[Sylpheeddoc-users] problem how to address the reade in the german manual

[Stephan W. B. <ste...@gm...>]

Hi,

I am looking through the German translation of the manual and 
came across a problem that doesn't exist in the English language (so it
is difficult for me to write about it in English *s*).

It is about the way we should address the reader in the text. In English
you normally say "you should click on that", "you then enter your name",
... In German, French etc., there are two way to directly address the
reader and one to be very general (not addressing the reader at all). In
German there is "du" (2. person singular) for a more familiar addressing
(in French "tu") and "Sie" (same as 3. person plural, but especially for
addressing one person, so it's in upper case) for a more polite way of
addressing (in French "Vous") - this addressing is common in "serious"
publications. There is a third way to avoid this all, it's the word
"man" (I am not good in French so I don't really know what the
equivalent is - maybe "en" ??). It means kind of "all the people". I
personally don't feel very comfortable reading manuals that are entirely
written in the "man" way.

Long explanation - short question.
How do you, especially other language translators, think about it?
I think all the languages, where this problem exists, should use the
same addressing. I am comfortable with both ("du" and "Sie") but I think
we should clear this.


greetings,
swb


-- 
'Look,' said Galder, 'just repeat that bit again, will you? The Disc
will be what?' DESTROYED, said Death. CAN I GO NOW? I LEFT MY DRINK.
--- The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett