From: Josef 'Jupp' Schugt <jupp@...>
Date: 2003-03-07T09:49:19+09:00
Subject: Re: Internationalization

EHLO

* On 2003-03-06 20:03
* MikkelFJ <mikkelfj-anti-spam@bigfoot.com> wrote:
> If people would just provide good examples of their modules in
> Ruby, possibly also with Test::Unit, the Japanese/Russian/English
> etc. problem would essentially be solved.

I don't fully agree with that. The following is a slightly modified
example taken from 'Programmieren mit Ruby' by Ro:hrl, Schmiedl and
Wyss. It illustrates several features of Ruby. I am pretty sure that
people who do not understand any German will have some problems in
understanding it.

$gewinn = { 'Papier' => 'Stein',
            'Stein'  => 'Schere',
            'Schere' => 'Papier' }
$erlaubt = $gewinn.keys + ['Genug']
$punkte = { 'Rechner' => 0 , 'Mensch' => 0 }

def auswerten(menschAuswahl, rechnerAuswahl)
  if menschAuswahl == rechnerAuswahl
    print "Unentschieden "
  elsif $gewinn[menschAuswahl] == rechnerAuswahl
    $punkte['Mensch'] += 1
    print "Gewonnen "
  else
    $punkte['Rechner'] += 1
    print "Verloren "
  end
end

def status(mensch, rechner)
  print "Es steht #{mensch} zu #{rechner} "
  print ((mensch > rechner) ? ':-)' : ':-('), "\n\n"
end

def input
  puts "Auswahl: (#{$erlaubt.join(',')}) "
  print "Deine Wahl? "
  return STDIN.gets.chomp.capitalize
end

while eingabe == input
  next unless $erlaubt.include?(eingabe)
  break if eingabe = 'Genug'
  recherAuswahl = $erlaubt[rand(3)]
  auswerten(eingabe, rechnerAuswahl)
  status($punkte['Mensch'], $punkte['Rechner'])
end

<rot13>
Vg vf n fvzcyr cebtenz gb cynl 'Fpurer, Fgrva, Cncvre' (fpvffbef,
fgbar, cncre) ntnvafg lbhe pbzchgre.
</rot13>

> Most Japenese developers know enough english to name their
> functions but sometimes have problems with forming sentences.

English and Japanese are indeed *very* different. Just to give a
possibly known example:

One of the famous anim�s by Studio Ghibli is "Kaze no Tani no
Naushika". This literally means "Wind of Valley(s) of Naushika". It
does *not* mean 'The Wind of Naushika's Valley' but 'Nausica� of the
Valley of Wind'.

If you forget to take into acount this inverse order an English
sentence may make little to no sense.

Maybe it would be helpful if someone could make a list of similar
pitfalls to help Japanese write documentations in English and help
the rest of us in understanding sentences written by Japanese that at
first sight make no sense.

That may sound like a very strange idea but it isn't. I am German and
may Germans "use often not the word order of the english" (they often
don't use the word order of the english language). If one knows that
order it is much easier to understand them.

Just my 2 euro cent

Josef 'Jupp' Schugt <jupp (at) gmx.de>            http://jupp.tux.nu/