Spanish Style Guide

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This is actually a WORK IN PROGRESS. Please, don't edit.

Send your suggestions at this spanish forum: http://www.irenemuni.com/foro/ct-422-guia-de-estilo-vt1510.html

Thanks.



SPANISH LOCALIZATION STYLE GUIDE FOR SECONDLIFE and XStreetSL

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to provide stylistic guidelines for in-house translators and volunteers working on the Viewer, web pages, KB articles, e-mails, blog entries, announcements and wiki pages of Second Life and XStreetSL.

By style, we refer to preferred writing techniques to be used on various content types.

By tone, we refer to the way Second Life residents should be addressed.

This style guide and the glossary should be used at all times.

General Guidelines

  1. We translate using the criteria agreed by 22 Academies of the Spanish language in the Real Academia Española:
    1. The Spanish language grammar rules of the Nueva gramática de la Lengua Castellana and the Ortografía de la lengua española.
    2. The Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Whenever possible, do not use words that are not present in that Dictionary or in the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas.
    • These procedure are our basic criterion in all the translations. Below will be cases, but it is impossible to see them all. The sources quoted are always the best tool. If you are not accustomed to their use, or you don't dominate their rules, it will be good that you consult your translations with others before pueblicarlas.
    • If you are not accustomed to their use, or not mastered its rules, it will be good to consult with other translations before publish them.
  1. Please, use the translation agreed in the Glossary.
  2. In the translation we try to be faithful to the terms proposed by Linden Lab. Sometimes, a term does not seem to us to be the most suitable. But we think that Linden Lab must decide the most correct thing. So we look for the Spanish word most adapted for this term.
  3. Often, a single word in English can be translated into Spanish by several words. We chose the Spanish word that comes closest to the meaning of the word in English, although not its literal translation (eg, "Owner" is "Dueño", but the sense of "Ownner" makes wise choice "Propietario). We should not follow the original English syntactic structure too closely, what matters is the meaning.
  4. It is common in English to form a term by juxtaposing individual words. In Spanish is almost never correct (eg, "Group-owned" should be "Perteneciente al grupo" or similar).
  5. In Spanish, many words are masculine or feminine gender. We are conscious of the debate that exists nowadays on this matter. But it is not feasible to use constantly constructions like, for putting an example, "los y las Residentes". We use always the generic gender.
  6. This is guide based on the Spanish from Spain (Spanish-Es), or Castellano. We always will try to do a valid translation for all the Spanish-speaking countries. But already one saw in the Glossary that sometimes is not easy ("coger", "tomar"...), and it is necessary to choose (and in this case, we choose the Spanish of Spain).


Specific Topics

Punctuation

The purpose of this section is to list the most important rules as well as rules that are specific to Second Life. Follow the Real Academia Española indications on punctuation and pay attention to important differences between Spanish and English punctuation (you can see this explanation.

Commas

Use commas to separate elements in a series consisting of three or more elements with a similar grammatical function. When one of the coordinating conjunctions “y”, “o” “u” joins the last two elements in a series, do not use a comma before the conjunction. Use a comma before the coordinating conjunction only if it is repeated in the sentence or if the elements do not have the same grammatical function. Remember that the Spanish language use more commas than the English.

Example:

Cuando haya entrado a Second Life, descubrirá un mundo virtual en plena efervescencia, lleno de gente, creación, arte y diseño, y oportunidades únicas.


Colons

Colons should be used before lists and explanations.

Do not use a capital letter after the colon, even after “Nota” or “Aviso”, "Atención", "Consejo" etc., except if the text is at the beginning of a paragraph.

Example:

Nota: puede elegir en qué orden aparece la lista de objetos del inventario.


Quotation Marks

Please use Spanish quotation marks: "…"

Only if there is a quotation within another quotation must be used the "comillas de texto": «»

However, sometimes it will be enough "single quote": '...'

Non-breaking spaces should be used between the chevrons and the quoted text.

Punctuation marks that do not belong to the quoted text are always placed outside the quotation marks.

