Sayamindu wrote somedays back as :

Well, as we near review and sanity check phase, we need to decide on a
uniform way of handling addresses made by the user to the computer.
Some of us are using

Kora hok
        Eg: File khola hok
        The advantage of this method is that the chances of goofing up
        with respect to context of the message is minimal. However, it
        results in the messages becoming too large in some cases, and,
        in some cases, becoming a little "fuzzy" as far as meaning is
        concerned.

While others are using
        
Koro
        Eg: File kholo
        This is a very direct way of addressing the computer, and maybe,
        more users will be comfortable with this approach. However, the
        chances of context related goof ups is very high in this case,
        as most translators are unable to see the actual translations in
        "Action" in this stage. 
        
We need to sort out our differences and agree upon a standard as soon as
possible. For unless we agree upon some standard on some aspects of the
GUI terminology, documentation translation would be difficult.


and my thoughts on the same are as:

i agree with the statement that "we need...possible". a random sampling of the various language translations for OpenOffice is given as follows [please ignore the numerals eg. '39' etc as they are the translated language codes]

<begin random selection>

For Italian


Calculate	39	Calcola
Calculate Selection	39	Calcola selezione

Flip horizontally	39	Rispecchia orizzontalmente
Flip Object Horizontally	39	Rispecchia orizzontalmente
Flip vertical	39	Rispecchia verticalmente

Geometrically change %O	39	Cambia %O geometricamente

Gereral Internet error has occurred	39	Si è verificato un errore generale nell'area Internet

Go to first slide	39	Salto alla prima pagina

For French

Flip Object Horizontally	33	Refléter horizontalement
Flip vertical	33	Refléter verticalement

Go to next slide	33	Aller à page suivante

Help about %PRODUCTNAME Impress	33	L'aide pour le module de présentation %PRODUCTNAME Impress		

Insert Vertical	33	Insérer verticalement

File has been changed. Save?	33	Le fichier a été modifié. Souhaitez-vous l'enregistrer ?	

For German

File	49	Datei
File	49	Ablage
File $(ARG1) already exists	49	Die Datei $(ARG1) existiert bereits
File $(ARG1) doesn't exist	49	Die Datei $(ARG1) existiert nicht
File %1 does not exist.	49	Die Datei %1 ist nicht vorhanden.
File %1 not found.	49	Die Datei %1 wurde nicht gefunden.
File / URL	49	Datei / URL
File <%> not found!	49	Die Datei <%> wurde nicht gefunden!
File already exists	49	Datei bereits vorhanden
File already exists	49	Die Datei existiert bereits
File already open	49	Datei bereits geöffnet
File cannot be opened: ($Arg1)	49	Kann Datei nicht Öffnen: ($Arg1)
File cannot be read!	49	Datei kann nicht eingelesen werden!
File cannot be saved!	49	Datei kann nicht abgespeichert werden!
File could not be opened.	49	Die Datei konnte nicht geöffnet werden.
File Document	49	Dokument ablegen
File format	49	Datei Format
File format error found	49	Formatfehler in der Datei entdeckt
File has been changed. Save?	49	Datei ist geändert worden. Abspeichern?
File List	49	Dateiliste
File Name	49	Dateiname
File name without extension	49	Dateiname ohne Erweiterung
File not found	49	Datei nicht gefunden
File Properties	49	Dateieigenschaften
File Recovery	49	Datei-Wiederherstellung
File Selection	49	Dateiauswahl
File size	49	Dateigrößen
File system	49	Im Dateisystem
File System	49	Dateisystem
File to convert	49	Zu konvertierende Datei
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)	49	Protokoll zur Dateiübertragung (FTP)
File type	49	Dateityp
File Types	49	Dateitypen
File types	49	Zuordnung Dateitypen

For Spanish

Bring along	34	Por favor traiga
Bring Forward	34	Más adelante
Bring Forward	34	Traer hacia adelante
Bring Forward	34	Hacia adelante
Bring Forward	34	Traer más adelante
Bring to Front	34	Traer al frente
Bring To Front	34	Traer al frente
Bring to Front	34	Traer al frente
Insert index	34	Insertar índice
Insert Index Entry	34	Insertar una entrada de índice
Insert Index Marker	34	Insertar marca en el índice
Insert Join	34	Insertar conexión
Insert Label Ranges	34	Insertar áreas de etiqueta


<end random selection>

one of the major advantages of the Latin based languages is possibly the fact that all of them share the same syntactic notion of addressing the audience. as will be evident from a casual perusal of the above list, the direct mode of addressing is more or less adhered to in case of all the languages. the LiFY CD while doing the Hindi l10n also in a restricted way adheres to this system only. addressing mode is thus 'direct' or to put it in sayamindu's words (and examples)"File Kholo" as opposed to "Khola Hok". The advantage of such methodology is possibly the extension of the 'command-based usage' of computing. The major disadvantage being the translators themselves being unable to 'see' the effect of such translations leading to loss in meaning and possible metamorphosis in the semantic sense altogether.

be that as it may, i'd prefer that we stick to the second mode of translation, at least some sanity can be maintained. third person voice change maintenance is not a medieval form of torture i'd like to inflict on unsuspecting end-users.