Carsten Mende explains how loan words are used in China and Japan. These are English words that are commonly used in everyday Chinese, (i.e. loaned) but may not translate correctly if taken literally. He looks at how the ‘Chinese and Japanese languages incorporate English terms and how they are used’ and gives suggestions on what to avoid when translating documentation into these languages.

Difference between English, Chinese and Japanese syllables

He starts by showing the different between how syllables are created in these languages. And as someone who has studied Chinese for a few years, it’s both fascinating and frustrating. Oranges and apples, so to speak.

Latin – allows ‘numerous variations for combining letters and the amount of syllables is extremely large. English has more than 11,000 syllables.

Chinese and Japanese is very different: Chinese (Mandarin) is written in characters; each reflects a syllable and not a single letter.

Adopting loan words in Chinese and Japanese

He shows three mechanisms for the adaptation of English words in both languages:

• Phonemic way
• Semantic way
• Adaptation without any transformation

For example: Coffee 咖啡 ka fei

Suggestions

He cautions that when translating or transferring into a foreign language, ‘even obvious things may shape up as something completely different. So you should always treat your customer attentively, take him seriously and be prepared to communicate in his mother tongue.’

Read Carsten Mende here

Opportunities

The quality of technical documentation in China is often very poor. It’s not for lack of trying, rather they lack experience technical writers and have had little exposure to international audiences.

For foreigners this represents a huge opportunity. Technical writers who can come to China and test the waters could do very well. The pay is increasing all the time and the cost of living significantly lower than elsewhere.

Fancy moving?

Technical writers often have a degree in English, technical writing, the technical field for which they are writing, or a combination of these.

It is most important that they have enough expertise to understand their audience’s background and needs.

For example, writers who develop documentation for software APIs, microcontroller operation, and other technical subjects are often paid more than those who write guides for a nontechnical audience (for example, how to use email), because it is difficult to find good writers with advanced technical knowledge.

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After the documentation is written, it is normally reviewed for accuracy by one or more “subject matter experts” (SMEs).

Technical Writers Software

The most popular technical writing software includes:

• Adobe Acrobat
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Adobe FrameMaker
• Adobe RoboHelp
• AuthorIT
• Chm2web
• Corel Paint Shop Pro
• DocBook
• Interleaf
• MadCap Software
• Microsoft Visio
• Adobe Photoshop
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• SnagIt
• Microsoft Word
• XML editor

What is Technical Communication?

Technical communication is the process of conveying information about technology to an intended audience. A technical communicator is a person whose job involves technical communication.

Roles in the Technical communication industry include the following job titles:

• Technical writer
• Technical editor
• Information architect
• Usability expert
• User interface designer
• Technical artist
• Technical trainer

The technology can be of any kind, including the sciences, high technology including computers and software, consumer electronics, and so on.

Role of Technical Writing

Technical communications are created and distributed by most employees in service organizations today, especially by professional staff and management.

Effective communications require quality content, language, format, and more. The entire point of communications is to disseminate information; this is where written content comes in. To present the appropriate content, it is imperative to understand one s audience and writing purpose.

If a document does not communicate the information that the writer intends and what he or she wants the reader to understand, then the communication is meaningless.

The writer has an interest in making the extra effort: Looking credible is as important as being credible and getting results in business.

Respect and credibility of the writer/speaker are integral to effective communications. Readers will not trust the information from an author if they do not believe that author is a valuable source of information or the purveyor of worthwhile ideas.

Ever wondered how to use Jing. Techsmith’s video capturing software. Well, Betsy Weber got a tweet from an Irish-American lecturer who’s put together a nice user guide for Jing. You can download the PDF directly here.   

Heather James at the Institute of Technology,Sligo created a manual for Jing, but that she was sharing what her knowledge with everyone!

So, if you are teaching a class about Jing or just want to learn how to use it, check out Heather’s PDF guide – ‘Jing – the Missing Manual‘.

Thanks Betsy! Visual Lounge