Technical writing newsletter 35: March 2010
Decrease the cost of translation
A translation memory system is software that helps human translators. If text was translated, and if the same text appears again in a document, the software supplies the previous translation to the translator. The translator can use the translation or change the translation. Translation memory systems decrease the cost of translation by approximately 30% to approximately 80%.
Problems with plain English
Plain English helps to make text clear, but plain English has the following problems:
- Plain English does not minimise the cost of translation.
- Plain English does not help international readers.
- Sometimes, plain English is not sufficiently accurate.
- Sometimes, Plain English is not good for machine translation.
To learn why plain English is not always sufficient to make text clear, see 'Problems with plain English'.
Trademarks in technical documentation
Recently, CIDM published the results of a survey about trademarks in technical documentation (www.infomanagementcenter.com/enewsletter/2010/201003/feature.htm). CIDM recommends that trademark information is in the front matter of both printed documentation and online documentation. Do not include trademark symbols in the primary text.
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