A few mistakes.

Hyeron
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Joined: 19 Apr 2013 15:10

A few mistakes.

#1 Post by Hyeron » 19 Apr 2013 16:24

In the controller type selection screen:
[ external image ]
"à la majorité" should be "principalement". "à la majorité" conveys the sense of "for most players" and is awkward. In turn, "pour jouer au clavier" should be "au jeu au clavier" (still awkward, but already better).
"rester au neutre" should be "rester au point mort". "le neutre" should be "le point mort". That's how it's called in French. (there might be other occurences)
"CONTROLEUR" should be "CONTRÔLEUR". See hereunder.
"boîte de vitesse" should be "boîte de vitesses". Those things have more than one speed, usually.

In the options overview screen:
Blunder with the screenshot, sorry about that. Just ask if you want another one. :)
"Baissez la" should be "Baissez-la". Basic French grammar.
"Cochez" isn't 100% right. You don't just "tick" stuff in there. "Ajustez" would feel much better.

In the in-game tutorial:
[ external image ]
I'll be blunt: this screen is the reason why I immediatly switched back to English in the beginning.
"Diagnostiques" is so improper it's laughable. "Diagnostique" is the VERB/ADJECTIVE form. "Diagnostic" (preferred) or "Diagnostics" are the proper forms. Can be seen in the "page" on the screenshot and the previous one.
"Les dégâts de la marchandise" should be "Les dégâts à la marchandise". Not major, but distasteful.
"peut-être" is "maybe", "peut être" is can/may be. So there's another one here. This mistake is so blatant it's laughable too, my 8-year old daughter doesn't make it.
"ils vous emmènerons" is so basic I'm quite unsure said daughter would make it. "emmènerons" is the "we" form. You want "Ils vous emmèneront" here. The same goes for "vous aiderons". It should be "vous aideront".

There are quite a few occurrences of almost verbatim translations that don't look that good, but I tried to focus on the more hideous ones.

I'll keep you posted if I find anything else.

LATE EDITS - more blunders found after second check on the screenshots, 1 screenshot removed (wrong link).
Last edited by Hyeron on 19 Apr 2013 23:26, edited 3 times in total.
Hyeron
Posts: 13
Joined: 19 Apr 2013 15:10

Re: A few mistakes.

#2 Post by Hyeron » 19 Apr 2013 18:18

Okay, this'll turn into a multi-post thing, sorry about it, but the maximum number of URLs allowed per post is 5. :/
More blunders:
[ external image ]
There's a mix of present and future tenses. Given the screen appears after just a few jobs, it's probably better to use future tenses every time: "Une fois que vous avez gagné" should be "Une fois que vous aurez gagné".
"map" is what you use when talking about DOTA maps, Starcraft maps, whatever. This, unless I'm completely senile, is about a map of Europe. The nuance in French can't just be dismissed. Should be changed to "carte".

[ external image ]
"Progression histoire" This reads "progress story" like an English native would, except he would know it should read "story progress". And yes, we all know it's not about story but history. Hence, this should be changed to "Historique de progression" or, to avoid any bleeding, simply "Progression" (only if it can't be helped).

[ external image ]
There's a mix of imperative and infinitive here. "Et commencer à conduire !" should be "Et commencez à conduire !"

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webradios, not web radios.
"Editez" should be "Éditez". Accent marks on capital letters AREN'T optional in French. Check "Le Bon Usage" if you don't believe me. ALL FILES should be checked for further occurences. There's at least three more, see hereunder.
"Pour écoutez" should be "pour écouter".
As a side note, it's probably a problem common to all languages: the way it's said doesn't work at all for GNU/Linux (or Mac, for that matter) users. Not sure if it can be fixed easily, but it should if it's not a 100 man-hours grunt job.