Example:

En Second Life, puede crear y personalizar su personaje en 3D, llamado "avatar". Alguna página web lo describe así: "El 'avatar' (según la RAE, «reencarnación, transformación») es la propia persona dentro de SL".


Spacing/Non-breaking spaces

  • All double punctuation marks (quotation marks, colons, semi colons, question marks and exclamation marks) must be preceded by a non-breaking space.

To insert a non-breaking space, press CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR, type ALT+0160 in a word doc; In html, enter &+nbsp+;

Example 1: ¿Cuáles son los artículos por los que Linden Lab factura IVA?

Example 2: Nuestro número de IVA es: EU826011179.

Example 3: ¡Bienvenido a Second Life!

Example 4: Si el avatar no se ha descargado por completo, aparece como una nube blanca, un fenòmeno llamado Se il tuo avatar non è completamente caricato, appare come una nuvola, un fenomeno chiamato "ser Ruth”.


Lists

Bulleted and numbering lists should follow the style of Spanish lists.

A period should be inserted at the end of each segment of the list.

The first letter of each item should start with a upper case.

Sometimes, it's possible use the suspensive points. Then, the next item should start with lower letter.

Use parallel structure, e.g., if one segment starts with a verb, all should begin with a verb.

Example 1:

El historial de su cuenta muestra:

  • Todas las operaciones que ha hecho.
  • Sus pagos del IVA y…
  • …la cuota de IVA que se le aplica.
  • Otros datos de sus actividades económicas.


Abbreviations

Only very common abbreviations should be used. Insert a space before measurement symbols.

The Real Academia Española offers a list of usual abbreviations in Spanish besides the gramatical rules that must govern their use.


Acronyms and abbreviations

  • Acronyms:

An acronym (the Spanish "sigla") is a group of initials, each representing a word. They should be written in capital letters without periods or spaces. They haven't plural. The acronym must correspond to the Spanish or English terms. The acronyms should be followed by their full spelling in parentheses the first time they appear on a page or an e-mail.

A good summary of acronyms can be found in el Libro de Estilo de "El País". The Real Academia Española explain their gramatical rules.

  • Abbreviations:

Abbreviations such as "SL" or "av", "tp" or "lm", should be avoided as they may confuse users (especially new ones!) They should be replaced by regular expressions such as "Second Life", "avatar", "'teleporte'", "hito".


Brackets (parentheses)

  • Parentheses should be used to clarify statements or provide additional information.

Example:

Second Life tiene muchos lugares donde poder adquirir lo preciso para personalizar tu avatar (piel, forma, pelo...) y tus complementos (ropa, calzado, adornos, etc.).

  • Use only regular parentheses () for parenthetical notes. Do not use braces [] or curly braces {}.
  • Angled brakets <> are used to show snippets of code within text.


Capital letters

The source text uses capital letters to convey important messages. In Spanish, such messages would be perceived as rude or as a shout, and should be avoided. In addition, in English the use of capital letters is frequent in the middle of the phrase. It is not correct in Spanish.

Example 1:

English: The Basic Access Account is FREE.

To be avoided: La cuenta básica es GRATIS.

Preferred: La cuenta básica es gratis.

Example 2:

English: You can see the text in Spanish and English, and the Object will appear in your Inventory when you pick Create Object.

To be avoided: Puede ver el texto en Español y en Inglés, y el Objeto aparecerá en su Inventario cuando pulse Crear un objeto.

Preferred: Puede ver el texto en español y en inglés, y el objeto aparecerá en su inventario.


Second Life specific punctuation rules

When referring to a Second Life page or feature, a button, or a link, do not use quotation mark as in the English. Instead, start the name of the page, link or functionality with a capital letter.

Example:

English: Go into SL and click on the "Find" button

To be avoided: Entra en SL y pulsa "Buscar".

Preferred: Entra en SL y pulsa Buscar.

(Sometimes, you can use the single quote for clarify).


Formatting

Dates

  • In Italian, the date format is DD de MM de YYYY and not MM DD YYYY as in English.

