Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: neilg@fraser.sfu.ca (Neil K. Guy)
Subject: Re: A language problem
Message-ID: <neilg.764589641@sfu.ca>
Sender: news@sfu.ca (seymour news)
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
References: <Cn4E1H.DIL@ztivax.zfe.siemens.de> <joedal.764508688@dfi.aau.dk> <neilg.764537608@sfu.ca> <Cn7qq5.JKL@ztivax.zfe.siemens.de>
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 10:00:41 GMT
Lines: 45

isgi@ztivax.zfe.siemens.de (Oliver Rothe) writes:

>Unfortunately, the sentence "look at the wolpertinger" becomes
>"schau den Wolpertinger an". Similarly, the simple sentence
>"drop the pretzel" becomes "lass die Brezel fallen", so we have a 
>problem here.

 Yes, I do remember that German tends to split verbs into two
sections, with the cursed (for me, anyway :) "little bit words" added
to the end. These can be simulated through the use of the preposition
feature in TADS, but there are times when it could be awkward.

>These sentences are also good examples for another problem:
>They sound somehow stupid to an educated German. [...]

 Now that is something that no mere technical fix can deal with. :)
Certainly, English seems an easier fit to the short, clipped and
robotic sentences that computers can easily understand than many
other, more graceful, languages. Although somehow stupid-sounding
sentences seems an accepted part of the text adventure genre, perhaps
tied in with a desire not to type pages of instructions. Nobody would
walk around saying "Eat Doughnut" or "Open Door", but it somehow seems
normal in an interaction with a computer.

>I have received several e-mail messages telling me that my English is 
>not quite as bad as I thought (thanks for cheering me up :-) ), so I'll
>give it a try and write my game in English. I hope I'll find some
>native speakers as betatesters who look after my grammar (this was 
>suggested to me).

 Like many educated Europeans, you have excellent English. Certainly a
damn sight better than the French or German or Swedish or whatever of
most of us North Americans. :) But I must admit a certain wish that
people would write more stuff in their native tongues. I wouldn't be
able to get very far in a German text adventure, but I think *someone*
should challenge the cultural imperialism of the English language in
the domain of computers! :)

>IMHO, this is a dangerous trap for every programmer: refining the tools
>instead of getting the work done.

 One that I, speaking from current experience, can also attest to! :)

 - Neil K.

