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Articles for Translators and Translation Companies
Languages



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The Cherokee Language
In parts of the United States today, including Tennessee, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, road signs are marked with unfamiliar symbols that don't correspond to English letters. Passing through these areas, you may wonder what the symbols mean…
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Russian
What are some pitfalls specific to Russian to avoid that a client should be aware of when translating into this language?…
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Tagalog: the Language of the Phillipines
The greatest pitfall with English-Tagalog translations involves the mistaken notion entertained by many clients that there is a Tagalog term for every English word or concept. Some clients may even insist that a Tagalog translation contain only "pure Tagalog" words…
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Why English is so hard to learn
If you ever feel stupid, then just read on. If you’ve learned to speak fluent English, you must be a genius! This little treatise on the lovely language I share is only for the brave. Peruse at your leisure, English lovers…
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"I love you" in various languages
Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief
Afrikaans - Ek is lief vir jou
Albanian - te dua
Albanian - te dashuroj
Alentejano (Portugal) - Gosto De Ti, Porra!…

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The Celebration of Linguistic Diversity
Our planet has over six billion people who speak between 6000 and 7000 different languages. A few languages are spoken by hundreds of millions of speakers, such as English or Chinese, but most are spoken by only a few thousand, or just a handful of speakers…
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Translation Into French for France
What are some pitfalls specific to French to avoid that a client should be aware of when translating into this language? A client willing to translate materials into a foreign language is typically focusing on the linguistic aspect of the task. However, maximizing the impact of the message also requires finding the right tone for the intended audience…
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What is RTL?
RTL is the writing system known as right-to-left (RTL) in which script runs from the right-hand side of a page and concludes on the left-hand side, such as in Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu. As business development manager of a fast-growing regional company working in Middle Eastern languages on a daily basis, I will endeavor to give readers some basic information about these types of languages…
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Translating Kinship Terms to Malay
In the Malay culture, the kinship term is used as one of the forms of address when speaking to others, especially when speaking to family members and close, intimate friends. Using the correct and proper choice of kinship term is of utmost importance in this culture…
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Portuguese
For the next few months, McElroy will be running a series of articles that highlight some of the characteristics of top languages used in doing business globally. This month, we look at Portuguese, in an interview conducted with McElroy translator Clarissa Surek-Clark
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German
For the next few months, McElroy will be running a series of articles that highlight some of the characteristics of top languages used in doing business globally. This month, we look at German, in an interview conducted with McElroy Translator Gerhard Preisser…
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Expand your business, 300 million consumers are waiting for your products, services
Today 290 million people (consumers) speak Russian. Russian is the 4th World's Most Widely Spoken Language and the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia. As regards modern times, Russian is the 4th language in the frequency of use in the world today, which enables one to say that Russian is an international and a go-between language for ethnic communities…
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Linguistic Problems with Translation of Japanese Patents to English
Thousands of examined and unexamined patent applications, utility models and granted patents are translated every year from Japanese to English in United States, Japan, Great Britain and other countries. The quality of these translations is sometime excellent, and sometime not very good. It is not difficult to find samples of bad translations from Japanese. For example, the Japan Patent Office provides English summaries of all published unexamined (Kokai) patent applications in English
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Bahasa Anyone?
Recently we have had a surge in requests for Indonesian and Malaysian for use in Bahasa. One of our Malaysian translators has provided clarification for our clients. "Bahasa" is not, in fact, another location or country, it simply means "language." Therefore, Bahasa Indonesia is Indonesian, and Bahasa Melayu is Malay
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Gender and Language
Most Western languages have some form of distinction between masculine and feminine nouns, with some of them adding neuter for good measure. Interestingly, the two non-Indo-European language groups of Europe—Finno-Ugric (Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian) and Basque—have no grammatical genders. English has almost lost them when referring to inanimate objects, with the exception of the feminine sometimes used for vessels and other means of transportation (Fill 'er up!)
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The Languages of the Former Yugoslavia
Though the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has ceased to exist, the ramifications of the tumultuous changes that occurred throughout the region in decades past continues even today. One aspect that continues to be a controversial and touchy subject in the region is the language. Today, many people find it difficult to understand the differences between Serbo-Croatian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, etc
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Chinese whispers: challenges of Chinese for localisation
Chinese is the world's most widely spoken language. Approximately 1.5 billion people around the globe speak one of its variants, yet it remains one of the languages about which people outside Greater China have remarkably little understanding
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L'Emprunt dans la traduction
La langue et la traduction sont des éléments importants qui animent la vie des différentes sociétés humaines. Elles sont intimement liées, évolutives et ont pour domaines communs la communication, l'échange d'idées, la diffusion et le brassage des cultures. Aussi, faut-il le souligner, la langue est le moteur de la traduction puisque sans elle la traduction n'a pas de valeur. Aujourd'hui, l'intensification des contacts entre les différents peuples pour des raisons économiques, politiques, techniques, scientifiques, sociales et culturelles a favorisé l'essor des langues, de la traduction et d'un autre phénomène linguistique, l'emprunt
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Bengali - One language, Multiple Variations
Bengali, also called Bangla, is the official language of Bangladesh, and the Indian States of West Bengal and Tripura. There are over 200 million native speakers of this language across the world and it has the pride of place as the 5th "most spoken" language in the world (after Mandarin, Spanish, English and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu). Bengali is the second most commonly spoken language in India (after Hindi). Yet, interestingly, there are crucial differences between the spoken and written forms of the language between Bangladeshi Bengali (with intra-country variations) and Bengali spoken in West Bengal
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Canadian English
Canada has its own political, cultural, historical, and geographical realities and has its own words to describe these realities. It has two official languages, English and French. The English vocabulary used does not differ enormously from the vocabulary used in other parts of the world, but some words have different connotations in different English speaking countries. The bulk of the words used are common to all English speakers, but there are, a number of words that are peculiar to Canada
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The Spanish Reality in the United States – A Unique Challenge
The issue of the Spanish language in the United States is not an easy topic to approach. We need to bear in mind the diversity of Spanish in this country, as well as the need to establish a common denominator in this amazing melting pot. But there is more to it. Linguistic and cultural influences and the major repercussions of the use of Spanish in the media also play a critical role when it comes to US Spanish…
English Española Portuguese

