Dutch

Communication Platforms

The most important thing to do is to stay connected with fellow translators and reviewers. The Localization Lab Mattermost is hosted on the International Freedom Festival domain and is subject to their Code of Conduct. Be sure to read through the Code of Conduct and then contact us and we will send you a link to sign up for the channel. You can also comment on strings in Transifex, but please tag a reviewer for your language, because Transifex comments can otherwise easily go unnoticed.

Dutch style guide

Ask yourself: "If my 65 year old mother read this (who has a total of 3 apps on her phone and uses only one of them on a weekly basis), would she understand this without anyone's help?". The goal is not to translate words, the goal is to make the text understandable to people who grew up in a different country.

Signal Messenger

This Style guide is a result of reviewers communicating about inconsistencies and solutions to those. As the result of previous discussions we have come up with the following style guide for Dutch localization of Signal messenger. The style may deviate from other Localization Lab project, because no two projects are the same. We will try to make this style guide easier to read in the future.

• The most important rule to always keep in question yourself who your audience will be and whether they will fully understand it. Yes, you are doing this work on behave of the Signal developers, but your audience are Signal users. Place yourself in the frame of mind of a Signal user who doesn't really know much about Signal and is trying to understand his options. Don't just translate literary, translate in such a way that it makes sense, is accurate, and is easy to read for the end user.
• Any translator or reviewer should be using the Signal Beta app, so you can see the new strings as soon as possible and know where they occur in the app. If you don't know the context, you can't write good localizations.
• What we are doing is localization, not just translation. That means translations do not have to match precisely to the same words in English; sometimes the cultural differences are a reason to write a different text in Dutch, meaning different words and/or a different structure of the sentence. An example: "Signal needs location services enabled to discover and connect with your old Android device." is localized as "Om je oude Android apparaat te kunnen detecteren en om er verbinding mee te maken is het nodig dat locatiebepaling op je apparaat is ingeschakeld.". Another example: don't write "Om het in te schakelen, tik op de schuifknop zodat hij blauw wordt." but instead write "Tik op de schuifknop zodat hij blauw wordt om meekijkpreventie in te schakelen."
• For quotation marks we use opening and closing quotation marks as such: “ ” . Note that these are not the same quotation marks we see in the English text strings. There is no key for these on your keyboard, so you might want to learn a shortcut to type them, or you can copy paste them wherever you need them.
• Follow proper Dutch spelling, for example don't write "log bestand" but instead write "logbestand".
• Dutch people like clear no bullshit language. Avoid figure of speech, try to be direct and factual.
• Try to write strings in such a way that your grandfather and grandmother will also understand Signal, prefer Dutch words over English terminology. If a word is unfamiliar to someone, it helps if it's a Dutch word and sound similar to other Dutch words which they do know the meaning of.
• On preference / setting descriptions: If the sentence contains any punctuation, end the sentence with a period. If the description does not contain any punctuation, don't end the sentence with a period.
• About the structure of sentences: we highly recommend you read this lesson about word order in Dutch language, even if Dutch is your first language. Many Dutch people also get it wrong. [1] Note that it's not just one page, there is a next page button on the bottom right and there are quite a lot of examples of different cases on that site. An example: Don't write "Deze personen kunnen door jou niet direct worden toegevoegd aan de groep." instead write "Deze personen kunnen door jou niet direct aan de groep worden toegevoegd.".
• About "je, jij, jou, jouw, u and uw" because Signal is a messenger you use day to day we think it's most fitting to use informal pronouns, so we don't use "u and uw". We use "je" wherever there is no ambiguity / possible confusion about the meaning of the text. We use "jij, jou or jouw" if the string does not occur in a sentence or if there is any ambiguity.
• Use the ellipsis symbol instead of three lose dots: … . If it is breaking of a word use no white space: Ben je me nu al verge… If it breaks of a sentence use a whitespace between the last word and the ellipsis: Ik heb het potje vet al op tafel …
• Make sure the subject is repeated in every new sentence, do not refer back to a previous sentence. We do this to keep texts easy to read and understand. An example: do not write "Turing this on allows you to receive emails. They will contain information about your account." instead write "Turning this on allows you to receive emails. The emails you will receive contain information about your account.".
• Avoid anglicisms, our job is to localize the content so it can be understood by as many people as possible, that includes people who don't understand even the most common of English words.
• For units we follow the Si-standards. That means we translate 20MB as 20 MB with a white space. Kilobytes as kB. Note that Signal does not use KiB, MiB etc, because Signal is following the same units as the Android operating system. The same rule applies to other units such as 10s becoming 10 s. Abbreviations for minutes, months and weeks are not si units but we agreed to translate those as "min", "mnd" and "w". Capitalization matters.
• The text strings for the app store sometimes contain wordplay. If a good wordplay in Dutch can't be found, than rather leave the word joke out and just factually describe the change.
• Use pronoun + "wie" instead of "die" wherever possible. Read Taaladvies about wie/die about where to use "wie" and where to use "die". This is a style choice we made to make complex sentences easier to comprehend.
• Use "van wie", "bij wie", "op wie" and "voor wie" instead of "waarvan", "waarmee", "waarop" and "waarvoor" wherever possible.
• For texts on buttons in Android and Desktop: use "Aan gesprek deelnemen", "Aan Signal doneren" and "Alice toevoegen". Do not use "Voeg Alice toe" or "Deelnemen aan gesprek" or "Doneren aan Signal". reason for this is optial readability. Also capitalize the first letter. on iOS we have not yet decided on the style, because that operating system often uses 'gebiedende wijs' rather than 'infinitief'.
• Try to stick to Dutch words, even if you see English words being used in other apps: "timer" becomes "tijdspanne", "admin" "beheerder", "checkbox" "selectievakje of aankruisvakje", "updaten" "bijwerken", "icon" "pictogram", "non-profit" "organisatie zonder winstoogmerk", "error" "fout", "database""databank" etc. You can find words like these listed in the Transifex Glossary for the Dutch Signal project.
• Beware of capitalization: use "QR-code" do not use "QR-Code" or "qr-code". "WiFi" is spelled different in Dutch: "wifi" all lowercase and without a dash. You can find words like these listed in the Transifex Glossary for the Dutch Signal project.
• Use signal words (words that indicate summation, contradiction etc.) wherever possible.
• Use formal verbs where their is no difference in meaning: use "je kunt" not "je kan". Howerver for "kun je" versus "kan je" there is a minor difference: "kan je" is more proposing while "kun je" is more forcefully suggestive. Therefore we use "kan je" instead of "kun je", and "zal je" instead of "zul je". https://taalhelden.org/bericht/het-kan-je-kun-je
• Don't forget that although in English articles can be omitted, in Dutch it's not an accepted practice to omit the article. For example: "Playback time of audio attachment" should be localized as "Afspeellengte van HET audiobericht".
• Don't use possessive pronounce for things the user isn't possessing: Don't write "Open Signal-Desktop en gebruik de sneltoetsen om je tekstgrootte aan te passen.", instead write "Open Signal-Desktop en gebruik de sneltoetsen om de tekstgrootte aan te passen.". Users don't have font size, Signal has font size.
• We consistently use only the ‘rode werkwoordsvolgorde’, never the ‘groene werkwoordsvolgorde’. This means we never write "... vertrokken is." but instead always write "... is vertrokken.". For more information about verb order: https://onzetaal.nl/taaladvies/rode-groene-volgorde/

