“Japanese clients use PowerPoint for the wrong reasons; they stick as much information as possible onto a single slide, and it’s hell on the translator who’s told to use the same layout for the English.” Sound familiar? Well here’s a little something Younghusband at Coming Anarchy has shared with us: Doesn’t look like the Japanese [...]
Archive for the ‘web’ Category
Real soon now
Web comic XKCD weighs in with an observation that applies nicely to the quest for convincing machine translation:
Prewar maps of Asia
The 外邦図デジタルアーカイブ (digital archive of gaihōzu, “maps of foreign lands”) on the Tōhoku University library website looks like a great resource for students of wartime history, cartography buffs, or people interested in Asian geography in general. Some of the maps are Japanese productions, but others were taken (stolen?) from other sources. The maps of Guam, [...]
Mangled Mifune on the Menu
A very quick heads-up to a translator who wants to make an interesting (and potentially delicious) cold call: 料理屋「三船」 (Ryōri-ya Mifune) is a restaurant that takes the great actor Mifune Toshirō as its theme. Part of me hopes this means Belushi-style swordplay à la “Samurai Delicatessen,” but the place looks like it’s shooting for something [...]
LinkedIn’s localization problem
LinkedIn is supposed to be like Facebook for grownups. A place to network online in a business context. “Our mission,” the site purposefully states, “is to connect the world’s professionals to accelerate their success.” This makes its latest overture to the translators among its membership an offensive one. This post gives the gory details, but [...]
