MSTP FOR E-LEARNING: LANGUAGE GLOBALIZATION

I get on to designing an e-induction program for an organization that has branches across the globe. The agenda is to inculcate new employees with its philosophy and principles.

I write, “As an organization, we do not believe in graveyard shifts”, referring to the 12AM to 8AM schedule. And, I beam with immense satisfaction on having added ‘color’ to an otherwise mundane stuff.

But, little do I realize the frightening impact this statement could have on the local audience, when it gets machine-translated into their native language.

The insight I get out of this context is this. The language too has gone global – in the true sense of the term. And, therefore, it becomes important for me to keep my content style suitable for the worldwide audience, whenever I have similar contexts on hand. And…

Turn to MSTP (Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications) for further guidance!

To help me succeed in my endeavors, the publication:

Asks me to avoid long, convoluted sentences, as they could be hard on non-native English speakers

Encourages me to use lists and tables wherever possible, in place of complicated sentence constructs

Discourages me from using idioms, as they could throw the translation out of gear

Advises me to ensure that my language is free of grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors, as per the machine translation syntax

Underlines the importance of using articles wherever required, to avoid ambiguities (as for instance, “Empty the container” as against “Empty container”)