Translation Friendly International English

Cindy King — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:00:07 +0000

Last week I wrote about how international businesses need to follow the use of translation software.

I am a very strong advocate of using free translation tools for

Online international market research, followed up by phone research.
International business or competitive intelligence, combined by human translations when appropriate

So naturally I like to follow how other professionals also use translation software to get a competitive advantage in international business. I wrote about how:

Translators use translation software to speed up their work.
Content writers adapt their writing for translation software.

Now, there is one other aspect to international content you should also be aware of.

International English Content

Many international businesses write content in English for international audiences. These international audiences include a very large percentage of non-native English speakers.

When you write for such a large international audience in English, and you also analyze the feedback from your audience, your writing naturally evolves into a unique style.

This is what I call International English.

You adapt your writing to avoid common miscommunication problems.
You also adapt your writing to use words your audience easily understands.

When you get feedback from your audience, you quickly understand where there is misleading content.

Difficult passages to understand.
Words your readers stumble on or misinterpret
Things, concepts, processes, instructions or ideas you do not explain well enough
Further clarification your readers need

The process of adapting your writing happens very naturally over time. Your writing acquires cross-cultural communication skills.

Cross-Cultural Communication

In cross-cultural communication there are two key ingredients:

Clarity
Consistency

Strong cultural references are also avoided.

Now what does this leave you with?

International English & Translation-Friendly Content

This International English content is also very similar to writing English to be translation-friendly for future software translations. Both methods of writing provide content that is easier to translate using translation tools.

An International English content will get you better results with software translations.

There is also one other point…

International English For Localization

The process of website localization also includes a phase of reviewing content to make it translation-friendly. This is an important preparation if you want to make it easier for different translations.

Online businesses leverage templates for successful website localizations. But you need to start off with a good base.

Templates provide easy international expansion tools. They save businesses time and money.

International English content makes this template process easy.

Start International Business With International English

International English content is the best place to start for either human translations or software translations.

International English content also gets your message across different cultures more effectively.

If you are developing your business into international markets, give International English content your full consideration.

It can:

Save you money in the short term – avoiding misunderstanding for both clients and translators.

Provide a much stronger marketing advantage in the long term – the current trend is towards implementing more and more languages. International English content makes this easier

What you need to know about International English:

International English Guidelines

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