[ external image ]
See hereabove: "Etre embauché" should be "Être embauché". "Choisissez juste une mission" should be "Choisissez simplement une mission" so as to not convey a sense of "choose just a mission" as it does right now.
"Livrez le" should be "Livrez-le".
"Pas de panique. Tout est prévu." should be "Pas de panique, tout est prévu". Minor, but unpleasant.
"SELECTION" should be "SÉLECTION".
Last edited by Hyeron on 19 Apr 2013 23:30, edited 2 times in total.
Hyeron
Posts: 13
Joined: 19 Apr 2013 15:10

Re: A few mistakes.

#3 Post by Hyeron » 19 Apr 2013 18:21

[ external image ]
Bleeding of "Régulateur de vitesse" into the speed. Possible fugly workaround: just use "Régulateur".
"INFO DE VISTESSE" should be "INFO DE VITESSE" (and even that is fugly; not given thought to a workaround).

[ external image ]
To avoid elision problems such as the one depicted here, "visiter notre concession de" should be "visiter notre concession à". The comma right before that very blunder is another one. Final sentence should look like this: "Veuillez visiter notre concession à Amsterdam".
Oh. And "modèles de DAF" should be "modèles DAF".

[ external image ]
See hereabove: "DECOUVERTE" should be "DÉCOUVERTE".

[ external image ]
Not so much of a problem, but shouldn't it say "Afficher les résultats" instead of "Afficher les résultats maintenant" to avoid global fugliness?

[ external image ]
"COMPETENCES" should be "COMPÉTENCES". Also, WHY hasn't this been checked for consistency? The screen about "Progression histoire" shows "Aptitudes". Using any of them is fine, but using the same word across the board is better.
"Eco-conduite" should be "Éco-conduite".
"avec, bien sûr un meilleur salaire" should be "avec, bien sûr, un meilleur salaire". This whole screen could use some polish too.
"Finalement" is over awkward. The simplest workaround is to just remove it. It still works and feels more natural, even if it's not a perfect solution.

LATE EDIT - More blunders after second check of the screenshots.
Last edited by Hyeron on 19 Apr 2013 23:34, edited 2 times in total.
Hyeron
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Joined: 19 Apr 2013 15:10

Re: A few mistakes.

#4 Post by Hyeron » 19 Apr 2013 18:37

[ external image ]
The plural form of "feu d'artifice" is "feux d'artifice", not "feux d'artifices".
"Les gaz inflammables par exemple," should be "Les gaz inflammables, par exemple".
"le nitrogène" is the name that was used around two centuries ago for "l'azote".
From this shot onward (aptitudes screens): "suivant" should probably be replaced by "suivants". It feels more natural.

[ external image ]
Under Classe 4.1: "facilement inflammable" should be "facilement inflammables": LES matières. Plural.
"magnesium" should be "magnésium".
"Classe 4.2 : A" should be "Classe 4.2 : À".
"spontannée" should be "spontanée".
"alkyl d'aluminium" should be "alkyle d'aluminium".
"Dangerereux" should be "Dangereux".
"quand ils sont humides" reads like "when they're moist". Better version would be: "quand ils entrent en contact avec de l'eau" if possible.
Two minutes of googling also show there's only one kind of white phosphorus, and that's the "P4" kind. "les phosphores blancs" should be "le phosphore blanc"
Fair warning though: I'm no chemist. All of the chemical mistakes apart from "magnésium" (or what appears to be) come from the net. Basic research should be done on the matter. My field is games, not chemistry.

[ external image ]
"ont plus de valeurs" should be "ont plus de valeur".
"confiance qu'envers des" is awkward. "confiance qu'en des" is better. Even better, "Les entreprises ne font confiance qu'à des experts chevronnés" is more natural. "experts chevronnés" is also redundant, but whatever. "[...]des chauffeurs chevronnés" would work, too, and avoids that redundancy.

IN ALL APTITUDE CHOICE SCREENS:
"+...% de bonus d'expérience" should be either "+...% d'expérience" or "...% de bonus d'expérience".

[ external image ]
"tels que du verre" should be "telles que du verre". Marchandise is F.

[ external image ]
"provoque" should be "provoquent". Missions is plural.
"d'avantage" should be "davantage". The former is "of advantage", the latter is "more".