Example: 28 de marzo de 2009

  • For the abbreviated from, use (-) as separators, and don't use zeroes (0) for days and months from 1 to 9.

Example: 24-6-04


  • Days and months don't take an initial capital in Spanish.

The abbreviations of the months and days of the week are as follows.

Example:

Ene. Feb. Mar. Abr. May. Jun. Jul. Ago. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dic.

Lun. Mar. Mié. Jue. Vie. Sáb. Dom.


Time

Time should be expressed in Spanish format.

English examples: At 8:00 a.m., 8 p.m., and 12 noon

Spanish examples: A las 8.00, 8 de la tarde (or 20.00), y 12 de la mañana.

Please note that the use of "a.m." and "p.m." is also an acceptable format.


Numbers

Follow Italian conventions for numbers with four or more digits.

Spanish examples: 1.000, 10.000, 1.415.22, 222,67

Remember that in Spanish the historical year dont' use period: "Colón llegó a América en 1492".


Currencies

  • Currency symbols should be placed after the amount and preceded by a non-breaking space.

English example: USD 50

Spanish example: 50 USD

  • Use a period for thousand separators and a comma for decimal separators.

English example: USD 2000.50

Spanish example: 2.000,50 USD


Viewer, web pages, e-mails

Style and tone

  • The style of the viewer, web pages, and e-mails should simple, direct, and clear.
  • The tone should be engaging and friendly.
  • Both style and tone should be consistent throughout the application, and all web and KB articles, as well as e-mails.
  • In Second Life's daily use in Spanish language it is frequent to use "tu". But in the web, KB, email, etc., we use "usted", because it is a question of official texts of Linden Lab. We keep in mind the wide and varied group of users of Second Life.
  • Please don't use "telegraphic (robotic) language". In Spanish, for example, we must say "Crear un objeto", "Abrir una carpeta", "Botón derecho del ratón", or "Pulse el botón Buscar". It is not correct "Crear objeto", "Abrir carpeta", "Botón derecho", o "Pulse botón Buscar".


RULE 1:

Use "real world" language, and not overly "techie" or "robot-like".

If the source English is too technical, unclear, or confusing, do not hesitate to simplify it.

Example 1:

English: Inventory fetch from server timed out. Retry?

Spanish (to be avoided): Superado tiempo de espera del servidor para inventario. ¿Reintentar?

Spanish (preferred): La descarga del inventario desde el servidor ha superadop el tiempo normal de espera. ¿Volver a intentarlo?


RULE 2:

The tone should not be overly formal but not too casual or too colloquial. It should always be polite.

Example:

English: Oops!You tried to wear a [TYPE] and it did not load. Don't panic. Try again in a minute to give things a chance to settle down

Spanish (to be avoided): Buf... Usted quiere llevar un [TYPE], pero no carga. Tranqui, pruebe en un minuto a ver si la cosa se arregla sola.

Italian (preferred): Usted está inentando llevar un [TYPE], pero hay un problema: no podemos cargarlo. No es grave: vuelva a probar de aquí un minuto, es probable que se soluciones por sí solo.


Rule 3:

The content should be accurate, precise, encouraging, and user focused.

When the source English is unclear, or "complicated", try to make your translation simpler and "accessible" to a broad audience.

We are addressing residents from all levels of experience, and not Second Life experts.

Always try to put yourself in the shoes of a new user.

Example:

English: Simulator primitive usage

Spanish (to be avoided): Uso de prims en el simulador

Spanish (preferred): Primitivas que se están usando en el territorio


User interface

RULE 1:

When steps to follow are given, UI elements should be separated by a > symbol.

English example: Invite People to this Group using the 'Invite New Person...' button in the Members & Roles tab > Members sub-tab.

Spanish example: Invite a este grpo a otros residentes usando el botón Invitar a una nueva persona, situado en la pestaña Miembros y Funciones > Miembros.


RULE 2:

Buttons should be kept short. If a verb is used, the second person form should be used.

English example: Invite New Person...

