Is this translation good enough?

checking translation quality

[shadeofgray]

First of all, sorry for my English and for all of my mistakes.

I am translating some part of my site to English. I am paying to translation agency because my English isn't very good. But how can I make sure this translation is good enough for native English visitors?

If I ask agency they will tell it is OK :) But I want to be sure. So could you tell me your opinion about fragment listed below? Is it good enough for you?

Working with an array starts with the array creation. You should distinguish the creation of array class instance and the memory allocation for the array. When creating the class instance, you can use constructor without any parameters, that creates an empty array without any elements, or you can use copy and assignment constructors that copy one array into another. In case the array is created by the default constructor, it contains no elements and an attempt to address them may cause the program failure. If, during the copy operation, the source array has no memory allocated for the array elements, destination array will contain no elements either. If the source array has memory allocated for its elements, destination array will allocate the same amount of memory and copy the elements there. That is, the copy operation yields into two independent arrays with indentical contents.

[Stefan]

Well, it's not great, but it's fairly understandable. I assume "instance", and "constructor", are defined somewhere else in the document (otherwise, their use isn't entirely clear). Here's a version that is grammatically more correct (not perfect), if you'd like to compare the two:

Working with an array starts with the creation of an array. You should distinguish between the creation of an array class instance, and the memory allocation for the array. When creating the class instance, you can use the constructor without any parameters (this creates an empty array without any elements), or you can use copy and assignment constructors to copy one array into another. If the array is created by the default constructor, it will contain no elements and an attempt to address them may cause the failure of the program. If, during the copy operation, the source array has no memory allocated for the array elements, the destination array will also not contain any elements (in the original, this sentence is awkward). If the source array has memory allocated for its elements, the destination array will allocate the same amount of memory, and copy the elements there. That is, the copy operation yields two independent arrays with identical (not indentical) contents.

[shadeofgray]

Thanks for your help, Stefan. Judging from your suggestions I think that translation quality is bearable for a site about computer programming and numerical analysis. Most of my visitors are searching for the mathematical programs, not for the mathematical articles. But also I think it is better to find someone from USA or UK who will read and correct my pages.

[Syzygy]

What you should do is approach an organisation such as (in the UK) the Institute of Linguists and have them recommend translation services to you. That way you can remove the doubt as to whether the service your using is actually doing its job properly.

Good luck.

Syzygy

[Stefan]

Glad it helped, shadeofgray.

also I think it is better to find someone from USA or UK who will read and correct my pages

Get a Canadian if you can - they're the best (don't use my posts as an example of this ;-).

[shadeofgray]

Get a Canadian if you can - they're the best

My cousin lives in Canada. I think I can ask him to help me find a student from a mathematical faculty or something like that. Thanks for the idea :))

[larryhatch]

I dearly love the Canadians, the best neighbors the USA could hope for, all things considered.

My first visit to Manitoba was in 1963, when I 'borrowed' the family car,
one of them anyhow, and decided to take the scenic route back home.
I stopped at a hamburger joint and found two salt shakers.
The first one held salt of course, but the second one was full of what looked like water.

"What's this?" I asked.
"That's vinegar." said the hamburger-person (HP).
"So, what's the vinegar for?" asked I.
"You are supposed to shake it over the fries." said HP.
(HP looked at me as if I were from another planet, ignorant of normal behavior.)

So is there a lesson here? I hope so.
Maybe its that there are so so many niches in this world, that nobody can find them all.
Use your imagination. Let your mind wander a bit.

best wishes -Larry

[larryhatch]

I love Canada, the best neighbor the USA could hope for, all things considered.

My first visit to Manitoba was in 1963, when I 'borrowed' the family car,
one of them anyhow, and decided to take the scenic route back home.
I stopped at a hamburger joint and found two salt shakers.
The first one held salt of course, but the second one was full of what looked like water.

"What's this?" I asked.
"That's vinegar." said the hamburger-person (HP).
"So, what's the vinegar for?" asked I.
"You are supposed to shake it over the fries." said HP.
(HP looked at me as if I were from another planet, ignorant of normal behavior.)

So is there a lesson here? I hope so.
Maybe its that there are so so many niches in this world, that nobody can find them all.
Use your imagination. Let your mind wander a bit.

best wishes -Larry