EDIT - More blunders. Clarification.
Last edited by Hyeron on 20 Apr 2013 00:06, edited 6 times in total.
Hyeron
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Re: A few mistakes.

#5 Post by Hyeron » 19 Apr 2013 18:39

Final one. For now.
[ external image ]
It may look like nitpicking, but you've got both "compétence d'éco-conduite" and "compétences d'éco-conduite" here. It's ONE competence. It would be better to use "compétence d'éco-conduite" across the board.
Hyeron
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Re: A few mistakes.

#6 Post by Hyeron » 19 Apr 2013 23:12

Okay, this will be the last post. Sorry, but this is becoming more and more obviously ridiculous, sloppy, unprofessional and infuriating with every screenshot I have to take. I'd rather do it all again from scratch than keep on spamming you again and again and again (not even talking about the verbatim translations running rampant throughout the game).

"Enjoy" this last feedback, and be warned that there are probably a good hundred more blunders. The previous posts, as well as this one, should give you a fair idea of how much I'm kidding. All of those took me under two hours of testing. I'm not even sure it took more than one, truth be told. Simply put: this test driver has under 300km under his belt. See the first screenshot in this very post. How long does that take exactly?

This thing has obviously been translated by an amateur, never been checked for consistency, bugs, mistakes, typos, you name it. It's plain unforgivable and, as far as I'm concerned, is not fit for release. Back to playing in English for good. Hastur am I glad to be bilingual.

[ external image ]
"Nouveaux matériels" is nonsensical. Since when are "upgrade" and "hardware" synonyms, pray tell?
"Réglages de la" is nonsensical. "Tweaks for the". That's what it says.
"Evaluation Dégâts" should be "Évaluation Dégâts" (see hereabove)
"Sauvegarder ou charger la partie" is OBVIOUSLY too long. "Sauvegarder/charger la partie" would fix it.
"Statut personnel" is nonsensical. "Statut" means STANDING, not STATUS.
"Enregistrer la partie." vs "Charger le jeu." "partie" or "jeu". Pick one and STICK TO IT. That's called consistency.

[ external image ]
Once again, there is a mix of imperative and infinitive. "Sélectionnez".
"En détails" is as improper as they come. "en détail".
Someone explain why there's a ":" after "Profit quotidien" and nowhere else in the table.
"Brussel" is known as "Bruxelles" to any French-speaking tourist or native. I should know, I'm Belgian. While Brussel is the correct Flemish form, over 90% of the population in town speaks French. And while on a purely territorial ground it is in Flanders, it's a region in and of itself. Thus, Bruxelles should be preferred in the French translation and Brussel in the Dutch one. Oh wait.
"Gestion chauffeur". Because obviously you'll only ever have ONE of them. "chauffeurs"
"Gestion camion". Because obviously your fleet is forever limited to ONE of them. "camions"
"Pôle Emploi" is WRONG. Not /per se/, but it's plain frenchy-french wanking. There's no Pôle Emploi in Belgium (or Switzerland, IIRC). Lucky for me I know a few French guys, so I know what it's about. Why use this when "agence de recrutement" is used while driving, by the way? Consistency?

[ external image ]
"Gestion garage". Because I don't see why you'd buy several, they are all over the place anyway, and others might need them. "garages".
Oh, and while you're on this screenshot, why not have a look at the ever so slightly too long to fit and/or for its own good sentence on the left that barely fits and is getting eaten alive by the arrow? (have I actually typed something longer to make my point? Lemme check... Bet I can cram a few more words in here.)



Oh, right. If you want a workaround, why don't you just delete "dans le tableau"? The arrow kinda makes it obvious.

There you go. By the way, I've translated a few games now so I can tell you all of these are accurate reports. Don't take my word for it, hit me up, I've bugged you enough on Twitter since the opening of the Linux beta, SCS. Just look at my references, mail The Hideout games, PM me, whatever. See what works for ya. But DON'T leave this as it is. Please. Localization isn't a matter to be taken so lightly.

EDIT - More blunders. Clarification.

