For those of you in proximity to Silicon Valley, let me point out that Daniel is our speaker tonight at the Silicon Valley Chapter of STC: http://stc-siliconvalley.org/programs/topics/2007_02.html
--Guy K. Haas Software Exegete in Silicon Valley Daniel Doornbos wrote: > Hello Art, > > Mandarin Chinese is the single most widely spoken "first language," at > 873 million speakers, according to the 2007 World Almanac. If you're > targeting China itself, you would translate into Simplified Chinese, a > remnant of the Chairman Mao years. Spanish is the No. 2 language at 322 > million, followed by English at 309. > > These facts are not enough to base your decision, however. For example, > there are dozens of languages spoken in Africa. But the lingua franca > for much of Africa is French (no pun intended). So you might get more > mileage from your translation dollar if you chose French over German, > assuming you have a lot of customers in Africa. > > Many countries require documentation in the native language in order to > receive safety certification, such as TUV in Germany. Since your message > mentioned an electrocution hazard, you definitely want to look into the > safety certification issue as well. > > I think your Marketing folks have a lot more research to do before they > pick target languages. Your translation firm, if you have one, and your > overseas partners and distributors, may also be helpful in selecting > your target languages. > > Daniel Doornbos > Technical Writer > Promise Technology, Inc. > 408 228-1437 > danield at promise.com
