[Typo3-doc] Greetings from the US

[Alex Heizer]

Hi Francesco,


Francesco di Francia wrote:

>>>3. Create a repository to store the US-English versions...
>>>      
>>>
>
>I'm italian and i ever have to fight with my not-so-good english skill 
>to understand english documentation. Anyway i succeeded without 
>particular problem, it only takes me double of the time to read.
>I know about some error in english documentation made by non english 
>developer but afterall the documents still remain clear.
>But...is really a matter/issue the UK english for USA-english speaking 
>people ? I did not thought that there was so much differences in this 2 
>languages to inhibit the typo3 spread in USA
>
>Create an entire US-English copy of the US-almostenglish documentation 
>it could be a waste of resource
>
Thanks for your perspective. That's along the lines of what we were 
discussing about how non-native-English-speakers probably won't notice 
the difference between US-English and UK-English. Even the small 
difference between us calling it British-English and you calling it 
UK-English indicates that we think differently over here. :)

Actually, sad to say, for US audiences it does make a difference. US 
consumers are very particular and I've read more than a few comments on 
forums and lists where a US reader actually puts down a 
non-native-English-speaker's intelligence due to their lack of "proper" 
US English. Our intent with the documentation is to make that a 
non-issue, since everyone's intelligence is without question here and 
the developers deserve to be respected for their work rather than be put 
down for their lack of "proper" US English. If we can increase the 
regard of TYPO3 through simply correcting some typos, and get more 
people using it as a result of that, I'd like to consider that an 
investment of time, rather than a waste of resource.

And, for people whose English is "not-so-good", it may help with 
comprehension since I know from trying in vain to learn German and 
Spanish that when I have to look up a word, it had better be the correct 
spelling or I will *never* guess what the correct spelling is. So 
hopefully our investment of time can help in both directions -- both 
with providing documentation to picky US customers, but also within the 
developer community to make it easier for them to use on a daily basis.

Alex