# Show in English



## Amir Miller

Hi,

We have added support to German on our website and we would like to add a link at the top of the page to switch between languages.
When the user selects German, the link says "Show in English" so the non-German user can switch back to English.
How do I say "Show in English" in German?

Thanks in advanced,

Amir


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## Schimmelreiter

_Zur englischen Version_


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## perpend

I would say "auf Englisch anzeigen".


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## Kajjo

I would simply prefer "English" and "Deutsch" or nothing att all and simply the flag symbol.


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## djweaverbeaver

Kajjo said:


> I would simply prefer "English" and "Deutsch" or nothing att all and simply the flag symbol.



I like this, although this also makes the assume that one knows what the German and/or British/American flag looks like.


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## Kajjo

Might depend on the the target group, but personally I cannot a imagine people educated enough to consume a website, but idiotic enough not to know the most common flags. Besides, it would be enough to know your own flag to find your way to your own native language. 

I believe, the symbols are wquite common and unobtrusive to change the language.


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## perpend

Kajjo said:


> ... but personally I cannot a imagine people educated enough to consume a website, but idiotic enough not to know the most common flags. Besides, it would be enough to know your own flag to find your way to your own native language.



That's a judgment, but, anyway, you aren't the average user of a website, Kajjo.

Think of Amir's query.


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## Kajjo

I am sure that the average user of a website recognises the German and American flag. I know very many website that use flag symbols to change the language. It's standard.


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## Schimmelreiter

Which flag should that be for English?


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## djweaverbeaver

@Kajjo,  I understand what you're saying.  I think people know what the American and British flags look like, but I think fewer people could identify the German one.  I've seen it confused countless times with the Belgium one, that is, if they're even able to narrow it down to those two countries.  From my own perspective, to be honest,  I don't think most Americans can/could identify the German flag.  And we shouldn't assume that only native speakers would try to access those languages.


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## Kajjo

booking.com or hotels.com show examples of using flags. It's easy and unobstrusive.

Otherwise I would go for "English" and "German / Deutsch".


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## Kajjo

qdjweaverbeaver: But whoever is interested in the German version will most likely recognise the German flag, would he? That's the point.


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## Amir Miller

Hi all,

This seems to have turned into a UI/Usability discussion 
I saw this example in Hotels.com.
I have dropdown that says Deutsch/English but I wanted the extra phrase next to that dropdown.
So I guess "auf Deutsch anzeigen" is acceptable?

Amir


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## djweaverbeaver

@Amir Miller, I think "English/Deutsch/Français/etc." is sufficient.  You're obviously inviting the person to click on it.

@Kajjo,  the German flag wasn't one of the first things I learned about when I started learning the language.  Actually,  I don't know how or when I learn to recognize it.


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## Hutschi

Hi Kajjo,
is it the difference you want to show?

American flag -> American version
English flag -> English version
Canadian flag -> Canadian version
German flag -> German version
Swizz flag -> version for Switzerland users
Austria Flag -> ...

Using the flags gives additional information. If you refer to language rather than country it might be misleading.

But if you have different versions for example for different countries it is a good solution.

---


> @Amir Miller, I think "English/Deutsch/Français/etc." is sufficient. You're obviously inviting the person to click on it.


I think so, too.

Otherwise, if you move over a flag, it can give you the language.


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## berndf

djweaverbeaver said:


> I understand what you're saying. I think people know what the American and British flags look like, but I think fewer people could identify the German one.


Those people who speak German will certainly be able to identify it with ease. Those who don't speak German have no reason to take any interest.


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## perpend

berndf said:


> Those people who speak German will certainly be able to identify it with ease. Those who don't speak German have no reason to take any interest.



 I agree. I'm pretty sure bernd just "dropped the mic" (in a good way).


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## djweaverbeaver

Can't say I agree Bernd.  But it's ultimately up to Amir to decide.  I do like @Hutschi's suggestion of combining the flag with the language-specific word for the language.


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## Gernot Back

Schimmelreiter said:


> Which flag should that be for English?


Which flag should that be for German?


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## Schimmelreiter

Gernot Back said:


> Which flag should that be for German?


Thank you, Gernot. I didn't ask that one for fear someone might ask how dare that little Austrian.


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## perpend

Es heißt aber so schön "Österreichisches Deutsch", oder? Ich habe dich immer als "big Austrian" vorgestellt, SR.


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## Schimmelreiter

We know our place, sigh, especially post-Königgrätz, but that a Brit and an American would accept each other's flag to represent their language?


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## perpend

Well, as you can see I wasn't on-board with the flag suggestion. 

From what I understand, Amir needs/needed a non-flag version.


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## Hutschi

Without using a flag I prefer Schimmelreiter's version.
_Zur englischen Version_

In case of multiple languages I'd only use the language and mark the links to the languages.
Example:
Englisch Deutsch Francais
_(example: Current language - German)_


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## Demiurg

Schimmelreiter said:


> I didn't ask that one for fear someone might ask how dare that little Austrian.



I thought you speak English Down Under.


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## perpend

He, he, Demi, it took me a sec, but was it a joke about Bush's blunder regarding Austria vs. Australia?


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## Amir Miller

Thank you all for your replies.
Flags are not an option since we don't have American and British versions and the flag will cause more harm then help in this case (IMHO).
For now (until we have more languages) we will use "_Zur englischen Version" _as suggested.


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## Demiurg

Amir Miller said:


> Flags are not an option since we don't have American and British versions and the flag will cause more harm then help in this case (IMHO).



Some websites use a combined US/UK flag for this purpose:


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