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Inaccurate localization can cause problems

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MSDN Blogs > Sorting it all Out > Inaccurate localization can cause problems

Inaccurate localization can cause problems

17 Jan 2006 3:01 AM
  • Comments 13

It's true -- inaccurate localization can cause all sorts of problems.

Take this street sign in North Wales:

(the Welsh sentence below can be translated into the English sentence 'PEDESTRIANS LOOK LEFT')

You can read about it here.

And maybe after that you can do something nice for your localizer. :-)

(via Ben Karas)

 

This post brought to you by "C" (U+0043, a.k.a. LATIN CAPTIAL LETTER C)

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  • -tom
    17 Jan 2006 3:11 AM
    Having read the BBC article, I now understand!

    Perhaps your own localisation needs checking, for in fact the welsh in the sign can only be translated into the English "PEDESTRIANS LOOK LEFT"!

    Or was that a deliberate mistake?! ;)

    -tom
  • Jon Ballinger
    17 Jan 2006 3:28 AM
    Actually the welsh says look left I believe. :p
  • 17 Jan 2006 3:44 AM
    Sorry, that was a mistake on my part. It was not deliberate (I am not the clever!).
  • Bevan
    17 Jan 2006 3:44 AM
    Shouldn't that read

    "(the Welsh sentence below can be translated into the English sentence 'PEDESTRIANS LOOK *LEFT*')"

    Seems more broken that way. :-)
  • Ben Bryant
    17 Jan 2006 5:48 AM
    Is it possible it was translated between Welsh and US-English instead of UK-English where traffic drives on the opposite side of the road and thus the pedestrians must look the other way?

    It is like when you display the same time in different time zones, it is intentionally changed to appease the locale.
  • 17 Jan 2006 11:20 AM
    Hi Ben -- Talk about OVER-localization! :-)
  • Mihai
    17 Jan 2006 12:32 PM
    Here is a full site dedicated to bad translation: http://www.engrish.com
  • 17 Jan 2006 5:05 PM
    It's political control of a language gone mad! The Welsh government is secretly trying to remove all the non-Welsh-speaking people from their country by having them all killed off in road accidents. A consipiracy, I tell you!!
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MSDN Blogs > Sorting it all Out > Inaccurate localization can cause problems