Internationalisation is harder than you think

Making your software work in different languages isn't easy. Visiting Madrid in April 2014, I tried to buy a ticket at Sol station for a Madrid commuter train, Renfe Cercanías.

OK, so the ticket machine's initial display is in Spanish, and my Spanish is pretty much non-existent. But look! There's a helpful button that looks like you can change the interface language.

Let's see if it does English.

Well, almost. It would have helped if it had translated the ticket types too. Never mind, let's take a stab at Adulto Ida meaning Adult One-way.

Right, we're obviously choosing the destination here. Thanks to Google, I now know that the screen title and button labels have switched to Basque. Never mind, choose a destination.

OK, we're still in Basque at the 'How many tickets' screen. Can I switch it back to English?

Yes, I can. At this point I must admit I was looking for instruction on what to do next. Eventually I figured out the machine was waiting for me to deposit money. I'd like a receipt. I can't see how to get one. Is it possible?

So now the machine is printing the tickets. Even if I couldn't hear printing noises inside, my French is well up to the task of translating 'Printing your tickets in progress'.

'Take your tickets, and thanks for travelling with us.'

I think this is an interesting approach to internationalisation. Force your users to expand their knowledge of other languages.

The Australian Federal Government once tried a similar approach.