FINAL EDIT/PS - Don't mind the harsh tone, but this is seriously tiring. Every. Single. Game. I've played that's been "translated" into French is a massacre (even more so when resorting to crowdsourcing), and this one is no exception. Crowdsourcing. Does. NOT. Work. Never. Seriously. At least not in French. Pick a *translator*, please. Someone who KNOWS the job at least a little. Someone who isn't against doing a bit of research. Someone to whom you give the means to test his work before release, too, or at LEAST someone who'll go back and check his work after release and will send you some kind of hotfix. Someone who DOES master his own language.

Peace unto you.
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ohaha
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Re: A few mistakes.

#7 Post by ohaha » 20 Apr 2013 05:25

Go to GetLocalization and offer your input. This seems to be quite extensive.
Retired, but still loving it.
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Max
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Re: A few mistakes.

#8 Post by Max » 20 Apr 2013 06:00

Hyeron wrote:FINAL EDIT/PS - Don't mind the harsh tone, but this is seriously tiring. Every. Single. Game. I've played that's been "translated" into French is a massacre (even more so when resorting to crowdsourcing), and this one is no exception. Crowdsourcing. Does. NOT. Work. Never. Seriously. At least not in French. Pick a *translator*, please. Someone who KNOWS the job at least a little. Someone who isn't against doing a bit of research. Someone to whom you give the means to test his work before release, too, or at LEAST someone who'll go back and check his work after release and will send you some kind of hotfix. Someone who DOES master his own language.

Peace unto you.
first, thanks for you input, it's much appreciated.

main advantage if crowdsourced translation is its cost and fact that we now have like 30 languages in game.
professional translator won't help a lot. some languages were translated by publishers and their translators and to degree i understand these languages it was tragic anyway. typical professional translator often does not know proper trucking terminology. and you do not know what kind of translator you are hiring. fans do know some terminology but their translation is full of mistakes and is seldom consistent. i can feel your pain, but i do not know what could be done much better ..
Nobody can tell you anything about it. Those who know about it aren't allowed to talk. And those who talk know nothing.
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ohaha
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Re: A few mistakes.

#9 Post by ohaha » 20 Apr 2013 06:11

Max wrote:
Hyeron wrote:FINAL EDIT/PS - Don't mind the harsh tone, but this is seriously tiring. Every. Single. Game. I've played that's been "translated" into French is a massacre (even more so when resorting to crowdsourcing), and this one is no exception. Crowdsourcing. Does. NOT. Work. Never. Seriously. At least not in French. Pick a *translator*, please. Someone who KNOWS the job at least a little. Someone who isn't against doing a bit of research. Someone to whom you give the means to test his work before release, too, or at LEAST someone who'll go back and check his work after release and will send you some kind of hotfix. Someone who DOES master his own language.

Peace unto you.
first, thanks for you input, it's much appreciated.

main advantage if crowdsourced translation is its cost and fact that we now have like 30 languages in game.
professional translator won't help a lot. some languages were translated by publishers and their translators and to degree i understand these languages it was tragic anyway. typical professional translator often does not know proper trucking terminology. and you do not know what kind of translator you are hiring. fans do know some terminology but their translation is full of mistakes and is seldom consistent. i can feel your pain, but i do not know what could be done much better ..
Maybe you should send him/her an invitation to join the GetLoc team.
Retired, but still loving it.
Hyeron
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Re: A few mistakes.

#10 Post by Hyeron » 20 Apr 2013 06:33

I might, once one of my other translation jobs is done (which should be. Oh wait. Today), but I've got five problems with that:
1. This thread gave me the impression that the GetLocalization thing is closed, especially for completed languages.
2. A monkey with a typewriter doesn't even nearly compete with an Amanda McKittrick Ros, as hopelessly demonstrated here. Which brings me to
3. I want control over the translation. I want to have a means to check my work before it goes public (it's not for fun that I had to edit those posts several times, I'm only human and this game has suffered enough, if you ask me). I want control over the feedback, I want a means to talk with the devs. I want feedback over the integration process of the localization. It's a matter of mutual trust. I hear no one trusts no one on the internet, something about little girls and the FBI. :)
4. Eugh. MY FREE TIME, DAMMIT. :lol:

