Click here to download my résumé



Languages

English

The variety of English used in South Africa is very similar to what one might call "International English". South Africans would like to believe that their English is standard British English.

When I'm called upon to translate from Afrikaans into English (which I sometimes do), then so-called South African English is the type of English I would use. However, having had exposure to other Englishes, I can usually identify those elements in South African English that should be avoided for an international audience.

Although I'm aware of the fact that native speakers of South African English often use Afrikaans words when speaking informally, I would not do that when translating into English unless the text is very specifically informal.

Afrikaans

The written Afrikaans language is pretty-much standardised with very little dialectical variation. Sociolects and geolects do exist, but so-called Standard Afrikaans is usually expected in written texts. Afrikaans is one of those language that benefit from an "official" language board, whose pronouncements are almost always respected by the Afrikaans media, schools and other institutions.

When writing Afrikaans, I follow the latest edition of the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls (official spelling rules) closely. There is no official web site for the Afrikaans spelling rules, but a web site written by myself (click here) is listed prominently on the publisher's web site.

Afrikaans speaking people often live and work alongside English speaking neighbours, and therefore Afrikaans is sometimes influenced by English usage. For this reason, people who are not professional language workers may sometimes accept non-Afrikaans constructions as "normal". That said, many forms of usage in Afrikaans have over many decades been influenced by English, and some of those have become acceptable or even Standard Afrikaans.

Afrikaans l10n

Software and web sites have only recently been translated into Afrikaans. Speakers of Afrikaans tend to use English words mixed into their language when speaking, but will try to use existing or create new Afrikaans words when writing. For this reason the nomenclature of Afrikaans computer jargon is not as fixed as it is in English, for example. Different translators may use different words for the same thing.

Microsoft is a late-comer in Afrikaans localisation, and although it was hoped by some translators that the localisation of Microsoft Windows would bring about standardisation in the language, the translation of Windows XP into Afrikaans left much to be desired for (I actually wrote a critical review of it, click here).

Thankfully there is a measure of standardisation among Linux translators, translators of free software, and translators of non-public software. When I localise, I try to use those "standardised" forms that has been accepted in the field, or I create new terms using a conservative, clearheaded approach, based on my knowledge of Afrikaans computer terminology creation and accepted Afrikaans word creation principles.

I have regular interaction and discussions with other localisers, including translators of free and open source software.

It sometimes happens that a certain word form becomes popular in the translation industry, only to be deprecated by the official language board of Afrikaans a few years later. Examples are "ge-e-pos" (previously "geë-pos") and "klik" (previously "kliek"). The opposite also happens, when a spelling rule that was popular in the localisation industry is rescinded in a new edition of the official spelling rules. An example is the treatment of compound forms such as "Microsoft-programmatuur" (previously "Microsoft programmatuur").

* back to top *