Extra example:

• Don't localize "Other Signal users who are saved to your phone's contact list." as "Andere Signal-gebruikers die zijn opgeslagen in jouw telefoons contactenlijst." but instead localize it as "Andere Signal-gebruikers van wie het telefoonnummer voor komt in de systeemcontactenlijst van jouw telefoon."

Other projects

For other projects the style has not yet been written down, however some translators seem to hold on to a style guide from Microsoft.

Tips for consistency

• Use the suggestions tab in Transifex to see if a similar string has already been translated before
• Use the glossary tab to see if a particular word has a suggestion
• Always read the comments on the string
• Look at the string key, to see what it is called in the code
• If you want, you could take a look at the source code in GitHub. Just reading the titles of recent commits could already give you a helpful clue.
• If you are not sure about the context, ask other translators in the comments, leave the string untranslated or give it your best guess and come back later to review it.
• ANY time you edit a translation on a project with multiple separate resources, make sure to open all the resources and check if the same string exists elsewhere to apply the exact same edit there. An example would be when you edit a string in the Android Signal messenger app, make sure to also check if the same string exists in the Desktop app, the iOS app, the website or the support center. It's not easy for other reviewers to spot the inconsistency later, so do this right away at the very moment you make an edit.
• Be extra careful with plurals in Transifex, it's easy to miss one of the plural forms when reviewing. You can check all plurals again by searching for pluralized:yes
• Found a spelling mistake, grammar mistake, word order mistake or some word which is better substituted with another word? Don't just correct it when you see it and move on, check all the strings on all the resources for the same mistake or imperfection and correct that mistake on all the strings where it occurs. The moment you noticed something is the only opportunity to come up with a consistent solution across all the strings.

How to review

• If there is a Beta version of the website or app you are translating, you should probably be using it so you have early knowledge of where the string will occur , in what context, and how much space is available
• See if the string provides clear information, and that users don't have to guess about its meaning.
• Make sure all the punctuation is accurate, the capitalization is accurate, there are no double white spaces, and no missing white spaces
• Make sure all symbols and next line match with the original string
• Make sure the vocabulary matches that of other strings
• Make sure the structure of the sentence matches that of other strings
• Make sure the exact same phrase, with the same vocabulary and same sentence structure is used across various projects of the same organization, for example in the case of Signal messenger, across the iOS app, Desktop app, Android app, Support Center, Website and App store.
• Make sure the string fits in the available space. However if you feel the available space is insufficient, do not come up with some unreadable string, but instead contact the developer about creating additional space for translated strings.
• Don't just look at untranslated string, some strings are automatically translated by Transifex but might still be wrong because the context requires a different translation. use source_updated_after:dd-mm-yyyy to find all the new strings. Also check for edits made by others, using translation_updated_after:dd-mm-yyyy .

Language Resources

Please use the following resources to guide the style, tone and terminology you use across Localization Lab supported projects. Note: These resources are not are not final. If you disagree with terminology or grammar choices, please escalate the issue to the Localization Lab team for further discussion with other Dutch language team contributors.

Grammar and word order in sentences

• https://www.dutchgrammar.com/en/?n=WordOrder.00 About word order in sentences. It's not just one page, keep clicking on next page in the bottom right to see more examples.
• http://redekundig.nl/ a tool to help identify the structure of a Dutch sentence. Very helpful if you're dealing with complex grammatical rules and need to understand the sentence you are reviewing.
• https://urd2.let.rug.nl/~vannoord/bin/alpino university hosted tool to identify structure of a Dutch sentence. It's the same tool as redekundig.nl but hosted elsewhere, and the interface is harder to comprehend. Would advise trying this in case redekundig.nl isn't giving you the information you need.
• List of signal words, use these wherever possible, they help clarify your message and prevent ambiguity.

Style and tone

• First follow any style guide you find here on this wiki for language and project you are working on
• If you are missing something, contact other translators
• If you search for style advise from other websites, avoid getting it from tech companies who make up their own version of Dutch language based on marketing rather than proper standard Dutch. Also avoid other wiki's which are often written by opinionated people who are not representative for the language. That doesn't mean you can't read them and learn from them, but take it with a grain of salt.

Spelling

• Taaladvies
• Taalnet
• OnzeTaal

Technical terminology

We prefer to use the glossary in Transifex. Localization lab also has a general Glossary, although we don't really use it much at this time: Dutch Unified Localization Lab Glossary. The document is maintained by Erin (a localization lab employee). If you wish to add comments, edits or suggest new entries, do so using the "Comment" feature in the spreadsheet.

Language varieties

Dutch language varieties do not have their own glossary, style guide or terminology. All of these languages varieties follow Dutch (nl). there is generally no use in setting up resources for nl_NL, nl_BE or any other nl_* region, project maintainers should simply set up nl.

Dutch in Belgium / Flemish (nl_BE)

Flemish people may live in a different geographical region but are in a language union with and are in the same language region as Dutch people, therefore there are usually no differences between nl_NL and nl_BE. Projects should simply be localized to Dutch (nl). In the rare case some translation isn't clear to Flemish speakers, they can request to phrase the translation differently, but at all times the rules of standard Dutch should be followed.

Other varieties

Below you find a list of other language varieties along with their ISO 3166-1 code:

• nl_AW Dutch (Aruba)
• nl_BQ Dutch (Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius))
• nl_CW Dutch (Curaçao)
• nl_SR Dutch (Suriname)
• nl_SX Dutch (Sint Maarten)

Similar languages

If you want to localize a project to a language which has strong similarities to Dutch and if there already exist good quality translations to Dutch, than it is recommended to base your translations of Dutch rather than English or an other source language. This may make translations faster, but more importantly it also keeps the texts consistent, so that someone who lives just across the border, or someone who has family in the other region, doesn't see completely different texts for the same project. In Transifex there is an option to swap which language you are using as the source language for your translations; you will find it by clicking the setting icon in the top right of the translation interface. Any strings that have not yet been translated to Dutch will automatically still be shown as the original source language for the project (usually English).

West Frisian (fy_NL)

Frisian is a language of its own, but because most if Frisians actually live in the Netherlands and have Dutch as their first or second language, and because the Frisian community is very small, Frisian is merged with the Dutch community. Of course they have their own style, terminology and glossary but these have not yet been determined.

Afrikaans (af)

Afrikaans is a language on its own and because it is spoken in a different region and has plenty of speakers, it has its own localization community.