Spanish example: Invitar a un residente...


RULE 3:

When referring to a UI element, in Spanish only the first letter of the UI element should be capitalized

English example: Create New Notice

Spanish example: Crear una Nueva noticia


RULE 4:

In Italian, localization results in text expansion (about 30%), which means that many Second Life menus, windows, buttons etc. might end up truncated.

While translating UI elements, try to use the shortest possible translation (no longer than English) when possible and if doing so does not affect the quality of the translation.


Rules about Terminology

Expired terminology

As Second Life has matured, Linden-favored terms have changed as well. When translating, please sure to be consistant in the terminology that is used and do not use "expired" terminology.

Use:

  • "Regiones" ("regions") instead of "sims" or "simulators" when referring to a single region.
  • "Residentes” ("residents") instead of "usuarios" (users), "suscriptores" ("subscribers"), "clientes" ("customers"), "avatares", etc.
  • "Región privada" ("private regions") instead of "isla" ("islands"), “isla privada” (private islands), etc.
  • "Dólares Linden" instead of "dinero" ("money"), "dólares", "monedas", "lindens", etc.
  • "L$" instead of "$", when denoting Linden Dollars.
  • "US$" instead of "$" when denoting US dollars.


Second Life specific terminology

Many terms were "invented" for Second Life and are not part of the English vocabulary. You can see in the Glossary the approved translation.


Note about the use of the expression "real world":

In English, the term "real world" is often used to refer to the "physical" world (as opposed to the virtual world).

In Italian we will use the same terminology: en el mundo real.

In the same way, when the source English refers to residents' real first and last name, in Spanish we'll talk about "nombre y apellido en el mundo real".


What to capitalize?


    • Proper nouns: Second Life, Linden Lab.
    • Acronyms: IM, IVA etc.
    • The first letter of Second Life Region names: Ahern
    • The first letter of each term that identifies a particular button or menu item within the Second Life client: menú Modificar, botón MI etc.


Menus, pie menus, windows, dialogs, tabs, buttons, fields


    • Menu ('Menú in Spanish): appear at the top of the Second Life window.
    • Pie Menu (in Spanish, Menú circular, or Menú en forma de quesito): wheel of selections that shows up whenever you right-click on something in-world.
    • Window (Ventana in Spanish): window that appears internally within the Second Life window, i.e. The Inventory window or the Search window.
    • Dialog (Finestra di dialogo in Spanish): blue box that appears in the corner whenever something happens in Second Life (when someone or something tries to give you inventory or if it turns out you can't sit on that thing you wanted to sit on etc.)
    • Tab (Pestaña in Spanish): tab that lives inside the windows in Second Life.
    • Button (Botón in Spanish): button that appears in the UI.
    • Fields (Campo in Spanish): pretty much anything used to provide input to Second Life that's not a button is a field.


Knowledge Base articles

There are two basic types of Knowledge Base article: the ones that answer a specific question ("¿Cómo crear una cuenta?") and the ones that give some general knowledge about a topic ("FAQ para los propietarios nuevos de terreno").

The rules governing the tone and style of Knowledge Base articles are the same as the ones for the Viewer.

Note that the style of KB articles can be very familiar and unclear at times.

Please keep in mind that residents reading these articles are looking for an answer to a question they have. Therefore, try to be as clear and concise as possible, even if you use humour here and there.

Miscellany

  • ADJECTIVE. Please put the adjective in its proper place. A "New resident" is not a "Nuevo Residente", is a "Residente nuevo".
  • PLEASE. In Spanish, "por favor" ("please") is always between commas or following by a comma: "Recuerde, por favor, que en..."; "Por favor, pulse en...".
  • CLICK. It isn't acceptable translate "click" as "click", or "clic", or "apriete", or "cliquée", or similar. You must use "pulse" o "pinche".
  • "Email" isn't a Spanish word. Use "correo electrónico" or "correo-e".
  • Don't translate brands, comercial names, trade marks, the name of a region, a button of the viewer that still appears in English...