Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Learning German with Google: Browser Language Preference

So, I had to change my browser language to a different language in order to verify that the LocalSearchControl based the language of its text ('search') on the browser preference. And then once I did that, I thought - well, why not just change the browser language permanently? I'm in German class right now at Google (taught through Berlitz), and I need ways to absorb more German outside of class. So, I changed my browser language to German and saw most of my Google services suddenly had a lot more 'k's in their UI messages. The cool thing is that I've pretty much memorized the UI of stuff I use all the time, so I can translate just based off position in the site layout. The hardest part has been with banning spammers in Groups. It's a lengthy process that involves expanding a message, clicking one link amongst a row of 10, confirming ja/nein, going to the moderate members section, finding the member, and then selecting an action from the dropdown menu. The fact that it's not as obvious as other UI has made it so that most of the words I've learned so far are from Groups (eftnernen = remove!), since I can't rely on position as easily and actually have to think about it.

Anyway, it's been a learning experience. Moving to Germany would probably be a whole lot more effective immersion, but that might be slightly more difficult. ;)

1 comment:

pbsl said...
