BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

It might be helpful to know the difference between a translator and an interpreter.

A translator does just that, translating precisely what is said or written.

An interpreter is familiar enough with both languages that he/she can translate in a manner that not only conveys the meaning of the words, but the intent and feeling of each phrase.

For example, "machts nichts" is translated "nothing makes it", but is interpreted "it means nothing."

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

"When the weather is F***ing outside, then...."

After retirement one of the jobs I did was phone emergency response, spills poisonings etc. The company also gave courses and had a Spanish manual to go with the course. One of the staff was a first generation American of Cuban Parents from Miami.** He had translated the manual into Spanish. ... sorta. My X who was educated in High Spanish in Argentina had a good laugh... from the manual... "When the weather is F***ing outside, then...." inclement-weather became F***ing-weather!! There were many street gutter translations. My X ended up redoing the manual ... The street kid Miami boy's translation was an embarrassment to the company.

State of Georgia had a similar fiasco with one of their manuals.

** This sentence should read. "One of the staff was from Miami; he was a first generation Cuban American." So, what we say and what we mean are often really confusing or clumsy.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I think you mean "flying lice," something we definitely don't need!

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

What - you mean someone who is actually fluent in BOTH languages??? You wouldn't think that would be such a hard idea...

Many years ago (in galaxy far, far away) I was hired to write a manual for a new software system. The company wanted the manual written by someone who was just learning the software themselves - so that it was appropriate for others who were new to the system. What an incredible idea, huh??!!! So wouldn't it be nice if manuals were at least proofread by someone who was actually trying to figure out what the heck it was saying?!!

Grnway Loc: Manchester, NH

Why do you think David Busch, Tony Northrup, Dan Bailey, et al have written so many books "interpreting" the tech manuals and presenting what's in them so that the average person actually understands what their cameras are capable of?

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

And during the day he makes running shoes.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

The true translation goes like this, "mount strobe (flash) to camera, push shutter twice, strobe (flash) will go off once. So sorry Yankee , we screw you again."

Solomon Loc: Australia

a few years ago I bought this fancy flash system. I got to know the lady who served me though my inquiries. When I receive it I had a good read of the manual(strange as it seems) and I noticed a bit that didn't make sense.. I re red it a few times. and concluded that if you followed that instruction word for word you would blow up your equipment.. I mentioned this to my contact. she told her boss. he couldn't see the problem but said maybe we understood the instruction wrong. However to be on the safe side got me to rewrite the part that could easily be misunderstood.. he then sent me a new manual with the changes ,for my approval before he went to the printers.. so they don't do silly things, but sometimes when you translate from one language to another ''it looses in the translation'' so if you read a instruction that don't make sense... maybe have a close look if it could be a ''oops ''from the print shop. Yes those languages can not/or find it very hard to hear L & V cos those sounds are not in their language.. some languages have sounds ONLY found in that language. there is a R in Romanian that has a little sign over the top of it.I is not found in any other language in the world.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

A very big part of the problem is that manuals and other documents are ORIGINALLY written in the original language of the manufacturer. With Nikon, for instance (and I suspect it is also true of Canon and other major camera makers) the manuals and documentation were originally written in Japanese. Then they were translated (either manually using a Japanese to American English, English English, German, and other languages. This translation may have been done using software (which is often a rough translation) or using a person that is fluent in Japanese but the second language is exactly that a second language and there are many gaps (especially with terms that are common to that specific language) in translation. I'm not excusing the issues but explaining one of the many ways it can happen. I have (of course) all of the "original" manuals for my cameras and I have also purchased several of the "follow-on" books by American photographers on that specific model of Nikon Camera. I often read about a specific feature in my camera from the "original" manual and then refer to the corresponding paragraph or chapter on the same subject in the "American" written book for better understanding. I often find that neither the Japanese-English original manual nor the American book completely cover the item of interest, but the combination of the two together with playing with the "feature" on the camera as I read (and reread) the two (or more) articles gets me closest to the truth. In many languages, I am not sure that any translator will get a 100% accuracy from the original to the translation but it is generally close enough (especially using someone else's personal experience with the subject) to figure it out. And, by using that plus trial and error, it probably does a better job of teaching you how to use the feature. This isn't to say that it works all of the time, I have seen some really terrible translations from multiple languages to English and I often wonder if the translation might have been from the original language to one or two other languages and then from those languages to English. I also suspect that, often times, the company is using some translation software to do it rather than a live body. I have seen some horrible Chinese to English, Japanese to English, German to English and especially Thailand, Indian, and other Southeast Asian languages to English translations. Many of which don't come close. To really confuse the issue, we (in America) have many "Americanisms" that don't even translate from New York City to Philadelphia, much less to Los Angles, Houston, or Tampa Bay. And as Jerry and a few other have pointed out, some of the translations are provided by the "lowest" bidder and the translators biggest claim to expertise is that he/she once saw an sign written in English.

dpfoto Loc: Cape Coral, FL

We had Tascam turntables at a radio station (YEARS ago). They were manufactured in Japan and came with a printed manual. The manual had a section on "Rublication" (Lubrication). They were excellent turntables, but did require occasional "rublication".

rpm Loc: Houston, TX

It doesn't get any Eddie Vedder!

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

What it is probably talking about is red eye reduction. In that mode, the flash goes off twice in quick succession. The first time the camera does not take the picture. The flash of light causes the subject's pupils to contract preventing the redeye effect when the unit flashes a second time to take the picture.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

The Yongnu of emote release manual is gibberish. I watched a good and simple YouTube tutorial before I purchased. Many of the reviews faulted the manual.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

You screwed up. The quote is referring to the red eye mode on his camera (see my reply to his actual original question).

HOHIMER

I have sometimes amused myself by allowing Google to translate a short paragraph through an iteration of several different languages, then back to English. The end results can be hilarious.