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RoadTest Applications Must Be Written in English

rscasny

RoadTest applicants are global. They come from nearly every continent (I haven't gotten on from Antarctica yet) and every occupational level: students through experienced engineers.

 

But a very small portion of RoadTest applications are written in non-English languages. Perhaps 1 or 2 percent.

 

Most of our suppliers use English as their language of communication. German is second and French or Spanish is third.

 

I surely don't want to disregard our non-English speaker applicants. But it's a matter of resources: I would need to get a translator in the language of our suppliers -- the ones who choose the finalists.

 

So, at this time I'd like to announce that all roadtest applications must be written in English to be considered.

 

If you have written an application in a currently enrolling roadtest in a language other than English and want to re-write it in English, please contact me at and I'd be happy to oblige you. (Past roadtests are done deals. Sorry.)

 

Sincerely,

 

Randall Scasny

RoadTest Program Manager

  • Hi.

     

    Let me be the first to volunteer as a translator from Indian spoken languages. I shall try my best to translate as well as decipher any data that you may get.

     

    image

  • Most of our suppliers use English as their language of communication. German is second and French or Spanish is third.

    So, at this time I'd like to announce that all roadtest applications must be written in English to be considered.

    Does it follow that the actual review is also going to be in English? (or the other two languages)

     

    I appreciate the translation issues, but from the comments made about some applications, Google Translate would probably suffice for many.

    The others might need a bit of effort and cutting and pasting due to the word limit.

     

    It does add one more obstacle to those non-english speakers (and writers) but right or wrong English is considered the international language.

     

    Cheers

    Mark

  • I'm afraid I can't translate but I can recommend the free version of Grammarly to improve your writing. Although the Firefox plugin does not play well with the Element14 site.

  • Any Spanish translation required my wife is willing to help out.

     

    Dale

  • in reply to mcb1

    Mark,

     

    You are clever. My main concern are the reviews themselves. I need them in English. Yes, I could use Google Translate and it may be good enough to determine what the applicant wants to do especially if the application is fairly general. But the review is a different animal in my opinion for a couple of reasons. And the review is what the supplier really needs because that's what he or she may give to a potential customer. An application in English proves to me that the person can communicate in the language of the supplier. And if he can write in english, why didn't he write an English application? I don't want to end up with a non-English review. What if the RoadTest has a problem and needs to communicate with me? I don't feel I need to find a means to translate. As an a side, we did some German articles and we hired a translator. This has never been spelled out before and that's why I created the discussion and have articulated the policy. Finally, I don't have the resources to check and edit and verify that everything is accurate. If someone has a better idea, I'm flexible and can change the policy.

  • in reply to rscasny

    My main concern are the reviews themselves. I need them in English.

    Unfortunately the title says "Applications", which IMO is misleading.

     

     

    I agree that trying to translate brings some other issues (sorry non-english writers) for both element14 and the suppliers.

     

    Mark

  • in reply to mcb1

    I think its correct. Until now application could be written in languages other than English, but I think the reviews were required to be in English. So the change is that applications also must be in English now. Think of it as a litmus test - only when the application is in 'OKish' English one can assume that the review will be OK too.

     

    hli

  • in reply to mcb1

    If the application is not written in English, I have no indication that the review will be.

     

    I have had a few roadtests where the applications were written in 4 different languages.

     

    It becomes a real issue if the roadtest attracts many applicants.

     

    At this point, I'd like to shift the responsibility of submitting an application in English onto the applicant.

     

    As I said yesterday, anyone who has previously submitted a non-English application can either re-submit in English and send the English version to me.

     

    Some people have offered to be translators. That could be an option. But would they translate the review especially if it is long?

     

    Randall

  • Can you translate this:

     

    Хотелось бы ....

     

    This is the beginning of a roadtest application.