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The following little irk in our realm of seemingly unimportant issues came to me during a fit of insomnia, where either everything starts to click or is inane drivel. You decide. In any case, it was triggered by events that keep popping back up to us non-native English tongues. In an order to facilitate us, just about any company brings out their Operating System (henceforthOS) in our custom language. Theres nothing wrong with the amicable gesture per se, but its also not completely helpful.
Yeah, ok…
For instance, the current Windows OS that comes packed with any standardpurchasein other countriesare providedin the local language. Thisis doneto addressless technical folks and introduce them to the basic workings of dealing with technology. Again, that part is helpful. Now, the big issue is that its a standard. Well get to that explanation in a second; first I need to needlessly prattle about how I got pushed to the brink. If you dont care to read, skip the following paragraph:
Since my OS is in a different language, other basic programs, such as browsers, feel the need to adapt to that detected language. Obviously, since it may well be the only language I know, they need to immediately certify Im able to understand their product. However, being on the internet, Ill more than probably understand English; I prefer it for the explanation in following paragraph. Yet, for the umpteenth time, once my settingsare clearedfor updates, maintenance and so forth, the browser will revert to my local language, confusing me in its workings. Thissubsequentlygets picked up by other instances. In this case, it wasYoutubethat updated and needed my detailed info, but asked so in a language I wouldnt be ableto functionproperly from a technical standpoint. All the basic technical notions I know, Iwas handedby the predominantly English internet universe. Here lies the core of the issue.
Did you skip the paragraph? No matter, well get down to business: The standard of offering any OS in a custom language is ironically counterintuitive to its purpose. You see, the user accessibility provided in catering to a specific languageis setto lower the bar for others to get into, yet this poses that these users have little to no prior knowledge of the tech. This means that no matter what the term is, its probably going to sound foreign in the way that any of its intended uses are an abstract notion to that person. Therefore, providing the OS in English or the local setting will have very little significant difference, if at all. Yet, this is only tier 1 of the issue. Since were atstatus quoright now, the level needs to go one deeper, as noted in the exemplary form mentioned above.
Trust me, you want to know exactly what you're doing in BIOS.
Seeing as both languages swing unknown terms at you, your best shot at understanding more is to do some research. So much is true for anything in life. If I want to suck less at cooking, I look at some instructional videos and if I feel really bold, Ill simply look up detailed texts on the pros and cons of certain cooking skills. Twenty minutes later, Ill have a microwaved meal set for a god; a lazy god. Where would that research take place, especially on a multimedia device? If youve guessed the internet, then were already one step closer. Yes, the internets first intended use, before itwas wastedon human decadence, was to provide information. You might have read something about that whilst Tweeting and searching for pornography. I know I have, search for info that is.
Did I mention the internet is predominantly in Englishform? Good; we cleared that. Now, it is true that there are also other languages filled with info, but heres where it starts to stutter. There arevirtuallyendless research possibilities in English. Past the standard, overly complexmumbojumbo provided by sites, such as Microsoft help for Windows, there are millions of forums where people can get an explanation fit to their needs. Whatever the issue, theres probably a solution you can find, explained in a simple step to step basis, even with pictures, just a search engine keystroke away. Again, these also exist in other languages, but the amount is immensely different for both. Past the standard, even more foreign help in a custom language, there are a few thousand topics to research, if any at all, dependent on the language.
Given that any which way, you wont know what the original term really means, this original facilitation of providing an OS to your custom needs is now actually hindering you from working. For a detailed instance, I know full well what a Control Panel is and I know how to get my way around, due to extensively going back and forth between helping resources and the words pointed out. I however have 0 notion of what a Configuratiescherm in Dutch really means, nor the underlying words and finding that out isfrequentlyhard. More so, trying to translate is a lost cause, since idiosyncrasies oft slip in translation. Id bemuch betteroff with an English version to teach me the words that might as well be compared with icons, since their meaning are only esoteric for now. I can click the button that says the thing, even if I dont understand it, because theres a detailed explanation stating it works as intended. I dont need a language for that; thats pattern recognition.
Why can't this just be explained in a simple cookies vs rainbows ratio?
While it is true that any OS will probably offer alternatives, that isnt the point. The point is that theadoptedlanguageshould bethe alternative,thereforeliminating much technological illiteracy by providing amuch largerpool of knowledge in English. Yes, language packs are a nice touch, but for Windows at least, these differences are costly, just for a small boost. Its not fair for usersto bepunished for ignorance; theres already plenty that can go wrong by operating something that is a distant notion to you. Now I should leave you and try to figure out how to thoroughly clean any search and browser histories from a Dutch OS; because I looked up too much info, of course.