Past Programs

"Writing for International Audiences and Translation"

By Nancy Rains

Program Description

When Groucho Marx said, "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana" he probably did not realize that he was illustrating some of the challenges for technical writers working in a global marketplace. How do we make English language documents easy to translate and appropriate for worldwide audiences?

Join us as senior member Nancy Rains shares her insights on strategies to meet these challenges:

• Checking for cultural bias in your materials
• Reviewing the many types of data that are culture specific
• Developing a writing style that is accommodating to
  all your readers
• Standardizing vocabulary
• How common word choice errors are more troublesome for
  those who speak English as a second language
• Special symbols commonly used in the US that don't
  have universal meaning
• Potential pitfalls of graphics and document production
  

About our Presenters

Nancy Rains has been a technical writer in Silicon Valley for over 10 years. For several years, she managed the Localization and Internationalization SIG for the Silicon Valley STC. She has written documentation for localized software, localization tools, and globalization standards. Nancy speaks Spanish and Italian and has a BS in Language from the University of California.