Am I alone in my disappointment at the standard of English in the Superb Owner's Manual? It is very stilted and parts are unintelligible, e.g. on page 64

and on page 178

The "flashing light" in the second para. is the turn indicators, but I only found that out through a Skoda video from a web search. The dealer couldn't explain it!

The same is true of the Skoda app.

Edited 6 May, 20179 yr by SuperbG

Translation is pretty poor throughout the manual leading to often confusing information. It's as if it was translated by a computer rather than a human translator, as computers struggle with context.

The one that always comes to mind is for front assist auto-braking... "There is a risk of a collision with a stationary moving obstacle in a vehicle speed range of approximately 30 km/h to about 85 km/h."

 

I'm sure Albert Einstein has a theory on how an object can be both stationary and moving at the same time.

 

Ja, I do. Das Earth ist rotating at 1000 mph so das stationary object ist also moving at 1000 mph.

Surely someone at Skoda UK could proof read the manuals before they are printed, to see if they made sense?

 

Having said that, I work for a Japanese company and we have a similar problem. 

Yeah, translation is a funny business; one I happen to know rather well.

 

My biggest bugbear in the previous generation Superb’s Columbus menu was the German computer-speak “Extras” instead of the English “Options”. Such a simple thing to get right, and yet…

 

Then there’s the ⌀ symbol; a German favourite, but often not understood the way they understand it.

 

The ‘golden rule’ for getting translations right – or at least having the best chance of achieving that – is that the translator should be a native speaker of the target language. I did a lot of work for Daimler-Chrysler (as was). Certainly then (don’t know about now), the company had an ‘army’ of its own, directly employed translators; something in itself unusual. They had plenty of people who were very good at making sure the English was indeed English (also with the distinctions between US and UK English very carefully made).

 

The more typical scenario even among big corporations is that a given company will commission a translation agency that 1) offers a keen rate and 2) makes wonderful claims about having the ‘best native-speaker translators’ (while paying them peanuts). Surprise, surprise, the test translations submitted to get the contract will be good. Day to day, that’s then unaffordable for the agency, of course. The customer, meanwhile, will lack the skills and/or – more importantly – the time to ensure that every detail is spot on. Furthermore, few good translators want to do manuals; they’re tedious, lousy business.

 

And so we get a never-ending stream of crap translations … for our amusement and bemusement.

But there are lots of real and potential safety issues arising from the manual . . . especially as the manufacturers are using the buyers to beta test their gadgets for the forthcoming 'driverless' car.

 

On a related issue; if I try to buy a Skoda accessory, the online pdf brochure is in Czech, and I ended up on a site in Czech with no 'change language' button, and prices in Koruna. More or less the same thing happened when I attempted to update my NAV data; I was directed to find a service partner(!) but ended up on a page entirely in Czech identifying only Czech options.

 

If I had known about these irritating issues, I might not have chosen Skoda . . . . . . 

This is a subject close to my heart - I work in the industry. @eurotraveller is right - it often comes down to cost-cutting (like many things). Basically, they select a basic translation partner based on the lowest price per word, rather than the quality they actually deliver.

 

The other issue is translation versus 'localisation'. The latter takes in aspects of culture and a greater depth of nuance and subtlety - it usually (but not always) relates to software adaptations for different countries and invariably produces better results. As far as I'm concerned, any user manual, website, or piece of software adapted for another country should look, feel, and function as though it was produced locally - even if it wasn't.

 

Auto companies are rarely prepared to pay enough to ensure this is the case.

Indeed.

 

Furthermore, original documents can be poorly written because knowledge of good language usage is diminishing in many countries (look how bad knowledge of English frequently is in England) and/or once again time constraints.

 

What does the often poorly-paid translator do with that? Does he/she pick up the phone to the author (if they have direct access) to ask what was meant? Or do they ‘wing it’ as the chances are no-one will notice anyway? Besides, the author(s) may not wish to know; it’s off their desk already and they’ll have plenty more to do without revisiting ‘old’ material.

 

Cynical, moi? Not entirely; there are companies that do take greater care. As almost ever, you get what you pay for (cars excepted ).