SOME OF THE ISSUES INVOLVED IN POLISH LOCALISATION

Localization for a Polish Speaking Audience

Localization entails adjustment to the social and cultural environment of the target audience, taking into account national and religious traditions, customs, psychology, and more.

1. Cultural Differences

The concept of individualism is not directly applicable in Poland. For example, a computer guide may refer to 'my computer', 'my documents', etc. In Polish, this should be replaced with an impersonal form (e.g., 'this computer', 'the document') to conform to accepted traditions.

In the west, it is more preferable to write with both genders in mind (e.g. his/her or he/she). This can be interpreted as legal jargon in Poland and this text will not be met kindly.

2. Grammatical Differences

English is a more laconic language than Polish. Some ideas that can be expressed with one word in English may need several words in Polish. Polish words are also usually longer than in English. The ability to create new, yet understandable terminology also varies between the two languages. For example, English allows a person to transform the abbreviation DTP (Desk Top Publishing) into a verb (to DTP a document). However, transforming a noun to a verb in Polish is a completely different process.

In software usage, these grammar changes can cause no end of problems in strings, dialog boxes, menus, and toolbars. To avoid such corruption, the objects may need to be resized (by a qualified programmer) or the software altered to be accepted by the target audience. Working with Cyrillic characters can also pose problems in software programmes. (a linguist should be involved).

3. Differences in Standards

Within a translated or localised work, it may be necessary to convert units of time or measurement (e.g. miles to kilometres, Fahrenheit to Celsius, or date format from MM-DD-YY to DD-MM-YY). For example, the date '04/03/2003' means April 3rd in the USA unlike Poland where it is definitely understood as March 4th.

Similarly, Americans use 'a.m.' and 'p.m.' notes to indicate the half of the day while Poland tends to use 24-hours standard (i.e. 15.00 instead of 3 p.m.)

Other style norms can also be accommodated. For instance, the English word 'dear' can be an intimate word of endearment or a common address in a business letter, whereas the Polish language uses different words to convey these very different meanings.

Please Contact Us to discuss your localization requirements.