Write Your Documentation in Simplified Technical English to Make it More Effective
London, UK (PRWEB UK) 23 April 2014 -- If you’ve ever prepared written materials for translation, you’re already aware of how important it is to avoid abbreviations and jargon to simplify the translation process. A useful guideline titled Simplified Technical English (STE), maintained by the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe, was designed specifically for technical documentation.1
A great first step in any translation project is to use the STE’s rules as a guideline for your writing. By following the STE guidelines, your documentation will be more precise, more understandable and useful. The best practices outlined in the STE specification can also help minimise translation time and costs.
Edit Content and Presentation to Simplify the Reading Process
The STE provides very useful writing rules to reduce complexity and make documentation easier to visually interpret. It’s wise to follow the STE’s rules for word choice and sentence structure to ensure that your message is not lost in complicated or ambiguous phrasing. For example, one rule prohibits using words ending in -ing unless they’re explicitly allowed in other parts of the specification. Such words can be used as different parts of speech; when used as verbs, they imply an action with a vague duration.2 Another rule discourages the use of passive voice in writing procedures because passive constructions are much less direct than writing active sentences.3
Even if the meanings of your sentences are clear, you can simplify them even further by limiting the sentence length to 20 words for procedural sentences and 25 words for descriptive sentences, and by using lists in place of long paragraphs wherever possible.4,5 By applying the STE’s rules, you’ll increase grammatical clarity, reduce sentence length, and keep translation costs and turnaround times to a minimum.
Use a Limited Set of Single-Definition Words
Complementing the STE’s writing rules is a dictionary of approved words that have exactly one definition. You can choose a word that has several possible uses in Standard English, but specify that it can be used only in the manner described in the STE specification. For example, if the word capacity is used in your documentation, it must refer to “the maximum quantity that something can hold or make” rather than “the ability to contain.”6 Other words such as deactivate are considered too complex to be included in simplified English and are on the dictionary’s list of unapproved words.7 By using approved words and their specific meanings you will reduce ambiguity, increase repetition and simplify the translation process.
The benefits of using the STE’s dictionary become very apparent when you’re translating documents into languages in which a single word is often used as both a noun and a verb. In Chinese, for instance, the words communication and communicate are translated into the same word.8 One best practice is to adhere to the STE’s guidelines to minimise the potential for confusion in this and similar cases.
Create a Glossary for Your Company’s Products and Services
Although the STE’s dictionary provides a general list of words for documentation, it does not account for industry- or organisation-specific vocabulary. It does, however, provide guidelines for creating a glossary of terms specific to your company’s products and services. When choosing your terms—Technical Verbs and Technical Names—try to keep them as simple and specific as possible, in keeping with the spirit of STE.9
Even if you decide to use the STE’s rules as the basis to create your general house style guide rather than follow them to the letter, you will help to reduce translation time and costs. Work with a language services provider that has experience implementing the STE and similar standards to gain further insight into the standard’s proper use. Adopting the STE’s guidelines will ensure the quality and clarity of your translations now and in the future.
Full article: http://www.merrillbrink.com/benefits-of-simplified-technical-english-04212014.htm
References:
1 ASD Simplified Technical English. ASD Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group website. (accessed March 16, 2014).
2 Frequently asked questions: ASD Simplified Technical English. ASD Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group website. (accessed March 16, 2014).
3 Ibid.
4 Unwalla, M, (Winter 2004). AECMA Simplified English. Communication, p. 35. (accessed March 17, 2014).
5 Kaiser, H. (2013). A close look at Simplified Technical English.” tcworld e-magazine. (accessed March 16, 2014).
6 Unwalla, p. 34.
7 Ibid.
8 Rau, P-L. P., Plocher, T. & Yee-Yin, C. (2013). Cross-cultural design for IT products and services. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. P. 35.
9 Frequently asked questions: ASD Simplified Technical English. ASD Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group.
Vanessa Lontoc, Merrill Brink International, http://www.merrillbrink.com, +1 (917) 720-5598, [email protected]
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