What do you think of this typesetting?
This is a pamphlet for foreigners that was placed at the station. There are some parts of this layout that may not be understandable to foreigners. What should be modified and how?
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Negative Points
Improvement Plan
Do not use Japanese-specific symbols
Japanese-specific symbols cannot be used in foreign languages as they are only applicable in Japanese. These need to be replaced with words that have similar meanings and functions. Please do not use Japanese symbols in Western typesetting.
※This is a symbol that visualizes the kanji character "米" and may not be familiar to Western readers and may not convey its meaning. It may also appear as a mysterious emoji that is not well-known to Chinese readers. I think it would be better to replace ※ with *.
The symbol "〒" is said to be a representation of the first letter of the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, which is now defunct. It is not meant to be understood in foreign languages. Simply adding the postal code after the city name is sufficient.
These symbols are not included in the English font, but they can be displayed by using a Japanese font, and can also be inline if outlined. However, before doing so, please use your imagination a little. Why aren't these symbols included in the English font? Is it because they are not commonly used in English and therefore no one uses them?
Explain what ◎○△× means
Japanese-specific symbols can only be used in Japanese, so they cannot be used in foreign languages as is.
◎○△× are symbols that represent ratings such as Excellent/Good/Acceptable/Not Acceptable, but this premise does not apply in foreign languages. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly indicate what each symbol means (Suggestion 1).
However, these symbols are not familiar to foreign readers and are not included in Western fonts. It would be better to replace them with numbers or ABC (improvement plan 2), or with shorter words that fit in a grid (improvement plan 3). For a simple OX table, I think it would be fine to replace ○ with "✔".
Replace 2-byte characters with 1-byte characters for circular numbers and Roman numerals
It may seem repetitive, but Japanese-specific symbols cannot be used as is in foreign languages.
①②③ Maru numbers have the same meaning, but they are rarely used. Also, since they are not included in Western fonts, they have to be mixed with Japanese fonts or symbol fonts, which can result in a lack of consistency. Simply using (1), (2), (3) or 1, 2, 3 should be sufficient.
I II III Serif (serif: a small projection at the end of a character's stroke) is a vertical writing character made to fit into Japanese grid, and is not found in Western fonts. Simply arrange Latin characters in Western fonts. In this case, there is no problem even if the serifs are not connected.
It is not simply a matter of replacing it with a similar symbol.
Japanese-specific symbols are... (omitted below).
Since Chinese and Korean use 【】, it is likely that the original Japanese also uses it. In English, [ ] is used instead, but [ ] does not have the same meaning as 【】 and is not used to indicate typos, omissions, or corrections. Instead of judging based on appearance, let's consider the meaning and function. If you want to create a unified look in multilingual texts, it is recommended not to use language-specific symbols such as 【】 from the beginning.
Some mathematical symbols such as ≒≦≧ are not universal. Symbols that differ by country or region must be replaced with those of the language.
Even if the same symbol is used, 2-byte characters should be converted to 1-byte characters.
/!?$%&@;:* etc., let's avoid using 2-byte character symbols just because they look similar to Western symbols in shape and function. It creates a sense of discomfort as it does not harmonize with Latin characters. The slash on the left of the photo is too thin and the middle dot on the right is too small.
Switch your mindset as Japanese typesetting and Western typesetting are completely different.
This time, we have addressed the mistake of bringing Japanese typesetting into Western typesetting. Unlike Thai or Arabic, we are familiar with Latin characters, right? Therefore, when typesetting in Western languages, the awareness and tension of "dealing with a foreign language" becomes weak, and there are problems with ignoring the customs, manners, and rules of Western typesetting, making judgments based on appearance, or applying the Japanese typesetting mindset to Western typesetting.
Typesetting is not just about pouring text into DTP and dealing with overflow. In order to ensure that the content of the text is easily understood by the reader without being hindered by the layout, it is important to have a correct understanding of typesetting conventions, customs, and rules, and to respect the differences between languages.
>>Translation Services by Human Science Co., Ltd.
>>Related Download Materials: 9 Examples of Machine Translation Errors and Post-Editing Checklist
Main Reference Materials
Tashiro Mari and Kobayashi Akira "Asking Translators: For English-Speaking Readers, Easy English Typesetting" TypeTalks 22nd (Seminar), 2014
Shogakukan Dictionary Editing Department "Punctuation, Symbol and Sign Usage Dictionary" Shogakukan, 2007
Mugura Seiko "Typesetting Situation: Beautiful Books in Europe and Typesetting from a Typographer Living in Germany" TypeTalks 35th (Seminar), 2016
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