Without Fear Of Compromise

Before launching a European operation at the start of 1998, the electronic commerce solutions specialist Commerce One had to ensure that a product set that is well established in the US could make an effective transition to its new marketplace. How far has the company succeeded?

Comedy writers earn a cheap laugh when they quote from instruction manuals for domestic appliances which have been translated from their 'source' language into English. The result is rarely a problem, however, as it is usually clear to the user what the writer was trying to say.

In a technical or professional environment, writers have to be more conscious of the way their words are converted from one linguistic medium to another. Published material has to be transliterated, rather than simply translated. This may involve a complete re-write in the target language if the subtle nuances of the original text are not to be lost along the way.