GUI or doc have one meaning, and one meaning only?
Is only one term used to express a specific meaning?
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Usage: Recognize and eliminate slang and jargon. Consistency, not variety, is valued by
users.
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Grammar: Keep it simple! “Unpack” complex noun phrases and sentences. Simple
stupid, incomplete, patronizing, or short.
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UI design: industry standards, intuitiveness, consistency. Users need common tasks and UI
functions to be predictable.
Examples and Exercises
GUI: Example 1
What’s wrong with this picture?
Examples of Localization
Issues in the GUI
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Terminology
Usage
Grammar
UI Design
GUI: Example 3
GUI: Example 2
What if the lead text does not seem to relate to the
actual content of the window…. is that an NLS issue?
ABC Server
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Verbing
nouns weirds
language!
!!!!!!
Documentation: Example 1
Examples of Localization
Issues in the Documentation
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Terminology
Usage
Grammar
Informational Design
Documentation: Example 2
Adding a New Resource Template
Resource templates are files defining the
metadata requested by the Data Excavator
when defining a certain type of object.
Use the Add Resource Template Wizard to
select the templates you wish to load.
Documentation: Example 3
Select Additional Documents Window
Short descriptions for language elements
Use the Select Additional Documents window to choose
documents assigned to other objects. The window
contains
Before:
Determines whether character combinations are
substituted for special characters that are not on the
keyboard.
Document Name
lists the names of all other documents associated
with other objects in the active repository.
Another Field
contains blah blah blah blah blah blah
After:
Specifies whether keyboard combinations are
substituted for special characters that are not
included on the keyboard.
System Messages: Example 1
Examples of Localization
Issues in System Messages
• Terminology
• Usage
• Grammar
String(s):
chartCreationError.txt=•aChart component creation
failure error...
Translator: Is it failure or error?
Developer: "creation failure" kind of error
(Is this helpful? And will this be clear even to
native English speakers?)
System Messages: Example 2
String(s):
FileNameHelp.txt=The name of the file that contains
the logic.
System Messages: Example 3
String(s):
GanttChart.styleByError.txt=StyleByVariable ignored
since LegendModel.setCatagories must also be set.
Translator: What is the logic?
Translator: What kind of thing are "StyleByVariable"
and "LegendModel.setCatagories"
Developer: logic is another way of saying the program
that is run by the stored process.
Developer: names of objects
(A good example of developerese… but is it valid to
assume that the user will understand this use of the
term “logic”?)
(Did anyone fix the spelling error in the
source file? Also, “since” should be
“because”…)
Some Global English Resources
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John Kohl’s Global English Guidelines (to be published) and Top Ten Global English
Issues. Contact John.Kohl@sas.com
Internationalising your English, by Richard Cook
http://www.global-excellence.com/articles/text31.html
Ask Oxford Plain English Guidelines
http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriting/plainenglish/
activevoice/?view=uk
How to write Global English: Some principles for clear
writing
http://www.audiencedialogue.org/english2.html
From Plain English to Global English
http://www.webpagecontent.com/corp_archive/139/5/
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Microsoft Office XP Developer Localization Guidelines
for Language and Terminology
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/
Microsoft Office XP Developer Localization Guidelines
for Your User Interface
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/