Re: Canadian French Translation

[Pierre Roberge <proberge -at- FAMICTECH -dot- COM>]

David said:


> According to my tech writing partner here, who is also qualified as a
> translator, you should mention to the translation house that you intend to
> send copies to France and Quebec. That way, the translator can translate
> it
> once for France and then modify it slightly for Quebec (certain terms need
> to be localized).
>
> For an example of the slight diffrerence between France French and Quebec
> French, let's say you have the word "representative" as in sales
> representative.
>
> In America, you could say "representative" or "rep".
> In France, you would say "commercial"
> In Quebec, you would have to say "representatif". If you used the France
> term "commercial" in Quebec, you would be referring to a prostitute.
>
>
My reply:

I mosly agree with David's partner.  A few words here and there would need
to be changed just like the Bitish and US english I guess.  Keep in mind
that Quebecers more often hear France french than the opposite.  We
understand them better than they understand us.  So, I would have the Quebec
localization modification done in Quebec.  French people (from France) don't
know our commonly used expressions.

As for the translation of "Sales representative", the correct expression is
"Representant des ventes" (avec un accent aigu).  "Representatif" (avec un
accent aigu) is an adjective, not a noun.  About "Commercial", it doesn't
mean prostitute.  We say "un commercial" when we are talking about a tv ad.

Pierre Roberge
Famic Technologies 2000
Montreal, Quebec

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=