Chinese Characters
An old American proverb states "The only history worth knowing is the one you do not already know." This outlook is quite evident as trade globalization rapidly unites people, cultures and languages between the East and West in gaining insights to form strategic business relationships. From afar, Chinese characters may seem like an insurmountable communication barrier, but once introduced to the socio-linguistic and political intricacies of the Chinese language, one will find both uniqueness and commonalities in comparison to one's own language and history. This survey will introduce the political, ethnic and cultural lineage of Chinese characters in East Asia and its impact on the modern online information realm…
English Portuguese

Language Reference Guide For Mexican Spanish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Macedonian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Geographic Distribution
6. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Khmer
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Geographic Distribution
5. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Hindi
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Georgian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Arabic
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Anglo-Saxon and Latinate Words
The English language is derived from a Germanic language – Old English (Anglo-Saxon). However, despite English’s clearly Germanic forms, structures and vocabulary, it also comprises a large number of Latinate and/or French words (being a Romance language, French is derived ultimately from Latin)
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Language Reference Guide For Zulu
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Xhosa
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Measurements and Abbreviations
3. Hyphenation
4. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
5. Geographic Distribution
6. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Welsh
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Vietnamese
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Urdu
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Ukrainian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Turkish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Traditional Chinese
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Thai
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Tagalog
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Swiss Italian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Swiss German
Contents:
1. General note on Swiss German
2. Grammar and Spelling
3. Punctuation
4. Measurements and Abbreviations
5. Hyphenation
6. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
7. Geographic Distribution
8. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Swiss French
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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Language Reference Guide For Swedish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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Language Reference Guide For Southern Sesotho
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Measurements and Abbreviations
3. Hyphenation
4. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
5. Geographic Distribution
6. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Slovene
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Geographic Distribution
6. Character Set

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Translating Pronouns and Proper Names: Indonesian versus English
This article presents the differences in the pronominal systems of the Indonesian and English languages, the secondary senses of certain pronouns in their use, and the ambiguities caused by culture-based given names. Detailed discussion of each is provided with some examples that commonly occur in written texts. Some ways on how to deal with these problems are also recommended in each topic discussed
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Language Reference Guide For Slovak
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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Language Reference Guide For Simplified Chinese
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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Language Reference Guide For Serbian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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Language Reference Guide For Russian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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How do we define a word that has no commonly understood meaning?
Bilingualism throughout the world is on the rise due to increased migration patterns across the globe. It has been estimated that around half the world's population is bilingual (Grosjean, 1982, in Karamat Ali, 2004). Interestingly, it has also been predicted that soon, "the speakers for whom English is a second or other language will outnumber the total for whom it is their first"
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Language Reference Guide For Romanian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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Language Reference Guide For Punjabi
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set
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Language Reference Guide For Portuguese
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Geographic Distribution
6. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Polish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Norwegian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Malay
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Lithuanian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Book review: "The Stories of English" by David Crystal
I had the good fortune to stumble across this wonderful book recently, and I found it both entertaining and informative.
As the title suggests, the book tells the various stories by which the English language has come to be what it is today. (It's as much about history and politics as it is about language)

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Language Reference Guide For Latvian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Latin American Spanish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Korean
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Kazakh
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Geographic Distribution
6. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Javanese
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Japanese
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Italian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Icelandic
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Hungarian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Hebrew
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Greek
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For German
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For French
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Flemish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Finnish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Farsi
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Estonian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For British English
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Geographic Distribution

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Language Reference Guide For Dutch
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Danish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Czech
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Croatian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Chilean Spanish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Catalan
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Geographic Distribution
6. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Canadian French
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Spanish
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Bulgarian
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution
7. Character Set

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Language Reference Guide For Brazilian Portuguese
Contents:
1. Grammar and Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Measurements and Abbreviations
4. Hyphenation
5. Miscellaneous Peculiarities
6. Geographic Distribution