And just reading point #3, I'm sure, will make me look haughty, to say the least. But that's the only way for me to ensure nobody will be able to maim my work.
* I want control over the translation because... Well, have a look at these posts. If just about anyone can join, it's obvious I don't want anyone changing "COMPÉTENCES" back to "APTITUDES" on just one screen. It's something that can/should be discussed, but it's got to be consistent. Jut like I want to be able to put any griefing activity to a full stop in a matter of minutes/hours, not weeks/months.
* I want to have a means to check my work before release because... what I said. Just when was the current translation integrated in the first place? As a side note, as this thing has been out in the wild for months, probably, I'll have a hard time getting it back into shape without disrupting the current player experience. As bad as it may be, you can be certain some customers WILL rage because something has changed. Even if it's for the better. I'm afraid there's no easy way out of this one.
* I want control over the feedback, because... someone reporting a mistake doesn't automagically make it a real one. I most certainly DO integrate fixes, but only when they're confirmed to be accurate. Does it apply to the posts hereabove? Sure thing. Just go ahead. Want tools? I can give a few tips. :mrgreen:
* I want feedback over the integration process, simply because... ever heard of Minecraft? In French, "Ender" was translated into "Fluffy" ("Toudou") in French, and that made it into a release. I want to know my deadlines and stuff.
* I want a means to talk with the devs because... should I have a question, I want it answered by those who know. As in, if I'm asking whether a particular string is hardcoded and can be turned over to the lang files, I want the right answer so I can adapt to the situation.

Again, it's a simple matter of mutual trust. I want to be as sure as possible I can trust SCS on those, just like they probably want to make sure their next French translator DOES master his own language and has even a tiny speck of style and experience.

If this is something that is considered seriously: my rates are usually PWYW (with a BTA of $0.1 and my eternal gratitude for beating it), so hopefully such... requirements are understandable and reasonable. If I don't get paid for my work, I might as well have a bit of fun and have a way of working in a relaxed environment. :)
BTW - It's "him". xD
Max wrote:
Hyeron wrote:FINAL EDIT/PS - Don't mind the harsh tone, but this is seriously tiring. Every. Single. Game. I've played that's been "translated" into French is a massacre (even more so when resorting to crowdsourcing), and this one is no exception. Crowdsourcing. Does. NOT. Work. Never. Seriously. At least not in French. Pick a *translator*, please. Someone who KNOWS the job at least a little. Someone who isn't against doing a bit of research. Someone to whom you give the means to test his work before release, too, or at LEAST someone who'll go back and check his work after release and will send you some kind of hotfix. Someone who DOES master his own language.

Peace unto you.
first, thanks for you input, it's much appreciated.

main advantage if crowdsourced translation is its cost and fact that we now have like 30 languages in game.
professional translator won't help a lot. some languages were translated by publishers and their translators and to degree i understand these languages it was tragic anyway. typical professional translator often does not know proper trucking terminology. and you do not know what kind of translator you are hiring. fans do know some terminology but their translation is full of mistakes and is seldom consistent. i can feel your pain, but i do not know what could be done much better ..
You don't say. I've been scratching my head at this one for quite the fistful of months now. And I know full well that even a paid localization can be a mess. That's the "Every. Single. Game." part of that very PS. I've been playing in English more often than French for around 20 years now. And I know you won't know who you're hiring. Trust me, I *do*. I've seen "pro" localization services talking about their work with a pride you couldn't believe, while it was worth about as much as most startups after the net bubble burst.
But I won't take "don't know truck terminology" as an excuse. We've got this thing called internet, and I hear it works wonders for research when you know what you're doing. It's certain to slow down the process. But it's also certain to up the quality. I could have sworn research was a requirement for anyone involved in translation, be it professionally or as an amateur. Hint: I'm an amateur. I've just been doing this for arond two decades, and publicly for around 6 or 7 years. ;p
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